September 2021

Call for Master students to participate in the ´Tsunami Risk´ project

Disaster Research Unit, Free University Berlin
Contact details: Prof. Dr. Martin Voss and Dr. Isabelle Desportes, isabelle.desportes@fu-berlin.de and
Gusti Ayu Ketut Surtiari, National Agency for Research and Innovation (BRIN), ayu.surtiari@gmail.com

The Tsunami Risk project started in March 2021. Forming part of it, Indonesian and German scientists
from different disciplines, (sub)country cultures, language backgrounds, policy and practice come work
together with the aim to improve the tsunami Early Warning System (EWS) in Indonesia. EWSs are
more than technology but constitute a social process (Kelman und Glantz 2014). Social sciences
therefore have a crucial role to play within the project.

Our research at the Disaster Research Unit of the Free University Berlin, conducted in collaboration
with the Research Centre on Populations at BRIN, contributes to the ´cultural turn´ currently taking
place in disaster studies. The way societies create and interact with disasters is increasingly seen as
culturally mediated. A variety of factors can play a role in how disasters, risk and warnings are
perceived, given meaning and interacted with: institutions and traditions developed over time (Bankoff
2003), past events and memory processes (Pfister 2011; Fuentealba 2021), local knowledge, sense-
making and experiences (Voss 2008; IFRC 2014), but also country, organizational and scientific
knowledge cultures (Cornia, Dressel, und Pfeil 2016; Warner und Engel 2014; Knorr-Cetina 2002).
Specifically, an epistemological perspective to disasters*culture stresses that we should study disasters
without pre-conceptions. While some argue that we are ´part and shaped by a culture out there´,
Geertz (1987) for instance has defined culture as a “self-webbed web of meaning”. This definition puts
the focus on interpreting and ´finding meaning´ rather than on identifying set patterns.

We are currently looking for four Master students already taking part in Social Science Master
program (two from the Free University Berlin, two from an Indonesian institution) to write their own
Master thesis as part of the Tsunami Risk research project. The following pages delimitate two
proposed thesis topics, focusing on ´resilience and its alternatives´ and ´disaster drills´ respectively.
These propositions can be amended depending on the candidate´s personal interests. The student ´s
research will be directly embedded within the larger research consortium. We strongly encourage the
research to take place in tandems between Indonesian and German students.

Please convey your interest by e-mail, with mention of your preferred topic (1 or 2) and during which
time-span you plan to work on your Master thesis. The Master theses work on ´disaster drills´ in
particular is expected to start during the year 2021 still. The motivation of interested students will be
examined on a first come first served basis, but do try to convey your interest by e-mail latest by 20th
October 2021.

Please note we offer co-supervision by researchers from the Free University Berlin, the possibility to
work on timely research topics, to partner up in a research tandem with a Master student from an
Indonesian/German institution, as well as to access to the Tsunami Risk research and practice
networks. This offer does not constitute an internship or other paid role, although German (the
Academic Exchange Service DAAD) or Indonesian (LPDP) institutions are aware of the Tsunami Risk
research programme and can be approached for scholarships. Master students already working on the
side, for instance as part of a Ministry, are very welcome. For orientation purposes: At the Free
University Berlin, Master thesis are ca. 18 000 words long. The student has 19 weeks to work on the
thesis, starting on the thesis registration date.
1
Proposed master thesis topic 1: Resilience and its alternatives

Resilience has established itself as a key disaster concept, some would say ‘buzzword’ , for the 21st
century. In line with its time, the Tsunami Risk research proposal (2021, 35) states that the ultimate
goal of the research consortium is to increase the “effectiveness” and “resilience” of the Indonesian
disaster management system. However, the latest wave of resilience research issues a strong warning
on that regard. Hammad and Tribe (2021, 137) note that

imported Western conceptualisations and interventions used to foster resilience in the Global
South often neglect indigenous understandings and forms of resilience because they may not
conform to the dominant Western narrative on resilience (Ryan, 2015). Studying indigenous
forms of resilience can help increase valuable knowledge that can be used to inform culturally
appropriate responses.

This is why the Tsunami Risk research proposal (2021) also stresses that the tools and approaches
developed as part of the project need to fit and be embedded within existing structures and practices,
and why we propose for a Master thesis to focus on the topic of resilience from cultural and Indonesian
perspectives, in their plurality. In line with and building on the calls to culturally embed and contrast
resilience (see also Marie, Hannigan, und Jones 2018; Wildfeuer 2021), this proposed Master thesis
focuses on the cultural, social and ecological contextualisation of the concept, and adds a variety of
Indonesian voices to the discussion.

The research endeavour also remains open-minded for alternative concepts to ´resilience´, and for
other objectives which actors centrally or peripherally involved in the Tsunami Risk project might
pursue. Interactions during the initial Tsunami Risk phase thus highlighted how strengthening scientific
profiles and collaboration, accessing and developing technologies and data, and commercialising
research outputs, are also amongst the goals expected by some. How are these objectives negotiated,
perceived (fair, legitimate…)? Do they evolve with time, does this impact back on the scientific work?
These are all questions which may be asked as part of the Master thesis.

