Abstract

Liberal Arts education has a strong emphasis on the utilization of human and social capital in addressing people’s needs and identifying credible solutions both locally and globally. Similarly, social science education provides applied learning through community organization approach. For example, a case study of Bangladesh mentioned in the world press is an extremely successful community based model for disaster prone regions of the world. This article explores disaster preparedness by incorporating social capital theory in higher education combined with new media for applied practice experience in times of disasters. Throughout history, the coastal people of Bangladesh have contended with natural disasters of epic scale. The results have ranged from heavy losses of human lives and cattle, to property damage worth billions of dollars. In 1966, the International Federation of Red Cross and the Swedish Red Cross Society helped by implementing a pilot scheme for Cyclone Preparedness Program (CPP) in the disaster prone areas of Bangladesh to strengthen the capacity of the coastal people through sustained training activities. This article is based on CPP to understand the context and process that helps to reduce damages as a result of natural disasters in coastal Bangladesh. The article highlights how CPP of Bangladesh Red Cross society developed its social capital to respond effectively saving lives and properties before, during, and after natural disaster. This article educates the reader about how to integrate disaster perspectives in developing courses for their social science and liberal arts curricula, and link it with social networking websites through new media to build social capital, exploring further opportunities to strengthen disaster mitigation and preparedness.