Spring Break
CSU tackles Hurricane Katrina
Experts to speak at Saturday's symposium on the storm and its aftermath
Vimal Patel
Issue date: 2/16/07 Section: News
For 18 months, CSU anthropology professor Kate Browne followed a black family displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
Today, most of the 155 family members are back home in New Orleans.
But despite the nation's largest natural disaster falling off the media radar, Browne says life in New Orleans isn't quite peachy yet.
"The story doesn't end with 'glory hallelujah' because they are still having immense problems," she said. "There are so many people who have had horrible things they've had to face to get their lives back. The extent and scale of the disaster (is) still wreaking havoc in people's lives."
To help shine some light on the issue, Browne organized a Hurricane Katrina symposium to bring together experts to talk about various aspects of the storm and its aftermath - from the economic and political to the social and cultural.
The event, scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tamasag Retreat Center, 4285 Larimer County Road 52E in Bellvue, will feature CSU professors from four colleges in addition to mental health experts from the Denver area.
Browne teaches a new course at CSU titled "New Orleans: Ethnographic Encounters with a Different America." The professor's research focuses on the values and cultural pattern of extended families in New Orleans.
"These large extended families is what most of America doesn't understand," she said. "Most have very deep roots...the draw of New Orleans is that it can teach us about who we are as Americans."
Browne's study of the extended family in the form of a documentary is expected to be complete by April, and she said she already has an agreement with PBS to show the film.
On Saturday, professors from various fields will tackle different aspects of the catastrophe.
Doug Rice from the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Services will speak about his work assessing mold damage and related health concerns from the storm. Rice has made more than 20 trips to New Orleans since the storm hit.
Today, most of the 155 family members are back home in New Orleans.
But despite the nation's largest natural disaster falling off the media radar, Browne says life in New Orleans isn't quite peachy yet.
"The story doesn't end with 'glory hallelujah' because they are still having immense problems," she said. "There are so many people who have had horrible things they've had to face to get their lives back. The extent and scale of the disaster (is) still wreaking havoc in people's lives."
To help shine some light on the issue, Browne organized a Hurricane Katrina symposium to bring together experts to talk about various aspects of the storm and its aftermath - from the economic and political to the social and cultural.
The event, scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Tamasag Retreat Center, 4285 Larimer County Road 52E in Bellvue, will feature CSU professors from four colleges in addition to mental health experts from the Denver area.
Browne teaches a new course at CSU titled "New Orleans: Ethnographic Encounters with a Different America." The professor's research focuses on the values and cultural pattern of extended families in New Orleans.
"These large extended families is what most of America doesn't understand," she said. "Most have very deep roots...the draw of New Orleans is that it can teach us about who we are as Americans."
Browne's study of the extended family in the form of a documentary is expected to be complete by April, and she said she already has an agreement with PBS to show the film.
On Saturday, professors from various fields will tackle different aspects of the catastrophe.
Doug Rice from the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Services will speak about his work assessing mold damage and related health concerns from the storm. Rice has made more than 20 trips to New Orleans since the storm hit.
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