Dear colleagues,
The first year of the HATS project was a challenging one as we all navigated the turbulent waters of the pandemic. We were unable to travel and bring our colleagues at USAID to the University to share their experiences and insights with our HATS faculty and student network. They, too, were confined to the home and forced to adapt to a virtual disaster response strategy and recovery. Of course, the dominant theme was how to respond to the unprecedented consequences of the pandemic throughout the USAID-assisted countries.
Nonetheless, over the first year, the HATS project can point to several accomplishments that represent foundational progress:
- The initial organization of HATS-related faculty has been set into place, forming the basis of our community of practice that promotes the active exchange of experiences and insights.
- The HATS management team was enhanced with the addition of a highly qualified post-doc faculty member. It also has three-quarter-time GRA positions.
- HATS spent many months designing a website, and it has now been launched. The website provides a space for knowledge exchange, a repository of research resources, and an introduction of UA’s institutional capacities to a global audience.
- The HATS team scoured the UA curriculum for courses focused on disaster management, humanitarian assistance, and related themes. New modules on HATS content were developed for undergraduate courses, and a new multi-disciplinary graduate course is under preparation.
- HATS has compiled a thirty-year inventory of disasters requiring assistance and organized them by geographical location and severity. This is meant to be a database for potential research projects by faculty and students.
- HATS now provides a library of research on disaster-related topics, accessible through the website.
- The HATS management team has worked intensely with the new Office of Global Projects at the University to identify and distribute potential applied research opportunities for the HATS faculty network.
As that HATS project goes into its second year, our team aims to organize webinars with invited speaker series, promote collaborative research opportunities, and expand the curriculum on HATS content. We hope you join us on this project and learn from each other.
Best
Tim
