Disaster Management in Universities is yet to be recognized as a specialized field although it seems to be emerging globally as a full-fledged academic discipline. In formal education systems, modules and courses are offered and many high school curricula as well as Bachelors’ and Masters’ programme in some countries offer aspects of disasters and disaster management. Full-fledged Masters’ in Disaster Management are offered by just two Universities world wide. On the other hand, with the rise in the number of disasters, the demand for qualified professionals in disaster management is increasing. Organisations and agencies involved in disaster management find it necessary to recruit professionals with specific skills and knowledge which contributes to a more holistic understanding of development, vulnerability and disasters. Scholars and researchers are increasingly involved in conceptual work, evaluation studies and in prediction of disasters. Technologies are being evolved or reassessed for their implications for disasters and their effective management. It is in this context, that this paper traces the evolution of a post graduate programme in disaster management at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, a University in India. The Institute had a long history of its faculty and students working as citizen volunteers in post-disaster relief and rehabilitation contexts in the country. Consolidating sixty years of this experience, coupled with the ideological commitment to social and environmental justice, a Masters’ programme in Disaster Management was introduced in 2006. The paper discusses the key processes in curriculum building which involved a global review of the existing modules and courses across a wide variety of programme, a series of international consultations with Universities in Africa and US and Asia.

The paper shares the rationale for evolving the curriculum on disaster management at the university level, and describes the framework and course contents and also discusses how the programme attempts to integrate theory and practice. It also examines the conditions that could support upcoming students to study, participate, create and develop resilient organisations of change and innovation. The paper offers some insights on how institutions of higher learning can contribute to the facilitation and development of new generation of creative, reflective and skilled professionals in emerging fields such as that of disaster management, requiring a strong multidisciplinary orientation.