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Graduate Program in Disaster & Emergency Management Faculty of Graduate Studies
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Degree Requirement and Options

Master's and PhD academic requirements for our graduate program can be found at Faculty of Graduate Studies—Program Requirements.

The program is offered on a full-time and part-time basis. The recommended time to completion is 4 terms for full-time students and 8 terms for part-time students. Two options are available to complete the program: Major Research Paper (MRP): 24-course credits + MRP (6 credits); and Coursework: 30-course credits.

Students must successfully complete 24 course credits plus the Major Research Paper, including the following:                                

  1. Core required courses: 6 credits                                                                                                   
    • DEMS 5020 3.0 Disasters: Concepts and Causes/Same as Environmental Studies                      
    • DEMS 5030 3.0 Social and Behavioural Dimensions of Disasters                                                  
  2. Six additional credits in research methods:                                                                                 
    • DEMS 5051 3.0: Research Design and Qualitative Research Methods AND                        
    • DEMS 5052 3.0: Quantitative Research Methods
    • In consultation with the student's supervisor, alternative 6-credit research methods course(s) from other graduate programs in the university may be acceptable.
  3. Twelve additional credits, selected in consultation with the student's supervisor or the program director, six of which must be from courses within the MDEM program, and the rest may be from the MDEM program and/ or from appropriate graduate courses offered across the university in consultation with the program director.

Major Research Paper (MRP): students in the MRP option are required to write a major research paper on an approved topic by mutual agreement with a faculty member (supervisor) from the program. Topics can either be a critical evaluation and synthesis of the current state of knowledge and research within a defined area of study or may focus on a specific research topic in depth. Papers must comprise original material of a scholarly nature, demonstrate that the student is capable of independent research and critical analysis and be of publishable quality. The MRP should be between 80-100 pages. A sample template for the MRP proposal structure is available after the course descriptions page. The paper is graded on a pass/fail basis by a committee composed of the student's supervisor and one other faculty member (a second reader) who has not been involved in the major research paper process.

Instructions

Step 1: Choose an MRP supervisor and a second reader

Step 2: Have your MRP supervisor sign off on your MRP proposal and send a copy to the Graduate Program Assistant (mdemgpa@yorku.ca). Once this is done and approved, you can start your MRP.

Notes: the MRP proposal should be 1-2 pages in length. You should also review the Guidelines for Writing a Major Research Paper (.pdf)

When submitting your final version of your MRP (after your supervisor and second reader have no more revisions for you to make and a pass has been assigned to your paper) please submit one soft copy to the MDEM office at mdemgpa@yorku.ca.

Please continue to monitor the emails to find out the deadlines for submitting your final copies of the MRP.

Ethics

If you are using "human participants" for your MRP you will need to complete "ethics" forms that need to be approved by our internal ethics committee before proceeding.

List of forms that are required to be completed:

  • Form TD1
  • Form TD2
  • Form TD3

Ethics forms can be found on the FGS website.

In addition, students should also complete the following online tutorial on Ethics:
https://tcps2core.ca/welcome

Ethics forms can be forwarded to the Graduate Program Assistant (mdemgpa@yorku.ca) to forward to the ethics committee for approval at any time.

Please remember to keep an eye on graduation and degree requirement deadlines on the FGS website so that you fulfill all program requirements including completion of your MRP by the required deadlines.

The program is offered on a full-time and part-time basis. The recommended time to completion is four terms for full-time students and eight terms for part-time students. Two options are available to complete the program: Major Research Paper (MRP): 24-course credits + MRP (6 credits); and Coursework: 30-course credits.

Students must successfully complete 30 course credits, including the following:

  1. Core required courses: 6 credits
    • DEMS 5020 3.0 Disasters: Concepts and Causes/Same as Environmental Studies                        
    • DEMS 5030 3.0 Social and Behavioural Dimensions of Disasters                                                  
  2. Three additional credits in research methods:
    • DEMS 5051 3.0: Research Design and Qualitative Research Methods OR                                        
    • DEMS 5052 3.0: Quantitative Research Methods
    • An alternative 3 credits Research Methods course from any other graduate programs at the university may be acceptable in consultation with MDEM program director.
  3. Twenty-one additional credits. Twelve of which must be from courses within the MDEM program, and the rest may be from the MDEM program and/ or from appropriate graduate courses offered across the university with consultation with the program director.
  • DEMS 5010-Advanced Disaster and Emergency Management
  • DEMS 5040-Natural Disasters
  • DEMS 5053-Topics in Business Continuity
  • DEMS 5060-Terrorism 1
  • DEMS 5080 6.00. Disaster and Emergency Management Field Experience
  • DEMS 5081 3.00. Applied Topics in Disaster and Emergency Management
  • DEMS 5082-Medical and Public Health Issues for Non-Medical Personnel
  • DEMS 5710-Critical Infrastructure Protection
  • DEMS 6070 3.00-Disasters and Ethics

Learn More

The Graduate Program in Disaster & Emergency Management at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.

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