This topic may be conducted by a tandem of one Indonesian and one German Master student:

- From the Indonesian perspective, the topic of resilience and its (alternative) objectives would
be explored through review of academic and grey literature, in particular to grasp and convey
the meaning of the Indonesian concepts tangguh or siaga bencana, which loosely relates to
resilience. Qualitative primary data collection tools such as semi-structured interviews and
focus group discussions with disaster management staff based in offices and warning centers,
but also government, and communities in Palu or Anak Krakatau, can further help explore
which understandings of resilience, or other cultural constructs and worldviews, are central to
the manner in which Indonesian (sub)cultures deal with disasters.
- Focus of the German Master student would be on objective setting on the German side,
whereby the perspectives of funding institution BMBF can be included in the analysis. Primary
and secondary data collection can moreover focus on what was (not) achieved as part of past
Indonesian-German cooperation projects focusing on Tsunami Early Warning Systems (i.e. the
projects GITEWS finalized in 2011, and PROTECTS running 2006-2013). It is noteworthy that
some of the German geo-scientists currently on Tsunami Risk were part of these past research
endeavors, and that we can learn from their experiences.
Proposed master thesis topic 2: Disaster drills from a cultural
(Indonesian and German) perspective

Disaster drills are a common feature of disaster risk reduction. By putting drill participants in touch
with the pretend-reality of a tsunami, flooding or earthquake, the participants are expected to learn
more and be more prepared than if they had, for instance, simply read about evacuation guidelines
(Keeton and Tate 1978, cited in Zavar und Nelan 2020, 624–25). Yet, the drills can take different forms
depending on the contexts and objectives. They might involve rehearsing set procedures such as
ringing alarm sirens and evacuating a school or hospital, medics triaging through the injured, or
decision-makers united in a room to creatively think along a new disaster scenario under pressure.

We wonder: what role does ´culture´ play in shaping and giving meaning to the disaster drill processes?
Involving very visible exercises and interactions, a disaster drill can be studied as a more tangible
manifestation of disaster*culture. We thus propose to approach disaster drills from a cultural
perspective, through Master theses.

Questions to be explored in this Master thesis may include:

- How are disaster drills organized in different contexts? Which cultural forms do drills take, e.g.
linked to technological tools, to local traditions, to ceremonies with presence of representative
figures and symbols, to discussions preceding or following the drill exercise itself?
- What are always culturally-mediated expectations concerning such drills?
- Which role does the media play in shaping these perceptions – for instance looking at the
coverage of disaster awareness day and associated drill exercises in Indonesia?
- What do drill organizers and participants describe as the goals to be attained through a drill,
and what does that tell us about culturally-specific interpretations of ´preparedness´?
- How do drill participants reflect on their experience of participating in the disaster drill?
- Which contextual factors can constitute barriers in organizing drills? E.g. lack of infrastructure,
budget or gender norms.
- What are the cultural presuppositions of organizing drills, and in which cultural contexts do
drills not make any sense at all?
We propose to have this thesis topic conducted in tandem by one Indonesian and one German Master
student. Methodologically, the topic would be explored through review of academic and grey
literature, direct participation and observation of disaster drills (one in Germany, one on tsunamis in
Indonesia, preferably of similar nature – for instance the drills both involving civilians, or both decision-
makers), and involvement in the preparation and analysis of a disaster drill workshop conducted in
2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of the Tsunami Risk research project. Next to filling a theoretical
knowledge gap on disaster drills from a cultural perspective, the research conducted for this thesis will
therefore serve very practical purposes.
Additional background info on Tsunami Risk

• Project starting point: Tsunami Risk is a new research project where scientists from different
disciplines, (sub)country cultures, language backgrounds, policy and practice come work
together with the aim to improve the tsunami Early Warning System (EWS) in Indonesia. All
actors have different norms and values and assign different interpretations and meanings to
elements such as disasters, risk, resilience, ´scientific´ practice and societal impact.
• Underlying assumption is that all involved try to understand each other, even though they will
never fully do so. Understanding disaster cultures is primordial for the Tsunami Risk project to
maximize positive impact, and minimize harmful impact. The scientific outputs must serve
context-specific priorities and needs.
• Approach: Varying disaster cultures and underlying epistemologies are very difficult to
capture, yet we do try to group them, focus on the processes, on the fault lines between
various language/discipline/practice etc. circles, and on the attempts to bridge them.
• Overall question: How does knowledge evolve, translate between these different
language/discipline/practice etc. circles, towards which goal?
• Some questions for WP410.1 on disaster*culture in Indonesia: What are the contextual
disaster cultures in Indonesia, and the focus areas of Palu and Anak Krakatau specifically?
• Some questions for WP410.2 disaster*culture and (geo-)science: How do (geo-)scientists take
into account context-specific and policy factors when working on the EWS? How does
(geo)scientific knowledge translate into policy and practice? Do scientists from both countries
speak the same language, just because of being from the same discipline?

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