Bringing Sandy into the Classroom, from Fish to Tech, Politics to Design

How can we bring the issues and aches of Sandy into the classroom to help work through what has taken place? Here’s my take for the Environmental Methods course in the masters program in Sustainable Interior Environments program at the Fashion Institute of Technology SUNY that I am teaching.

In order to grapple with Sandy and confront the effects of increasing natural disasters at home and abroad, my next class in will use our next class meeting to discuss the inequalities that Sandy re-revealed in the city, the politics of a “natural” disaster, and designing for what lies ahead. As I asked my students: These are all short pieces so please read them all. Think about how each piece–all from different interests, fields, and groups–fits into the next and how the design examples in the last NYT piece fall short or support these larger issues, from fish to tech, from politics to design.

From social justice advocates:: In Sandy’s Wake, New York’s Landscape of Inequity Revealed by Michelle Chen

From environmental journalists:: Yes, Hurricane Sandy is a good reason to worry about climate change by Brad Plummer

From public policy:: Fish on Fridays: Hurricane Sandy, Climate Change, and the Future of Fish by Michael Conathon

From politics:: Is Sandy a ‘Cassandra’? How Cities Should Prepare for Future Natural Disasters led by Judy Woodruff and Ray Suarez, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Joseph Romm, and Kenneth Green

From business:: After Hurricane Sandy, NYC Tech found Wanting by Richi Jennings

From economics:: Market-Based Disaster Justice by HU Press Blog

From the academy:: There’s No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster by Neil Smith

From design:: 5 Ideas That Could Have Prevented Flooding in New York by Emily Badger

From design:: Protecting the City, Before Next Time by Alan Feuer