START Winter Courses

Interested in building marketable skills in the terrorism analysis and homeland security fields? Consider taking an online course with START this Winter 2020 (Jan 2nd-Jan 22nd). These terrorism studies courses are completely online and open to students from any major. This winter we are offering:

• BSST338P: The Rise of the Islamic State (3 credits)
• This course is taught by Jason Blazakis, the Director of the Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He was previously the Director of the Counterterrorism Finance and Designations Office, Bureau of Counterterrorism at the U.S. Department of State.
• BSST399F: Geospatial Analysis of Terrorism (1 credit)
• This course helps students develop skills in Geospatial Information Systems and the technologys specific applications to terrorism studies. No previous experience with GIS or terrorism data is necessary. Students will leave the course with a firm grasp of GIS technologies and the ways in which they may implemented in terrorism studies.
• BSST399D: Data Presentation Skills for Homeland Security (1 credit)
• Students in this course will develop skills using Stata to present data in research and policy briefs in a manner that is digestible and appealing to policy makers.
• BSST399N: Social Network Analysis for Terrorism (1 credit)
• This class introduces the student to the fundamentals of network analysis and to core network concepts including centrality and prestige, cohesive subgroups, and roles and positions, among other topics. By the end of the semester, the student should be able to conduct network analyses as needed to better understand whatever substantive phenomenon is of interest.

These courses count toward the 3 credit elective requirement for the Global Terrorism Minor - If you are interested in applying to the minor, these courses would count toward the program before you are even admitted. If you have any questions, please contact Liz Wasden at ewasden@umd.edu.