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Home » Education » Payson Center Summer Institute » Summer Institute - Human Aspects of Disasters and Complex Emergencies
Location: Geneva Switzerland
Dates: June 30 – July 11th
3 Credit Hours
Open to Undergraduate and Graduate Students
Professors
Manuel Carballo, PhD
Dauphine Sloan, PhD
Course Description
This course, administered in partnership with the International Center for Migration andHealth (ICMH), will focus primarily on disaster relief and reconstruction. Individual lessonsaddress a variety of subtopics such as rapid assessment, psycho-social health,reproductive health, monitoring and evaluation, relief organizations,communicable diseases, and management of IDP and refugee situations. Classwill be broken up into morning (9am to 12pm) lectures and afternoon (2pm-5pm)guest lecturers and fieldtrips to places such as the UN, the Red Cross, UNOCHA,UNHCR, the WHO, the ICMH, etc. The course is open to both undergraduate andgraduate students and is worth three credit hours.
About Geneva
Geneva is the home of the European headquarters for theUnited Nations (UN) and a number of its sister organizations and other inter-governmentalorganizations, including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR),UNICEF, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the World Health Organization(WHO) among others. Geneva is also a beautiful city to explore in your freetime. A city bus will take you the 5km to Mount Saleve in France where you canride a cable car to the peak (1380 meters). Cafes, parks, street markets,cruises and other sights and activities line Geneva’s lakefront. During thesummer the weather is beautiful during the day and many Genevois will go for abike-ride or go relax in an area of the lake designated for swimmers andsunbathers. Old Town, a short walk from where you are staying has cafes,restaurants, and boutiques lining its cobblestoned streets and alleys. Genevais also home to more than thirty museums and galleries, with free admissionoffered the first Sunday of every month at most public museums. On weekends, youmay decide to bicycle through the vineyards just outside of Geneva to gowine-tasting (many are free on Saturday mornings), travel by train to Montreuxto see the impressive Chateau de Chillon, relax in Evian, or travel beyond LakeGeneve. There are also a number of music festivals in and around Geneva duringthe summertime for those who are interested. Students will be able to traveleasily around Geneva, which , like many other European cities, has a muchevolved public transportation system. The Transports Public Genevois providesfrequent bus, tram, ‘mouette’ (boat) and suburban train service to within ablock or two of most location in the city and canton. Trains and boats arealso reliable for travelling beyond the city limits and schedules for these areavailable online and at the train station.
Housing
Studentswill stay at Le Cite Universitaire in Geneva, located close to the conference center at Le Cenacle (about 10minutes walking or 2 minutes by bus). Students will be in either double-roomsor triples. Each room has its own bathroom. Wireless internet is available atle Cite but is very expensive. There are a number of computers in the commonarea that may be used for a very reasonable fee (about 20 Swiss Francs for 10hours). Some rooms have mini-kitchenettes. Food may be purchased at the café/restaurantor mini-grocery located on the first floor of le Cite Universitaire.
Classroom
The course will be administered at Le Cenacle,situated in the Malagnou neighborhood of Geneva above the Eaux Vives and closeto Le Cite Universitaire. Students choosing to bring their laptops will haveaccess to free wireless at Le Cenacle. Lunch will be served here on weekdays.
Cost
The cost of the 2008 Summer Institute in Geneva is $3300.00 for graduate students and $3700.00 for undergraduate students. Housing costs, field trips, daily lunch (Mon-Fri), and 3 credit tuition are included. Students will have to provide for allother meals, their transportation to Geneva and any extra expenses they mightincur. The airport in Geneva is served by almost all European carriers and bytwo daily trans-Atlantic flights (one from New York, JFK on Swiss and one fromNewark on Continental.) Students will be able to travel easily around thecity on public transportation. You may buy individual tickets for each busride or buy a public transportation pass at the main train station(approximately 40 CHF for participants under 25).
