A consortium of researchers dedicated to improving the understanding of the human causes and consequences of terrorism

START adds third course to summer line-up

Courses online and open to all

START is offering three fully online summer courses on niche areas of terrorism studies.

One course will be on terrorist finance and the methods deployed to counter terrorist finance.

This course provides an introduction to terrorists’ financial activities and counterterrorism finance and sanctions policy. Taught by the Director of the Office of Terrorist Designations and Sanctions in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Counterterrorism, Jason Blazakis, the course examines how terrorist groups finance their operations and also emphasizes current policy approaches designed to curb terrorist financing through the application of U.S. and international sanctions.

The course explores how multilateral forces, such as the United Nations and Financial Action Task Force counter terrorist finance. At the completion of the course, students will have a better understanding of the key tools, including law enforcement, diplomatic, or intelligence that are deployed to disrupt and deter terrorist finance. This course will be taught online during Summer I.

The second course will focus on hostage taking and assassinations as they relate to terrorism.

It will be taught by Dr. Margaret Wilson, of the Imperial College London. This course will examine different forms of hostage taking and consider approaches to studying behavior, along with the problems inherent in such research. Weekly topics will include issues such as scripts and patterned behavior, victim resistance, what the Stockholm syndrome might really mean. This course explores the tactical choices of terrorist groups, the responses of the other players and how the combinations might impact the end results. This course will be taught Summer II.

The third course is Oral Communication for National Security taught by START’s Education Director, Dr. Katherine Izsak.

The course will meet in person and will fulfill the General Education Oral Communication requirement. The course will work to develop perspectives on strategic communication and national security, while practicing public speaking skills and developing proficiency in four genres of security-related briefings. Students will work with the technical, scientific, and/or specialized data, vocabularies, processes, and products of the academic disciplines and/or fields of expertise relevant to national and international security careers. This course will be taught Summer I.

Students can register for an undergraduate or graduate level of either the financing or hostage taking courses offered. No previous knowledge is needed to register for the courses they are it is appropriate for both introductory and advanced students/researchers/practitioners in this area.

The Oral Communications course is only offered at the undergraduate level and is designed and targeted to UMD undergraduates but all are welcome to enroll. The summer sessions for the University of Maryland run from May 28-July 5 and July 14-Aug. 22.

Registration information for the courses will be posted to the University of Maryland's Office of Extended Studies website in early 2014.

For more information on the courses or to contact START email education@start.umd.edu.