灾害社会学是社会科学对灾害危机研究的重要力量，与其他社会科学相比较，其对灾害问题的科学研究传统最为悠久、学术影响亦更大，经过长期发展，灾害社会学已成为社会学研究领域的重要分支。本文聚焦美国灾害社会学的学术共同体发展演进与趋势，重点对学术共同体的缘起、发展以及理论脉络进行梳理分析，对美国灾害社会学主要研究机构进行一般性的介绍，以求为中国灾害社会科学的研究发展提供经验借鉴。
Sociology of disaster is the oldest and most influential discipline of disaster research in the United States. It also contributes a main perspective for current disaster research though there is a trend of multi-disciplinary collaboration. This essay reviews the origin，evolution and development trends of disaster sociology in the United States，focusing on the people，institutions，research contents and theories. Meanwhile，main disaster research institutes and Ph.D. programs are introduced. Finally，some suggestions about the disaster and emergency management research and training in China are discussed.
