ENGL478B

GEOG498F

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.

GEOG Winter Courses

PLCY689I-- Indonesia Study Abroad Opportunity

There are a little over two weeks left to apply for the Indonesia Winter Session course (October 1st deadline). PLCY 689I: Complex Social-Ecological Systems, Environmental Policy, and Sustainable Development in Indonesia (traveling to Bali, Flores, Sumatra, Java), December 29, 2019 - January 22, 2020.

The course summary can be found further below in this email.

Applications:

Applications for the course can be made at UMD’s Education Abroad webpage (MyEA): http://ter.ps/wtindonesia. The deadline for applications is October 1st, 2019. 

Graduate students and undergraduate seniors with advanced standing from UMD or other universities may apply. This three-credit, multi-disciplinary course is open to all specializations and departments. 

Note that admissions are competitive.

Course fee:
The course fee ($3230) covers in-country transportation (flights, buses, vans, bicycles, boats), lodging, group meals, group events and activities, travel insurance, and UMD administrative fees. Students are primarily responsible for this course fee, international airfare, and personal expenses during the trip. Students do not pay UMD tuition in addition to the course fee. 

Tuition remission applies for GAs - check with your adviser.

Scholarships:

We are pleased to offer four $1000 Indonesia Policy Course Scholarships. If you wish to apply for a scholarship, please make sure to fill in the scholarships section of the general application form at the Education Abroad website.

Contacts:
Tom Hilde, Professor and Director: thilde@umd.edu
Matt Regan, Associate Director: mrgregan@gmail.com
Adriane Michaelis, Assistant Director: michaelis.adri@gmail.com

Summary of the course

Indonesian place names like Bali, Java, Spice Islands (Maluku), and Sumatra resonate with exoticism for many Westerners. This historical image has its roots, perhaps, in the country’s great and unique diversity and complexity. The archipelago’s 17,000 islands comprise one of the most diverse countries on the planet – biologically, ethnically, and linguistically. Indonesia is home to at least 600 languages, 300 ethnic groups, one of the three great remaining tropical rainforests, and one of the richest, most biodiverse marine reef systems in the world. Indonesia is a young country, having declared independence from the Netherlands in 1945, but nonetheless is today the world’s largest majority Muslim nation, third largest democracy, fourth largest country by population, and one of the biggest emerging economies. Indonesia continues to grapple with how to hold its bursting diversity together in a single, modernizing nation in a way that also firmly confronts the issues of economic development, climate change, multiculturalism, democratic autonomy, good governance, inequality, and biodiversity conservation. As such, the country is emblematic not simply of its historically exoticized uniqueness, but of the complex global problems we all face in the 21st century. This graduate-level international development and environmental policy field course takes a complex systems approach to the interconnections between Indonesia’s environmental challenges and development strategies with a focus on the interface between local governance systems and global policies, especially in the face of climate change. Understanding that most such challenges involve multiple stakeholders, we study how ground-level problems are mitigated or exacerbated by national and global government policies and where local efforts may better inform policy, paying special attention to indigenous systems and what they can teach us about sustainable development, livelihood security, and climate policy.

Visiting several of the main islands of Indonesia – Bali, Flores, Sumatra, and Java – the course focuses on:

• Indigenous systems of environmental management and understanding such as the complex adaptive subak system of rice terraces, irrigation, and water temples in Bali. 
• Forest conservation and its place in climate change mitigation and adaptation, including deforestation and the expansion of oil palm plantations, carbon emissions from forest and peatland burning, wildlife habitat conservation, indigenous and local forest management, and REDD+. 
• Coral reefs and marine protected areas in the famed Coral Triangle, which comprises some of the healthiest remaining reefs on the planet. 
• Local governance and adaptation measures, the country’s decentralization policy, and democratic development and human rights. 
• Discussions with leading government officials, top research experts, local farmers and fishermen, and NGO and IGO leaders, with intensive meetings in Jakarta and Bogor. 

Throughout the course, we experience the rich and fascinating nature and culture of Indonesia – the country’s diverse religions and complex communal traditions, stunning music and theater, ancient temples, beautiful landscapes and biodiversity, and wonderful people.

Course faculty

Tom Hilde is a research professor in the University of Maryland School of Public Policy, Associate Director of International Programs, and Senior Fellow in the Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). Before coming to UMD, he taught at New York University, directing the Environmental Conservation Program there as well as the Applied Philosophy Group. He has produced books and articles on environmental and international development policy and philosophy; climate change adaptation; food systems and land use change; international agreements; human rights; and sustainability and complex adaptive systems. He currently works on collaborative projects in the Western Amazon and Indonesia, including a book on resource frontiers and climate change. For a large part of his childhood and parts of adulthood he lived in Asia, including Thailand, Japan, and Taiwan, and has traveled throughout the continent as well as in Africa, South and Central America, and Europe, having also lived in France for three years. He is a former Fulbright Senior Scholar (Venezuela) and Safra Network Fellow at Harvard University.

Matt Regan is a PhD student at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy researching a dissertation on democracy and culture in Southeast Asia, focusing on the “Asian values” debate. He holds a B.A. in history and an M.A. in modern European history from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where his research focused on the history of the biological and social sciences and European interpretations of Asian thought and culture. His research interests include the ethics of global development, sustainable development, and Buddhist philosophy. He has toured Mexico with a Thai traditional dance group, served on the organizing committee for the Dalai Lama's 2011 visit to DC, and spent the last several Januarys in the Indonesian jungle, despite being totally unsuited for that kind of thing.

