FSEM 100V2 | The History of American Disasters

tornado ravaged structure where only the foundation is left

Throughout United States history, disasters have redefined the American physical and political landscape. The History of American Disasters is a first-year seminar focused on how disasters affect people’s lives and communities. There are two sections of this seminar:

  • One that focuses on several historic disasters as a way to explore two major questions: what actually defines a disaster? And what do disasters tell us about United States history more broadly?
  • The other section focuses on building fires in the United States during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries: theater, school, workplace, nightclub, music venue, circus, prison, hospital.

In the aftermath of disasters, questions arise about the relationship between humans and our environment, how communities’ socioeconomic and racial/ethnic makeup influence policymaking, and how geography becomes part of the lived experience for Americans across the nation. Building fires in the United States during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries (theater, school, workplace, nightclub, music venue, circus, prison, hospital) also illustrate how human-made decision-making and social structures can prove disastrous in their own right.

This seminar relies on readings, documentaries, class discussions and projects, presentations, and research and writing as students become familiar with a wide range of UMW resources, such as the Writing and Speaking Centers, Simpson Library, and Academic Advising. While not all disasters have been the subject of multiple scholarly studies, documentaries, primary sources, and online collections will help provide focused and broader study. Through the use of these tools in class and out of class, students will become familiar with college-level expectations while beginning to develop the skills necessary to do their best in future courses. In terms of building fires, students’ familiarity with locations—through the news if not through personal experience—will help them connect with the history of the United States as they study the factors that led to devastating fires in places where people expected to be safe. They will also discover what was learned from fires and what was done (and not done) to avoid future fires. Various fields and disciplines will be incorporated into the course, from economics to politics to religion to music to medicine and more. In terms of the seminar focused on major “natural” disasters, students will learn how to approach the events through various historical frameworks — including social, political, and environmental — and will choose their own disaster on which to focus for a culminating paper and project.

Photo of Juliette Landphair, Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness

Juliette Landphair, Associate Vice President for Health and Wellness

For over a decade, I I have been part of the University of Mary Washington community. I love being an Eagle! In my role, I oversee the Talley Center for Counseling Services, the Student Health Center, Campus Recreation, and the Center for Prevention and Education. While attending college at Tulane University, I decided to major in history because I wanted to know more about the fascinating city of New Orleans. Eventually, I pursued my doctorate in U.S. History and focused my dissertation on the 1960 New Orleans school desegregation crisis. As my academic career progressed, I eventually moved into the field of student affairs and began researching subjects in the college student experience, including co-rumination, perfectionism, and sexual violence on campus. I have two grown children: a daughter who majored in history and is a real estate attorney and a son working as a financial planner.

Photo of Claudine Ferrell, Professor of History and American Studies

Claudine Ferrell, Professor of History and American Studies

I am a native Texan, born in San Antonio and raised outside a nearby small town. My mother emigrated from France, and my father retired from a thirty year military career. I received my B.A. and M.A. from Southwest Texas State College/ University, the alma mater of President Lyndon Johnson and now Texas State University. An undergraduate major in English and a minor in history led to a focus on history in graduate school. After teaching U.S. and Texas history at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, for three years, I earned my PhD from Rice University in Houston where I studied African American history and American legal and constitutional history. Then, after a year at Kansas State University, I moved to Fredericksburg and Mary Washington College. I teach a wide variety of courses in American history, including the U.S. and Vietnam, African American history, America sports history, the department’s methods course, and American Disasters, as well as six courses covering 1865 through the 1980s. I am also chair of the Department of History and American Studies. On a personal note, I have cats and support the Nationals and Capitals (and Cowboys).