Development of a multi-disciplinary graduate course on consequence-based earthquake risk management

Abstract

Despite the recognition of the need for broad-based integrative education that prepares students for addressing complex problems in the real world, multi-disciplinary course offerings remain rare. The paper describes the development and offering of a multi-disciplinary graduate course covering earthquake loss assessment and mitigation ‘from source to society’. The course is built upon the comprehensive research, education, and outreach activities of the National Science Foundation-funded Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Centre through the paradigm of consequence-based risk management (CRM). This is the first course of its kind in the field of earthquake engineering to expose students to the earthquake problem from source to society. The course was successfully offered at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and will be offered at other universities. The CRM programme is a successful model for similar educational experiences. It opens new avenues in education of loss assessment and mitigation to meet the demands on the engineering profession by integration of engineering, social-economic science and information technology in a single multi-disciplinary course.