Though START's Massive Online Open Course "Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat" began Jan. 27, people may register to take the course until Feb. 7.
Terrorism Studies does not fall within any one traditional academic discipline, and it is often plagued by subjectivity and a lack of empirical data. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), a Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence housed at the University of Maryland, will apply its multi-disciplinary and mixed-method approach to research in this course, utilizing theory and quantitative and qualitative research from a range of the social and behavioral sciences including Criminology, Psychology, Political Science and Communications Studies.