New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, and Katrina: Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future

多机构倡议“新方向：科学、人文、政策”（http://newdirections.unt.edu）将于2006年初在新奥尔良举办为期四天的研讨会，主题是“新奥尔良、密西西比三角洲和卡特里娜——过去的教训，未来的教训”。本次研讨会以“新方向”之前的努力为基础，促进伦理和价值观与科学和技术知识的结合，以解决紧迫的社会问题。本次研讨会将重点关注卡特里娜飓风过后新奥尔良/密西西比三角洲地区所面临的环境和社会挑战。应对卡特里娜飓风带来的破坏需要对各个领域相互关联的观点进行评估，如地质学、水文学、历史地理学、生态学、经济学、历史学、伦理学、城市规划、政策、文化分析和许多其他学科。本次研讨会将提供一个论坛，探讨如何改善这些领域之间的沟通和整合。我们如何识别和整合必要的相关知识来应对这场灾难，以及预测和应对未来类似的可能性？每天的会议将围绕两到三个主题进行，专家们将对相关主题进行介绍，然后这些主题将被视为关于讲习班两个主要主题的跨学科讨论的催化剂。这个项目的智力价值在于，它将加深我们对学科之间相互联系的理解，以应对社会挑战。自然科学和工程学擅长提供关于物理世界的知识。社会科学和人文学科擅长提供社会世界的知识。但正如卡特里娜飓风造成的破坏所表明的那样，我们还必须理解物与人之间的交集：自然环境、科学与工程以及社会秩序之间的交集。这一建议的更广泛的影响在于它有可能提高科学和工程知识与社会领域的相关性。本次研讨会的成果将包括出版物和课程开发，利用新奥尔良和密西西比三角洲作为探索跨学科研究的重要性的手段，以便正确应对像卡特里娜这样的危机。不太标准的成果将包括在学术界、决策者和广大公众之间建立新的伙伴关系。工作坊及相关资料亦会收集于网上，供科学、工程、社会科学、人文科学、政策课程、决策者及公众使用，以进一步解决跨学科的问题。

The multi-institutional initiative New Directions: Science, Humanities, Policy (http://newdirections.unt.edu) will to conduct a four-day workshop in New Orleans early in 2006 on the theme of "New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, and Katrina - Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future." This workshop builds on previous New Directions efforts to promote the integration of ethics and values concerns with scientific and technical knowledge to address pressing societal issues. This workshop will focus on the environmental and societal challenges surrounding New Orleans/Mississippi Delta in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Responding to the devastation followed by Katrina requires an appreciation of the interrelated perspectives of various fields, such as geology, hydrology, historical geography, ecology, economics, history, ethics, urban planning, policy, cultural analysis, and a host of other disciplines. This workshop will provide a forum to explore how to improve communication and integration across these fields. How do we identify and integrate the pertinent knowledge necessary for addressing this catastrophe, as well as for anticipating and responding to similar possibilities in the future? Each day's session will be structured around two or three themes, where specialists will give presentations on relevant topics, which will then be treated as catalysts for interdisciplinary discussion on the two overarching themes of the workshop. The intellectual merit of this project is that it will deepen our understanding of the interconnections between disciplines in addressing societal challenges. The natural sciences and engineering are good at providing knowledge about the physical world. The social sciences and humanities are good at providing knowledge of the social world. But as Katrina's devastation has demonstrated, we must also understand the intersection between things and people: between the natural environment, science and engineering, and social orders. The broader impact of this proposal lies in its potential for improving the relevance of scientific and engineering knowledge to the social realm. Results from this workshop will include publications and course development using New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta as means for exploring the importance of interdisciplinary research in order to properly respond to crises like Katrina. Less standard deliverables will include the creation of new partnerships between academia, decision makers, and the public at large. Workshop and related materials will also be collected on the web for use by science, engineering, social science, humanities, policy classes, decision-makers, and the public to further interdisciplinary problem solving.