Sociologist to speak on human impacts of disasters

What do disasters like Hurricane Katrina reveal about human societies and the way we relate to our environment?

Sociologist Kai Erikson, an expert on the social consequences of catastrophes, will explore this question in a free public lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 21, in the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State Street.

Erikson, emeritus professor of sociology and American studies at Yale University, will speak on “Disaster, Environment, and Social Order: Reflections on Katrina.”

The lecture is the third in a series at UW–Madison honoring the late Wisconsin governor and U.S. senator Gaylord Nelson, and a lifelong champion of environmental protection and social justice.

Erikson is author of “Everything In Its Path,” an award-wining book about the social impacts of a flash flood in Logan County, West Virginia. He also wrote “A New Species of Trouble: Explorations in Disaster, Trauma, and Community,” an examination of seven communities touched by disasters ranging from mercury-contaminated drinking water to a nuclear power plant accident.

His UW–Madison lecture is sponsored by the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies with support from the Holstrom Environmental Endowment. For more information, contact Tom Sinclair, 263-5599, tksincla@wisc.edu.