- DUE: April 19th by MIDNIGHT!
Broadening my horizon has been a little more difficult than I thought it would be. I think something interesting that Camp does not address is the individuals who didn’t have agency in their decision to evacuate or not- these would be homeless individuals, people in prisons and nursing homes, or those who didn’t have the funds. This week I focused on reading sources in regards to these individuals and understanding more broadly what was happening to these people before and after the hurricane.
I found a very valuable source that involved a survey sent out after Hurricane Katrina. The results help illustrate how the hurricane affected individuals based on race, income, gender, age and other variables. I plan to consult my Quantitative Analysis professor to help me better understand the data. We are learning about these types of data in class so I think it will benefit both my research for this class and my understanding in my other class – two birds one stone!!
I also think Camps analysis of media was underrepresented in his book. I was able to find a source the focused primarily on media representation of the events that happened after the Hurricane. Specifically, the article focused on looting and how the media represented the individuals that were looting.
Lately I have been thinking that this project would be more effective being a podcast. I know I keep going back and forth on how I want to present the data, but I feel like a podcast would be a more interesting way to have people interact with this type of information. Because the topic is so digestible and relatable because most of our generation remembers it occuring- I think it would be cool. But that is just a thought right now with the data I have been able to find.
I am less stressed about finding relevant sources now. Over the past couple of weeks, I have realized that there has been a lot of research surrounding Hurricane Katrina.
Race, class, and Hurricane Katrina: Social differences in human responses to disaster
After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf South, individuals were left wondering how race and class influence the response to disaster. This study was focused on collecting data from over 1200 Hurricane Katrina Survivors. Results found strong correlation between race and class differences, showing that you cannot minimize these variables to each other to understand the responses of the survivor. Similarly, it found that low income Black homeowners were the most in need of help after the hurricane.
Metaphors Matter: Disaster Myths, Media Frames, and Their Consequences in Hurricane Katrina KATHLEEN TIERNEY, CHRISTINE BEVC, and ERICA KULIGOWSKI HE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY March 2006.
This article focuses on the different disaster myths that come about after any natural disaster. These myths revolve around looting, social disorganization, and even deviant behavior. This article focuses on understanding how media impacts these myths. Specifically, after Hurricane Katrina, the media framed the victims in a bad light- exaggerating the incidence and severity of the looting. This would help neoliberal agenda and create more unanimous support to military action being necessary! This article also places an emphasis on ‘lawfulness’ and the need for strict social control- which also helped support military action being taken.
Comments:
I am glad to hear that you are less concerned about finding sources for your project, Gaby. You can of course do a podcast but have you ever done it before? If not, did you have a chance to attend one of the workshops? I am not sure how much technological knowledge is needed for doing podcasts though. Let me know if you want to talk to me about this.
It is also a good idea to talk to Prof.Nelson about your source.