Disasterologists at the Movies: An Innovative Use of Twitter for Disaster Education

A common course activity used by emergency management faculty is the screening of Hollywood disaster films to provide students with an opportunity to apply key disaster concepts they have learned about in lectures. When college courses were abruptly moved online in 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States, emergency management faculty had to quickly modify this assignment to meet the needs of the online format. This article reports the experience of several faculty members in modifying this pedagogical technique by using Twitter, and it identifies unexpected benefits, including the opportunity for professional networking, science communication, and public engagement.