From the recognition of risk to the coordination of response and explanations of cause, communication is an essential feature of crisis management and disaster response. Matthew Seeger, an international expert on crisis and issue management, will speak on crisis communication at noon on Tuesday, Dec. 9, in room 2147 of Wayne State University's Old Main (Warren and Cass avenues).

Seeger specifically will discuss the role of communication in such events as the recent SARS outbreak; the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001; the 2001 anthrax attack; and the collapse of Enron. Seeger also will describe the emergence of theory in the study of crisis communication.

In crises, the form and quality of communication often affects the magnitude of the disaster. Many times minor incidents have been turned into major disasters due to poor communication. Before the incident, communication can affect the awareness of risk. During the incident, communication is an essential part of coordinated response. After the incident, communication takes the form of apologia, an explanation of why the incident happened and whether or not it could have been avoided.

A professor in Wayne State's Department of Communication, Seeger is the author of Communication and Organizational Crisis (Quorum 2003), and has conducted a recent research project, "Media Use, Information Seeking, and Reported Needs in the Post 9/11 Context."

This seminar is presented by the Wayne State University Humanities Center, in cooperation with Institute for Information Technology and Culture (IITC). The seminar is the second in a series of three workshops to be offered by the IITC that will focus on issues of homeland security, with an emphasis on the coordination of response to disasters. Dr. Haluk Aktan spoke Nov. 12 on "Risk Management of Urban Transportation Infrastructure." On Feb. 5, 2004, Dr. Suzanne White will speak about biomedical preparedness in Metro Detroit.

The Wayne State University Humanities Center has as its mission to nurture interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and disciplinary work in the humanities and arts through competitions, seminars, discussion groups, and other programs for Wayne State's humanities and arts faculty and students and for visiting scholars and artists.

IITC is a multidisciplinary group of medical and organizational anthropologists, psychologists, engineers, nurses, social workers, computer experts and doctors collaborating to understand the cultural aspects of technology use.