Adriane Michaelis is a PhD student in the University of Maryland’s Department of Anthropology. Her dissertation research focuses on the continued development of oyster aquaculture alongside public oyster fisheries in the United States, in order to better understand the social and ecological implications of privatized oyster fisheries. Adriane earned her B.S. in anthropology-zoology from the University of Michigan and her M.S. in marine biology from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She has worked as a field biologist for the National Audubon Society, managing coastal bird sanctuaries in North Carolina, and as lab manager of an oyster research and restoration monitoring lab at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include social-ecological systems, sustainable fisheries, and participatory resource management. In her free time, Adriane can usually be found near water and/or wandering with her two dogs.

GVPT Winter Courses

AASD Winter Classes

GEOG498A

GEOG198A/GEOG788X

New Course: HIST328N (History of Medicine)

Consider registering for HIST328N, History of Medicine, a collaboration between the U of M School of Medicine and The College of Arts and Humanities- History Department. This class is great for students interested in pre-med, pre-dental, nursing, public health, and more! 

GEOG Winter 2019 Schedule

Registration opens October 23rd!

Winter Courses with START

Are you looking to gain a marketable skill that many employers in the intelligence community and security field value in applicants? The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism (START) is offering Winter online courses. 

We are offering 2 one-credit skills based courses, BSST399W: Introduction to Wargaming, and BSST399F: Geospatial Analysis of Terrorism. Additionally, we are offering a three-credit course, The Rise of The Islamic State (BSST338P), which takes an in-depth approach of analyzing the many complicated facets of ISIS.

BSST399F: Geospatial Analysis of Terrorism can be used as a supporting course for GIS majors!

Student Success Winter Course

Extended Deadline for Winter and Summer Study Abroad Sessions

The application deadline for the following Maryland short-term Winter & Spring Break 2018 programs has been extended to October 15, 2017! Note: all applicants must still commit to the program by October 18th. If you have any questions or concerns about submitting your application, please contact Rose Malone at 301-405-8309 or rmalone3@umd.edu

UMD-Spring Break: Cuba: International Investigations in Cuban Education (EDHI)

UMD-Spring Break: France: Classical Myths in Paris (CLAS)

UMD-Spring Break: Japan: Disaster Recovery in Japan (BSST)

UMD-Spring Break: United Arab Emirates: Global Immersio Experience (CPSP/HONR)

UMD-Winter: Chile: Design for Climate and Culture (LARC)

UMD-Winter: Cuba: Critical Cultures in Contemporary Cuba (SPAN)

UMD-Winter: Ecuador: Technology, Education and Society: Ecuador in Context (CPSP/LASC)

UMD-Winter: El Salvador: El Salvador's Children: Risk, Poverty and Education (EDSP/CPSP/LASC)

UMD-Winter: Italy: Ancient Greek and Roman Culture in Context (CLAS/ARTH)

UMD-Winter: Mexico: Photography in Oaxaca (ARTT)

UMD-Winter: Morocco: In the Footsteps of the Beat Generation (ARHU/ENGL)

UMD-Winter: Netherlands, Germany & Belgium: International and Multicultural Perspectives in Education (EDUC/CPSP)

UMD-Winter: Slovakia: Fake News: Journalists Confront Lies and Propaganda (JOUR)

UMD-Winter: Spain: Cultures of the Contact Zone - Seville, Al-Andalus, and the Atlantic World (SPAN/HONR)

UMD-Winter: Taiwan: Exploring a Different China (CHINA/HONR)

UMD-Winter: United Kingdom: Documentary Filmmaking in London (COMM

  As a reminder, we have developed a handy tool for finding what short-term program options are available for your students. Find it here!

Winter 2017 Courses

Winter 2017 and Spring 2017 Academic Success Strategies

New Online Winter Term Course (Jan. 2016) offered: Climate Change Design, Planning & Communication

START Winter Courses

Winter and Spring Computational Social Science Courses

SOCY709P:  Advanced Special Topics in Data Analysis; Network Analysis

SPRING 2016

Wednesdays 3:30 to 6pm

Christina Prell (cprell@umd.edu)

Office hours: TBA

This course is intended as a survey of the theory and methods pertaining to social networks. Class time will be devoted to learning principles, theoretical perspectives, and appropriate software packages (mainly those in R) for analyzing social network data. The readings are a combination of introductory-level material, classic, scholarly readings in the field, and empirical studies that apply social network analytic techniques to topics relevant to sociology and the social sciences as a whole. The first weeks are structured around readings, group discussion, and lab (e.g. going through example scripts in R). The last few weeks are geared more towards students’ individual projects, culminating in small presentations (similar to conference paper presentations) on a topic of your choosing, and a final paper/project, again shaped according to your own needs/interests. Please note: this syllabus is subject to change, based on classroom discussion and needs.

PSYC798W, R Programming for the Behavioral Sciences

Meets January 4, 2016- January 15, 2016

MTuWThF 9am – 12pm

BPS 1236 

Scott Jackson (scottrj@umd.edu)

R is a programming language and environment designed for statistical analysis. It is free and open-source, and it includes integration with thousands of cutting-edge packages contributed by users from around the world. It has become a de facto standard and lingua franca for statistical analysis. It is an incredibly powerful tool for data analysis and visualization, and thus an indispensable tool for any kind of quantitative work in the behavioral and social sciences. However, because many (if not most) students and researchers in these fields are not otherwise trained in programming techniques, learning R can be difficult, and poor understanding of programming concepts and techniques can create problems in analysis and reporting of results.

This course aims to give you a foundation in programming, in order to facilitate future work with R. It is not a stats course, though we will probably discuss some statistics in passing. The focus of the course is building concepts, skills, and habits to make you a better programmer, in order to get the most out of R.  The class involves lot of hands-on practice and feedback and plenty of opportunities for questions, and it requires you to get your hands dirty with a data set (preferably one of your own). The class should accommodate a range of experience levels, from completely novice users to more experienced users that feel like they could use some “polish” to their skills.

Updated Winter 2015 Courses