Terrorism and International Security Odyssey Workshop

START has formed a partnership with the Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Talented Youth (CTY) offer a workshop each year through the CTY Odyssey Workshop Series. Through this partnership, START offers a one-day workshop each year entitled “Terrorism and International Security.” The workshops are attended by high-achieving 7th to 10th grade students and their parents and are designed to expose talented students to the exciting range of possibilities included in a broad-based education and life-long learning program, as well as to provide students with a common ground on which to pursue intellectual discussion with family members.

The workshop begins with a plenary lecture framing terrorism within the larger contexts of international security and political violence. After that, students and parents select from a series of breakout groups looking at regional trends and patterns in terrorism throughout the world. The afternoon sessions then focus on interactive simulations. In the past, START has run a simulation of emergency management and law enforcement in the wake of a Basque separatist attack in Spain; a simulation of multilateral negotiations after a series of terrorist incidents modeled on the 2008 Mumbai attacks; and a simulation of third-party negotiation during a series of violent terrorist and counterterrorist strikes along the border between Turkey and Iraq. Students and parents then end the day in a plenary session on how scholars from different academic disciplines study the phenomenon of terrorism.

Each year, the workshop draws more than 100 students, each with one parent accompanying him/her, with families traveling from across the United States to attend the day-long event.

"I learned a lot during this program and am moved to help prevent biochemical attacks on America." -- Student Participant, 2008

"Excellent, timely program! START and UMD did an excellent job at representing their interests to prospective students." -- Parent Participant, 2009

START will host its next Terrorism and International Security Odyssey Workshop in April 2012. For more information, please visit the CTY Odyssey Series page.

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