David Alexander gives keynote talk in Canada

 

On 26th November 2017 David Alexander gave the keynote speech at the Canadian Risks and Hazards Network annual conference. His topic was “One Hundred Years of ‘Disasterology’: Looking Back and Moving Forward”. His presentation can be found here:

The conference was held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, which, almost exactly 100 years ago was the site of a massive explosion that killed 2000 inhabitants and injured 9000, as well as devastating the city. Thanks to the work of a studious Anglican priest, the Rev. Dr Samuel Henry Prince, this event marked the start of concerted academic studies of disaster, which therefore celebrate – if that is the right word – a century of unbroken activity. Alexander reports that it was interesting to observe the compare the explosion, a thriving and peaceful modern city, with the devastation that prevailed in 1917.