Wednesday, April 23
4:00p.m.
Student Lounge
Join fellow faculty to celebrate Professor Sandi Zellmer’s recently published book, "Mississippi River Tragedies: A Century of Unnatural Disaster”. Zellmer will host the book reading and signing event that will include drinks and appetizers.
Zellmer and co-author Christine Klein, use a series of stories to show that it is misleading to call floods and other environmental catastrophes "natural” and strive to uncover the larger story of how the law reflects and even amplifies ambivalent attitudes toward nature — simultaneously revering wild rivers and places for what they are, while working feverishly to change them into something else.
In this book, the authors conclude that, although the acknowledgement of human responsibility for unnatural disasters can lead to blame, guilt, and liability, it can also prod individuals to confront the consequences of society's actions, hopefully leading to a liberating sense of possibility and to the knowledge necessary to avoid future disasters.
The book was published by New York University Press.