At Georgetown, Emergency & Disaster Management Students Make the World Their Classroom

Georgetown University’s International Emergency and Disaster Management program for working professionals has admitted nearly 40 new students from Qatar, Jordan, Mexico, and the United States for the 2018-2019 executive master of professional studies class. In August, the new cohort of working professionals from backgrounds in medicine, public health, law enforcement, and defense will begin an immersive year studying and experiencing the complexity of international natural and man-made disasters as they take part in the five-module program with residencies in Washington, D.C., Doha, Muscat, Paris, and Amman.

The program, which combines lectures and online coursework with five in-person residences around the globe, is designed for emergency management leaders and practitioners who develop the skills required to mitigate potential threats and lead international response efforts in times of crisis. The online classes and in-person residencies are taught and organized by instructors who are authorities in the emergency and disaster space, including professional crisis managers and leadership and management specialists.

Residencies for this program will include field visits to places of critical activities including France, Jordan, Oman, Qatar, and the United States, where students will be exposed to topics including Natural & Technological Hazards, Terrorism & Man-Made Disasters, and Public Health & Humanitarian Crises.

Faculty Director Dr. Tim Frazier emphasized the program’s humanitarian focus—a hallmark of a Georgetown education. “Graduates of our program develop a high level of strategic and critical thinking skills required for decision-making in this important field, allowing them to serve in leadership roles and to live the Georgetown value of ‘people for others’ daily,” he said.

The program’s inaugural cohort of emergency management professionals, including many from Qatar, will present their capstone projects during a Gallery Walk event on Thursday, August 16 at 5:30 p.m. at Georgetown University in Qatar, located in Education City.

Touted by Georgetown as “one of the world’s most academically rigorous emergency and disaster management curricula,” the program will begin accepting new applications for the 2019-20 term in mid-September of this year. To learn more, please visit http://scs.georgetown.edu/iedm.