Language often plays an important role in disasters.  At the same
time language is crucial in our understanding of these disasters.
We will study the role of narrative and linguistic transcription in
accident reporting, the complexity of procedural language in
prevention, and the commonality of miscommunication in ordinary
conversation and in medical interaction.  We will analyze disasters
in multiple contexts:  seafaring (the Titanic, Squalas, Kursk),
mines (Sago), aviation (Valujet, Cali, Sioux City, Tenerife), space
(Challenger, Columbia), and the events surrounding 9/11 and
Hurricane Katrina.  In our increasingly interconnected world,
students will come to appreciate both the importance of language and
the complexity of modern organizations that disasters so
dramatically call to our attenion.

This course fulfills the intensive writing requirement.