Binghamton University is offering a class this semester to allow students to earn internship credit for learning about and assisting with recovery efforts in the local community after September’s devastating flood.
Heavy rains caused by Tropical Storm Lee soaked parts of the Northeast on Wednesday, Sept. 7, triggering record flooding along the Susquehanna River in the Southern Tier. About 30,000 Broome County residents were displaced from their homes, and more than 5,300 properties in the County were damaged or destroyed.
The course, offered through the Career Development Center, “CDCI 395: Community in Recovery: Southern Tier NY After the Flood of September 2011,” will give students two upper-division internship credits for logging 30 hours of community service, attending six two-hour lectures and completing short response papers and a final reflection paper.
The initial 40 seats available in the class filled up with students a few hours after course registration opened on Thursday, Sept. 29, according to Donald Loewen, vice provost for undergraduate education. In response to the demonstrated demand for the class, the University added 10 more seats and sent out a message in last Wednesday’s B-Line email advertising that registration was once again open.
Loewen said the extra seats were filled less than an hour later.
Lucy Volland, a junior majoring in bioengineering who is enrolled in the class, said she valued a strong connection between BU and the surrounding community.
“It would be great if Binghamton University could show the city of Binghamton that we really do care,” Volland said.
The course’s lectures run from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays between Oct. 12 and Nov. 16 in Academic Building A room G023.
Loewen and Allison Alden, director of the Center for Civic Engagement, will serve as the students’ internship instructors. A variety of guest speakers, including BU professors, Binghamton community leaders and Anne Malaktaris, a graduate student in the psychology department, will lecture.
The six lectures will each cover a different aspect of September’s flood. Their subjects are “Psychological Impacts of Natural Disasters,” “Socio-Economic Implications of the 2011 Flood,” “Emergency Response & Recovery,” “Implications of Flooding Factors & Environmental Impact,” “NGO Response to Community Crises” and “Leadership During Crises,” respectively.
Mark Reisinger, an associate professor of geography at BU, will be lecturing on “Socio-Economic Implications of the 2011 Flood.” He said his lecture will examine the various demographics affected by the flood using the Social Vulnerability Index, a measurement that employs census data to predict vulnerability to natural disasters.
“We’re looking at things such as income, race and ethnicity, age and educational level to see if Binghamton fits the model,” Reisinger said.
According to Loewen, although enrollment in “Community in Recovery” is officially closed, others interested in the course material are welcome to attend lectures.
“We have a room that seats 130 for a class of 50 students, and we’re hoping to see a lot of people there,” Loewen said. “This is a chance to bring together the very best parts of Binghamton University — the volunteerism and willingness to help that we see in so many students, the willingness to engage the community and its needs by some of our very best faculty, and an opportunity for the community and the University to learn and plan for the future together.”
Loewen said he first had the idea for the internship course on Thursday, Sept. 8, the day after BU’s Events Center opened its doors as a shelter to Binghamton-area residents forced to evacuate their homes due to the flood.
“It was an amazing thing to see the students, and also the faculty and staff, volunteering to participate,” Loewen said of those who offered to assist at the Events Center during the two weeks, from Wednesday, Sept. 7 to Wednesday, Sept. 21, that it served as an American Red Cross Shelter.
Laura O’Neill, the academic internship program coordinator, said creating and setting up the impromptu class was easily done because it commanded strong support from faculty, staff and students.
“[We had] lots of communication and quick responses, which was key,” O’Neill said.