JOIN OUR TEAM
Center Program Coordinator – Responsible for coordinating pre- and post-award tasks for grants, contracts, and subcontracts at START, including program management of awards. Applications should be submitted through the University of Maryland eJobs portal, with a closing date of Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
Assistant Director of Administrative Services – Responsible for managing aspects of the business services of the Center. This includes payroll activities, human resources, procurement, reimbursements, travel, and sponsored research administration. Applications should be submitted through the University of Maryland eJobs portal, with a best consideration date of Monday, October 4, 2021 and a closing date of Monday, October 25, 2021.
Senior Researchers (2-3) – U.S. citizenship is required for these positions. ABDs are welcome to apply, but you must have been awarded and conferred your PhD by the end of the appointment to be eligible for a contract extension, contingent on the availability of funds. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, with a closing date of Monday, October 4, 2021.
NEWS
START produces new data tool exploring crimes committed by U.S. QAnon offenders
START’s Radicalization and Disengagement (RaD) team have released a new QAnon Crime Maps data tool, which users can interact with to explore criminal offenses committed in the United States that were motivated by the QAnon and PizzaGate conspiracy theories, going back to 2016.
START researchers co-lead webinar series on security challenges in Malaysia
START partnered with the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) and the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) to co-host the "2021 Webinar Series: Migration, Security and Regional Militancy in Sabah and the Greater Sulu Celebes Sea" this summer.
9/11: 20 years later
Classes were already in session on the University of Maryland campus 20 years ago tomorrow, when, over a cataclysmic hour and 17 minutes, passenger planes commandeered by terrorists struck the Twin Towers in New York City, slammed into the Pentagon 10 miles away in Northern Virginia and crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa.
Modelling audience populations: A “call to science”
In 2015, as the U.S. military prepared to support Iraqi forces in their push to retake Anbar Province from the Islamic State (ISIL), a group of Psychological Operators (PSYOPers) from the U.S. Army came up with an idea – they should rehearse the work they were preparing to do.
EVENTS
UMD First Look Fair
September 29, UMD McKeldin Mall
First Look Fair is one of the longest running involvement traditions at the University of Maryland. First Look Fair hosts almost 600 student clubs and organizations, campus departments and services, local vendors, and community service agencies. The festive atmosphere is the perfect place to gather resources, learn more about how to get involved, and connect with other students with similar interests.
Information Session: Global Terrorism Studies Minor Program (10/11/21)
6 p.m. ET October 11, Tydings Hall 2106
START has developed an undergraduate minor in Global Terrorism Studies, a cross-disciplinary program housed in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland. The minor is designed to train the next generation of terrorism analysts, including students who plan to pursue graduate study related to terrorism as well as employment in the federal, state, local, non-profit, and/or private sectors. This information session will be in-person at the University of Maryland.
Intersections of Illicit Trafficking and Counterfeit Parts Workshop
10:30 a.m. ET October 28, Online
This workshop, sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and organized by START and the Center of Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE), seeks to bring together social scientists, engineers, law enforcement, policymakers, and industry to push us out of our comfort zones to build connections and identify gaps. Individual sessions will focus on modalities of trafficking: arms trafficking and construction, wildlife trafficking, labor trafficking, and narcotics manufacturing and trafficking. The conference will end with a convocation meant to sum up the presentations and serve as an opportunity for the wider group to discuss new-found connections and overlapping priorities.
Virtual Information Session: Global Terrorism Studies Minor Program (11/03/21)
6 p.m. ET November 3, Online
START has developed an undergraduate minor in Global Terrorism Studies, a cross-disciplinary program housed in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences at the University of Maryland. The minor is designed to train the next generation of terrorism analysts, including students who plan to pursue graduate study related to terrorism as well as employment in the federal, state, local, non-profit, and/or private sectors. This will be a virtual information session on Zoom.
Virtual Information Session: MPS in Security & Terrorism Studies (11/9)
6 p.m. ET November 9, Online
The MPS in Security and Terrorism Studies prepares students to examine the complex social, political, economic, and psychological underpinnings of terrorist and other asymmetric security threats. Students are exposed to the theoretical and methodological skills necessary to pursue advanced research opportunities, or be successful in a professional role where analysis and critical thinking are paramount. This will be a virtual information session on Zoom.
Meet the Faculty: MPS in Security & Terrorism Studies (12/6)
12 p.m. ET December 6, Online
Come meet our faculty! On Monday, December 6 at 12:00 p.m. ET, Radicalization and Disengagement (RaD) researcher Dr. Elizabeth Yates will provide a virtual talk on her teaching style, learning objectives and course themes in the classes she teaches for START’s MPS in Security & Terrorism Studies.
START IN THE NEWS
Sinclair Broadcasting Group: Taliban takeover increases terrorism threat in Afghanistan as US forces leave
START Director William Braniff is quoted in this article about terrorism in Afghanistan.
Baltimore Sun: Unspoken wedding vows, grandchildren never met and a war that stumbled to an end: How to measure the 20 years since 9/11
START Director William Braniff and Founding Director Gary LaFree are quoted in this article about the twentieth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
The Conversation: Why is it so difficult to fight domestic terrorism? 6 experts share their thoughts
START Founding Director Gary LaFree and START affiliate Kurt Braddock co-wrote this piece on countering domestic terrorism.
MSN: How many Canadians have fallen victim to terrorism?
This article about Canadian victims of terrorism uses data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD).
Vox: 20 years, $6 trillion, 900,000 lives: The enormous costs and elusive benefits of the war on terror.
This article about the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks uses data from the Global Terrorism Database (GTD).
Al Jazeera: US braces for #JusticeforJ6 rallies supporting pro-Trump rioters
START Founding Director Gary LaFree is quoted in this article about the #JusticeforJ6 rallies.
This is a selection of news clips from the past month.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.
SUPPORTING START
Help Support START Research and Education
The START Consortium is dedicated to generating knowledge of the human causes and consequences of terrorism. Applying rigorous standards to both research and education, START seeks to illuminate one of the most highly politicized and understudied phenomena in the social sciences for students, practitioners and policy-makers. Funded primarily through research grants to date, START is seeking to generate an endowment that will provide the flexibility and autonomy to ensure that it can continue to serve as an objective source of data and empirically based analysis into the future. To donate, or for more information, please click here.
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