Course director Norman Cheung talks about Kingston University's Hazards and Disaster Management MSc

My name is Norman Cheung
I am the Course Director and Senior Lecturer for the Postgraduate course
Hazards and Disaster Management
I am a Climateologist by training with expertise in hazards and disaster management.
It is a very dynamic course that we are very enthusiastic about
and we use a lot of international examples from the developed countries and the developing countries
This course is ideal for anyone who wants to develop and advance their career in risk and disaster management.
We would like students to have a background in geography, environmental management
and we also like people with a lot of experienced in the field.
Maybe you are a fire officer for some years, maybe you have been working for the NGO for some time.
If you want to develop you career, this course is for you.
The programme has four strands to it.
The first one is the Hazards and Society. In which you will learn different types of hazards from,
volcano, earthquake, tsunami, to hurricanes. Even man induced hazards for example terrorism, nuclear radiation, radon
and you would also learn the disaster management with prevention preparedness, response and recovery
One thing I need to emphasise. You will learn the insurance which will give you the idea of how we manage the disasters in a structural way.
We have GIS and hazards in which you will learn the techniques of this software. How to use it to for analysis and presentation.
Of course you also have a good chance to emphasise, to focus on your dissertation.
You will learn the technique of how to undertake an independent project.
We have field work at the end of the year, if you do full time. If you do part-time, we would do that in your second year.
At the moment we go to Tenerife to see the volcanic hazards, the volcanoes. To look at the whole process. How we prepare for a volcanic eruption.
We adopt different teaching methodologies from lectures, discussion, debate and similar case studies
and you will learn in context. We will have live exercises and also desktop research exercises.
We do provide a lot of help during your study. We have different departments, different schools, and people to help you develop the ideas of how you
develop your ideas of how you pursue your career and ideas in Hazards and Disaster Management.
We also have a strong network with the government officials. NGO, United Nations and the emergency services as well.
Our graduates have successfully got a lot of jobs in the field.
Some of my students work in the government for the emergency planners. Some of them work as risk consultants
for the oil companies and some of them even work for the Olympic Games risk management.
We do keep very close contact with all our students after they graduate. We are a family. After your degree it is not the end of it.
It is the beginning of your career and your life.
If you're not sure up to now if this course is for you, or what you want to do.
Try to give me an email. Contact me. We can have a talk and see if this course is for you or not.
Because this is your time and your degree and your future.