August 2025 marked the 20 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans, Louisiana. A steering committee of Georgetown faculty will host a national symposium that will examine the impacts of Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans on memory, culture, history, the environment, and social justice. K@20 will take place from October 22 - 24, 2025. In 2015, the same colleagues hosted a previous seminar, Katrina@10.
Katrina@20 is sponsored by the Earth Commons and the Georgetown Humanities Initiative. Co-sponsors include the History Department, the Sociology Department, the Department of Performing Arts, and the Film & Media Studies Program. The symposium will feature a range of events at both of Georgetown's D.C. campuses.
Katrina@20 will examine aspects of the legacies and implications of the flood. Through a focus on Environmental Justice, we will consider how the impacts of Katrina were disproportional, based on class, race, and status. As the wetlands in Louisiana disappear at an ever-increasing rate, climate change produces rising sea levels, higher temperatures, and greater precarity, especially for working class Black citizens.
Events:
Wednesday, October 22, at 7 pm -- Film screening: Guardians of the Flame (2025) on both campuses. RSVP here.
Thursday, October 23 at 7pm -- Keynote address: Dr. Beverly Wright, founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at the McCourt School Auditorium, 125 E. Street NW. RSVP here.
Friday, October 24 from 10am-4pm -- Panel Discussions in the Healey Family Social Center. Learn more and RSVP here.
