Saving lives, securing critical infrastructure and avoiding business interruptions during earthquakes: Terje Haukaas looks to shift the future towards performance-based engineering.

Konstanz, Universiẗat, Dipl.-Arb., 2002.

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2004.

This ethnographic analysis of the social and physical effects of Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas and the consequent recovery that emerged afterward is based on 20 months of field research conducted immediately before and after the storm’s landfall. The introductory chapter locates the ethnographer just prior to the hurricane as he prepared for an unexpected evacuation. It then presents the conceptual framework for a multi-sited ethnography of “disaster culture” and introduces analytic keywords of “vulnerability,” “resilience,” “dreamworlds,” and “catastrophe.” It concludes by discussing a set of historical and contemporary socio-economic conditions in Galveston. This provides a frame of reference of both the social formations of storm experiences and the public recovery dynamics that attended with Ike’s aftermath that are discussed throughout the text. This is further supplemented with an explanation of Ike’s flooding and the geographic distribution of storm damage. Chapter two begins with an ethnographic vignette of the first townhall meeting held in Galveston after Ike. This introduces several recurrent topics of concern that were formative of disaster-culture dynamics. It then provides a literature review of the anthropology of disaster before segueing into a presentation of storm narratives. It ends with an analysis that further elaborates on the formative dynamics of Galvestonian disaster culture. Chapter three provides an analysis of the public deliberations that emerged over long-term redevelopment initiatives; particularly, the advocacy practices of a faith-based consortium; advocacy on behalf of restoring the University of Texas Medical Branch; the public Long Term Recovery Committee, and a FEMA buyout program that benefited higher income property owners on the western end of the island. The fourth chapter provides an extended case study concerning the rebuilding of 569 units of public housing that were subsequently destroyed after the hurricane. The rebuilding of public housing became the most vitriolic public issue during the course of fieldwork. The concluding chapter invokes the concepts of “dreamworlds” and “catastrophe” used by historian and philosopher Walter Benjamin to show the processual dynamics between the initial hopes for collectively strengthening Galveston through federally funded redevelopment and the increasingly negative assessments of the city’s long-term urban fortunes. / text

As the dangers of teens and the internet make media headlines, Jennifer Shapka sifts through the fact and fiction of adolescent internet use.

No description available.

Thesis (PhD--Anthropology)--University of Auckland, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

This thesis looks at the social, political, and military effects of epidemic polio on America's war effort during World War II. The primary sources consulted include newspapers, military medical reports, photographs, memoirs, speeches, and archival collections. It looks at the effects of polio on the home front, more specifically how epidemics and the rising rates of polio were a detriment to the civilian war effort. It also focuses on the American military's preparation for and response to polio outbreaks among troops both at home and abroad. Finally, it discusses the experiences of the servicemen who contracted polio during the war. This work fills a major hole in the historiography of the disease and highlights the overlapping interests of the public, the medical community, and the military during a time of war.

No description available.

Essa dissertação descreve ferramentas e mecanismos do processo de projeto da FDE (Fundação Pelo Desenvolvimento da Educação), órgão responsável pela execução de projetos e obras de escolas públicas no Estado de São Paulo. Dentre outros aspectos, foram identificadas e examinadas a sistematização e a padronização realizadas pela Fundação, além da caracterização de projetos contratados. Foram também estudadas metodologias ainda pouco utilizadas no processo de projeto do setor público, tais como a certificação de escolas pela AQUA-HQE (Alta Qualidade Ambiental- Haute Qualité Environmentale). Os elementos analisados nesta dissertação sugerem que as ferramentas e procedimentos adotados pela FDE possam ser adaptados e utilizados por outras instituições, servindo como uma referência tanto para entidades quanto para agentes e prestadores de serviços envolvidos no processo de projetos de obras públicas. Este trabalho visa trazer contribuições para a melhoria da qualidade do processo de projeto de arquitetura no setor público. / This study describes tools and mechanisms of design process applied in FDE (Foundation For Education Development), which is the company responsible for project and construction of public schools in São Paulo. The systematization and standardization processes carried out by the Foundation have been identified and examined in this paper, as well as the characterization of these projects. They were also studied methodologies not so used in the public sector regarding to the design process, such as certification of schools by AQUA-HQE (High Quality environmentally- Haute Qualité Environmentale). The elements analyzed in this paper suggest that the tools and procedures adopted by the FDE can be adapted by other institutions, serving as a reference for both entities and for service providers involved in the process of public construction projects. This study aims to bring contributions to improving the quality of the architectural design process in the public sector.