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Disaster Studies (MA)

Overview

The Disaster Studies MA Program offers students broad interdisciplinary training in the fields of Sociology of Disaster and emergency management with classes on both the Edinburg and Brownsville campuses and online. Graduates from the program will enjoy a wide range of career opportunities as emergency management specialists, homeland security officers, hospital emergency preparedness administrators, public health planners, communication officers, and emergency response technicians. The program also prepares students for Ph.D. programs in emergency management, public health, sociology, and related fields. Funding opportunities in the form of assistantships are available for both domestic and international students.

Admission Requirements

To be admitted to the Disaster Studies MA program, prospective candidates must first meet all requirements for graduate admission to UT Rio Grande Valley, as well as the other requirements listed below:

  1. Undergraduate degree from any major
  2. Undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 in the last 60 semester credit hours. If applicant does not meet minimum undergraduate GPA criterion, the GRE general test score is required for conditional admission. GRE test scores are valid for 5 years.

If an applicant does not meet the minimum undergraduate GPA criterion, the GRE test is required for conditional admission.

Application for admission must be submitted prior to the published deadline. The application is available at www.utrgv.edu/gradapply.

Program Requirements

Required Courses - 18 Hours

SOCI 6300Statistics

3
 
SOCI 6301Social Theory

3
Or
SOCI 6302Research Methods

3
 
SOCI 6331Disasters and Society

3
SOCI 6332Geographic Information Systems for Disaster Management

3
SOCI 6333Principles of Emergency Management

3
SOCI 6377Disaster Resiliency and Sustainability

3

Core Electives - 6 Hours

Choose two from the following:

ANTH 6314Environmental Anthropology

3
CRIJ 6322Terrorism

3
PAFF 6380Global Security

3
SOCI 6334Disaster Vulnerability

3
SOCI 6335Environmental Sociology

3
SOCI 6336Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness

3

Non-thesis Option

Prescribed Electives - 9 Hours

Choose 6 hours from one area and 3 hours from another area below:

Area 1: Public Health
BIET 6331Ethnicity, Culture, Race and Health Equity

3
BIET 6334Human Rights, Justice, and Health

3
BIET 6352Narrative Bioethics

3
Area 2: Government and Public Administration
PAFF 6303Policy Implementation and Program Evaluation

3
PAFF 6304Public Budgeting and Finance

3
PAFF 6305Political Leadership: Decision-Making and Management in Public Organizations

3
PAFF 6310Public Service Ethics

3
PAFF 6312State and Local Government

3
PAFF 6314Formulation of Public Policy

3
PAFF 6317Grant Writing and Fund Development

3
PAFF 6319Public Finance Administration

3
PAFF 6375Special Topics

3
Area 3: Organizational Communication
COMM 6322Culture and Communication

3
ENGL 6326Professional Writing

3

Capstone Requirement - 3 Hours

SOCI 6304Research Capstone

3
Or
SOCI 6376Directed Study

3

Thesis Option:

Prescribed Electives - 6 Hours

Choose two areas: 

Area 1: Public Health
BIET 6331Ethnicity, Culture, Race and Health Equity

3
BIET 6334Human Rights, Justice, and Health

3
BIET 6352Narrative Bioethics

3
Area 2: Government and Public Administration
PAFF 6303Policy Implementation and Program Evaluation

3
PAFF 6304Public Budgeting and Finance

3
PAFF 6305Political Leadership: Decision-Making and Management in Public Organizations

3
PAFF 6310Public Service Ethics

3
PAFF 6312State and Local Government

3
PAFF 6314Formulation of Public Policy

3
PAFF 6317Grant Writing and Fund Development

3
PAFF 6319Public Finance Administration

3
PAFF 6375Special Topics

3
Area 3: Organizational Communication
COMM 6322Culture and Communication

3
ENGL 6326Professional Writing

3

Thesis - 6 Hours

SOCI 7300Thesis I

3
SOCI 7301Thesis II

3

Total Credit Hours: 36