This course will look at both natural and 'man made' disasters such, cyclones, nuclear power station failures, airline crashes, coal mine explosions and mass death in sporting stadia. It will look at ways in which these disasters have been explained and the ways in which society attempts to apportion blame, very often to individuals. It will show that in almost all circumstances there are organisational failures involved, particularly failures to collect and act on warning signs. Students will be asked to apply these ideas by analysing reports of contemporary Australian disasters such as the Thredbo landslide, the Black Hawk helicopter disaster near Townsville which killed 18 men, the Sydney-Hobart yachting tragedy which took six lives in December 1998. The course will also show how the organisational perspective developed in the course can be used to explain other phenomena such as corporate crime and deaths in custody.

2,000 word essay (50%), a one-hour exam (30%) and tutorial participation (20%).

20 hours of lectures and 12 tutorials.

Any two first-year courses in the Faculty of Arts or with the permission of the lecturer.