Visiting Associate Professor of International Affairs
Prior to joining Berry College, Dr. Gawronski served as Professor of Political Science at Birmingham-Southern College. For nearly three decades, he has conducted comparative research on earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, droughts, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and the effects of climate change in the United States and other countries, primarily in Latin America and the Caribbean. Early in his career, he completed several USAID-contracted assessments of disaster response, recovery, and risk reduction projects in the region. Much of Dr. Gawronski's research focuses on hazard vulnerabilities, disaster risk, forced migration, crime, and violence, examining how race, ethnicity, gender, intersectionality, geographic locality, age, physical challenges, mental health, and addiction issues contribute to environmental hazard vulnerabilities. Dr. Gawronski is one of the Team Leaders on a five-year, $1.25 million project funded by the National Academies, Gulf Research Program: "STEMMING THE TIDE: Empowering Youth to Meet Coastal Environmental Challenges." Dr. Gawronski is presently working on several research projects, including "Building Back Better or Not Rebuilding at All: Coastal Governance Policy Choices in the Wake of Major U.S. Gulf Coast Disasters" and "Disasters, Violence, Crime, and Migration (DVCM): A Heuristic Model for Understanding Complex Problems." His publications appear in International Studies Perspectives, Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, Hemisphere, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Cambridge Journal of International Affairs, Latin American Politics and Society, Natural Hazards Review, and Disasters.
Education
- Ph.D. in Political Science at Arizona State University (1998)
- M.A. in Political Science at Arizona State University (1993)
- B.A. in History at The University of Texas at Austin (1987)
Selected Publications
Gawronski, Vincent T., Barry S. Levitt, and Richard S. Olson. "Disasters and Corruption: Public Expectations and Tolerance -- Evidence from Mexico," Disasters 47 (4), (October 2023): 1118-1137.
Olson, Richard S., N. Emel Ganapati, Vincent T. Gawronski, Robert A. Olson, Erik Salna, and Juan Pablo Sarmiento. "From Disaster Risk Reduction to Policy Studies: Bridging Research Communities," Natural Hazards Review 21 (2), (2020).
Levitt, Barry S., Vincent T. Gawronski, Gabriela Hoberman, Richard S. Olson, and Vicente Sandoval. "Public Perceptions of Code Enforcement and Safer Buildings in Latin America and the Caribbean," Natural Hazards Review 20 (4), (2019): 04019009.
Olson, Richard S. and Vincent T. Gawronski. "Disaster Risk Reduction, Including Climate Change Adaptation, and (Violent) Conflict," In Ilan Kelman, Jessica Mercer, and JC Gaillard. Routledge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation (Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge, 2017).
Gawronski, Vincent T. and Richard S. Olson. "Disasters as Crisis Triggers for Critical Junctures? The 1976 Guatemala Case," Latin American Politics and Society Vol. 55, Issue 2 (Summer 2013): 133-149.
Olson, Richard S. and Vincent T. Gawronski. "From Disaster Event to Political Crisis: A '5C+A' Framework for Analysis," International Studies Perspectives Vol. 11, Issue 3 (August 2010): 205-221.
Gawronski, Vincent T. "'¿Cómo están, y'all?'" Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice Vol. 18, No. 1 (2006): 73-80.
Gawronski, Vincent T. "The Revolution is Dead. ¡Viva la Revolución!: The Place of the Mexican Revolution in the Era of Globalization," Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos Vol. 18, No. 2 (Summer 2002).
Gawronski, Vincent T. "Mexican Public Opinion and Perceptions of Instability: Revisiting 'Relative Deprivation,'" Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos, Vol. 16, No. 2 (Summer 2000): 289-324.