As they approached Jefferson City to assist in the cleanup from the May 22 tornado, a group of MU students say they were shocked to see houses submerged in what looked like a lake surrounding Highway 63.

“There was this striking image of these kids kicking a ball back and forth in front of a house that was destroyed,” says Noah Carroll, a Chicago native who graduated in May with a degree in philosophy and a minor in English. “Those kids acted like there was nothing wrong—just a normal, sunny day.”

For the past four years, Associate Professor of History Jerry Frank has taught a “Maymester” course on natural disasters. The two-week history course is called Acts of God: An Environmental History of Natural Disasters. The course is divided into equal parts theory and history of natural disasters, followed by visits to various hazard and disaster sites across Missouri.