The Weitzman School Presents: Emma Mendel

On April 18, 2024, the Department of Landscape Architecture welcomed Emma Mendel for a lecture titled "Narratives of the Deluge."
Mendel, the Department's McHarg Fellow, discusses a body of research that looks at cultural infrastructure in the form of deluge narratives, environmental folklore, and local stories about water and how they play a crucial, yet under-examined, role in climate mitigation strategies. By exploring various stories and urban legends that emerge from the Johnstown Flood of 1889-the event from which the phrase “Run for the Hills!” first originated-the lecture emphasizes how such narratives are deeply embedded in the collective consciousness of the region and shape people’s perception of water as infrastructure, resource, recreation, and risk.