Please join us for the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs College Colloquia Series featuring Dr. Rebecca Rice, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Studies. Dr. Rice will present her talk entitled, "Power, Authority, and Community Collaboration in Emergency Response."

Collaboration is often proposed as an important step in addressing large-scale societal problems. However, collaboration presents challenges in practice, as multiple organizations must come to the table, establish structures and roles, and decide on a course of action. In emergency management, response to crisis often requires collaboration among many different community groups. However, these groups may not come together on equal footing or with shared perceptions of the problem and solutions. This two-year study proposes that how collaboration members talk to and about each other is key to collaborative success (and failure) in emergency response efforts. The ultimate conclusion here is that collaboration can be a useful tool for addressing community problems, but it is not a cure-all, and members of collaborations need to be aware of how they create and reinforce power differences.