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Rhetoric Team Description

Ian Ferris describes the methods and focus of the Rhetoric Field Team of the Austin Anthropocene Field Campus.

Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine
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I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

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Alexi Martin
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"Pioneers of modern public health during the 19th century, such as Fudolf Vichaw, understood that epidemic dieases and dismal life expentencies were tightly linked to social conditions."

"The results registered a few years later were dramatic:racial, gender, injection-drug use and socioeconmic dispute in outcomes largely disappeared within the study population."

"The idea of structure violence is linked very closely to social injustice and the monarcy of opressions."

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Alexi Martin
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“World health is indivisible [and] we cannot satisfy our most parochial needs with attending to the health conditions of the whole globe”

“Viral pathogenicity is a property of not a virus in hibernation, but of an interaction between the virus and the “host” that is human beings.”

“Who should lead the fight against disease? Who should pay for it? And what are the best strategies and tactics to adopt?”

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Alexi Martin
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The main author  Fughammer has areas of expertise in economics, politcal science and global health, he is a research fellow at Stockholm international peace institute.  The other authors listed have expertise in healthcare and come from various research instituions. A variety of knowledge indicates a variety of perspectives on the subject.

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Alexi Martin
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The main arguments presented in this article is the history of disasters in the United States and the cause of buildings’ demise due to structural discrepancies. The historical accounts of the burning of the capital and the Iroquois theatre fire show how disaster investigation started and then evolved to the investigation of 9/11.