Jessica Pardee

I am a sociologist with formal training in urban sociology, disaster recovery, social inequality, and research methods. For fun, I teach about the social consequences of technology on society.

1. How Do You Teach Applied Critical Thinking in the Context of Disaster?

I challenge students to consider how different values and priorities shape the mitigation of, experience within, and recovery from emergent disasters of all scales.

2. Why Do You Think Applied Critical Thinking is Important in Your Domain?

Disasters are not linear; they require triangulated response and integrated, synergistic analysis.

3. Can You Share a Story Where Quality Applied Critical Thinking Was Key to Your Success?

In my prior research work on Hurricane Katrina, I merged three distinct research literatures -- the causes of urban poverty in general, the lived experience of everyday poverty survival, and disaster recovery to understand what techniques of everyday poverty survival applied in a post-disaster setting for low-income families. 

4. How Do I Use Critical Thinking in Other Areas of Your Life Outside of RIT?

I consider the ways multiple factors influence our lived experiences, and that interactions need to begin with a degree of compassion because many times the burdens impacting behavior are invisible to us at first glance. 

5. Any Last Critical Thoughts You Wish to Share About What We Are Experiencing Now or What You Have Learned in Past Work?

Understanding the science of biological contamination can provide key clues to curbing the spread through adjusted social behaviors. How we interact, show love and affection, bond with families, and even build our living spaces and urban environments are all factors in how we will mitigate and recover from this immediate crisis. Fortunately, cooperation is the post-disaster norm for human behavior, and that gives me hope.