127 POST-KATRINA COMMUNITY RESPONSES KEY TOPIC OF LOCAL EVENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 18, 2006
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Lisa L. Rollins, 615-898-2919

Free & Open Symposium Will Focus on Student Research, Resiliency After Disaster

(MURFREESBORO)—“Resiliency and Change in the Wake of Disaster” is the theme for the 15th annual Tennessee Undergraduate Social Science Symposium, a free and open event that will be held Nov. 15-16 in the James Union Building’s Tennessee Room at MTSU.
Sponsored by MTSU since 1993, this year’s the symposium is expected to attract between 500-800 students and educators, said Dr. Vicky MacLean, associate professor of sociology and anthropology at MTSU.
The symposium will open Wednesday, Nov. 15, with student research presentations on a variety of topics, organizers reported.
“Paper topics will include social problems, crime and deviance, sociological theory, Appalachian studies, industrial organization, environmental issues and response to disasters,” MacLean said.
The event also will include a “highly engaging” panel discussion with First Responders, meaning those Emergency Management Service workers who help in disaster relief and crisis situations.
“One of the questions we will be asking,” MacLean said, “is could Katrina happen here? What types of community emergency response plans do we have in place in the middle Tennessee region?”
Following the panel discussion and student research presentations, there will be a screening of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” a video about global warming.
MacLean said among the highlights of the symposium will be a keynote address titled “Loss and Resiliency: Lessons from Katrina” delivered at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 by Dr. Pamela Jenkins, a professor of sociology and director from the women’s studies program at the University of New Orleans. Jenkins also is a founding and associate member of the University of New Orleans’ Center for Hazard Assessment, Response and Technology.
“Post-Katrina, (Jenkins) has been documenting local communities’ response to Katrina, including a study of First Responders, interviews with survivors throughout the community, and assessment of several nonprofit organizations,” said Dr. Tanya Peres, associate professor, sociology and anthropology.
“Jenkins’ lecture … is informed by her own ground-level observations and interviews with community members and First Responders,” MacLean added.
Sponsored by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Middle Tennessee Anthropology Society and the Undergraduate Sociology Club, the symposium is modeled after a typical professional conference, according to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Web site.
For more information about the upcoming annual symposium, please access http://www.mtsu.edu/~soc/socscisymp/symposium.html or contact the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at 615-898-2508.

ATTENTION, MEDIA: To schedule an interview with Drs. Peres or MacLean, please contact Lisa L. Rollins in the Office of News and Public Affairs at 615-898-2919. A jpeg of MacLean is available for editorial use upon request.
*PLEASE NOTE: If the above story is used for publication, please provide byline credit to MTSU journalism student Brittany Witt.