Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis

START is working with the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy to offer a Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis. The University of Maryland currently offers the program to pre-formed cohorts from public and private sector institutions. The University of Maryland has offered the program to cohorts of analysts from Booz Allen Hamilton but can provide the program for other clients and can tailor the program to the needs of interested parties.

The program is not currently available on an open enrollment basis, but START hopes to offer the program to all interested parties in the near future. New information will be posted on this website as it becomes available.

Program Description

The objective of the Certificate in Terrorism Analysis is to develop students’ proficiency in a uniform set of core competencies and skills that all those involved in the delivery and support of homeland security should possess, as well as additional competencies important to particular forms of terrorism analysis. The program provides participants with advanced education on the causes and dynamics of international and domestic terrorism and with training on the analytical skills that they need to pursue careers in the arena of homeland security.

Students are required to enroll in four courses:

• PUAF 699/BSOS 630: Motivations and Intents of Terrorists and Terrorist Groups (3 credits). This course examines contending theories on the reasons that specific individuals and groups employ terrorist tactics in certain conditions. The course explores such topics as the question of whether terrorism should be perceived as a "tool" or as a "syndrome" as well as the extent to which individual characteristics and socioeconomic contexts foster acceptance of the use of terrorism and how the goals of terrorist groups impact their behavior. The course explores historical and contemporary examples, drawing from theories and research in psychology, social psychology, political science, criminology, and sociology.
• PUAF 699/BSOS 630: Tools and Practice of Terrorism Analysis (3 credits). This course is designed to provide a broad introduction to a set of analytical tools used to analyze terrorism and terrorists. The course draws on methods employed by intelligence analysts, emergency managers, risk professionals, infrastructure owners and managers, social scientists, and human rights monitors, thereby addressing the concept of terrorism analysis from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The course emphasizes practical application of the tools to be studied and relies heavily on in-class simulations designed to place the students into the applied world of terrorism analysis. Methods covered include: source analysis and validation; red-team analysis; exercise scenario design; capabilities-based planning; social-network analysis; threat assessment; database analysis and data mining; and human rights monitoring.
• PUAF 698N: Homeland Security Policy (3 credits). This course examines the concept of U.S. homeland security in the context of recent history. It provides an overview of the nature of threats and major vulnerabilities that are the focus of homeland security efforts. The course surveys the principal actors engaged in the homeland security enterprise. It describes the evolution of institutions, networks, and organizational relationships that are emerging to accomplish the various homeland security missions and functions. The course analyzes current homeland security policy issues and discusses the future of the homeland security enterprise.
• PUAF 699/BSOS 630: Trends in Terrorism and Counterterrorism (3 credits). This course is a research seminar in which students produce an article draft of publishable quality using quantitative or qualitative methods. The course focuses on research examining the scope of the terrorist threat as well as institutional responses to terrorist threats and the evolution of counterterrorism measures at the local, national, and international levels. This course integrates material from political science, criminology, anthropology, history, geography, economics, and psychology.

Questions

Please direct questions to Dr. Katherine Worboys, START Assistant Director for Education, at education@start.umd.edu.

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