Snapshots of START research available online
START researchers from around the country gathered with students, scholars and government representatives to discuss their ongoing and recently completed research on topics such as: Counterterrorism; Countering Violent Extremism; Lone actors; Radicalization; Unconventional Threats; Risk Communication; Resilience. Slides from those presentations are available here.
START earns $2.6 million NSF grant to investigate social media’s ability to predict political instability
Supported by a $2.6 million award from the National Science Foundation, researchers from the University of Maryland’s START Consortium will conduct an innovative study into whether grievances aired on social media can predict political instability and conflict. Read more.
UMD-led disaster resilience research awarded $2.5 in NSF funding
START researchers were recently awarded a $2.5 million Resilient Interdependent Infrastructure Processes and Systems (RIPS) grant from the National Science Foundation to quantify disaster resilience of critical infrastructure-based societal systems (CISS) necessary for community functioning. Read more.
CVE: An Idea Whose Time has Come
In this editorial piece, START Executive Director William Braniff discusses the importance of countering violent extremism (CVE) now given the current and potential impact of the Islamic State and al-Qaida and Associated Movements. Read more.
Turning Away from Terrorism: Lessons from Psychology, Sociology and Criminology
Journal of Peace Research
Altier, Mary Beth, and John G. Horgan, Christian N. Thoroughgood
Implementing Intelligence-Led Policing: An Application of Loose-Coupling Theory
Journal of Criminal Justice
Carter, Jeremy G., and Scott W. Phillips, S. Marlon Gayadeen
Local Approaches to Counterterrorism: The New York Police Department Model
Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism
Dahl, Erik J.
How Many Suicide Terrorists are Suicidal?
The Behavioral and Brain Sciences
McCauley, Clark
Video Surveillance and Counterterrorism: The Application of Suspicious Activity Recognition in Visual Surveillance Systems to Counterterrorism
Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism
Mould, Nick, and James L. Regens, Carl J. Jensen III
Modeling Costly Learning and Counter-learning in a Defender-attacker Game with Private Defender Information
Annals of Operations Research
Xu, Jie and Jun Zhuang
START pioneers innovative undergraduate course on CVE
In a new class offered by START at the University of Maryland, undergraduates participate in creative projects throughout the semester to develop non-governmental programs to help fight terrorism at its foundation. Read more.
Summer research project shows terrorist groups can fill community voids
A summer research project of a START Global Terrorism Minor student revealed that certain terrorism organizations filled an important void within their communities by providing public health services when their governments did not. Read more.
START begins project to support Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative
In support of the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative, START researchers Jeff Gruenewald, Will Parkin and Paxton Roberts will be working with the director of the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Training (SLATT) program to validate the sixteen indicators of suspicious activity that are currently used in the SAR initiative. Read more.
More than 90 interns from across country study with START this fall
Already running one of the largest internship programs at University of Maryland, the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) has seen interest in the program continue to grow. Read more.
START intern gets a jump on education, attends graduate school at 18
While interning at START this semester, Aspen Griffin is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Policy at Northwestern University, in addition to working towards a Graduate Certificate in Terrorism Analysis from the University of Maryland. Read more.
From South Korea to START
After a year abroad in South Korea, START intern Jeff Davis returned to the United States with an enthusiasm for martial arts and an improved awareness of cultural differences. Read more.
‘Understanding Terrorism’ with START’s free, online course
Registration is now open for START’s Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on “Understanding Terrorism and the Terrorist Threat,” which will run Jan. 12-March 9, 2015. The eight-week course, offered through the University of Maryland and Coursera, will explore questions relating to the who, what and how of terrorism studies by introducing students to cutting edge research and the experts investigating these topics. Read more or Register now.
MORS/SARMA Workshop (not a START event): How Risk Assessments Inform National Security Decision Making. Oct. 14-17 in Alexandria Virginia.
Research Round Table: Field Research in Conflict Zones. 10:30 a.m. Nov. 12 at START Headquarters.
International Non-Conventional Threat CBRNe USA conference. April 29 – May 1 at University of Maryland.
START is offering two new fully online one-credit winter courses during January 2015 on Geospatial Analysis for Terrorism and Social Network Analysis for Terrorism. Registration opens Oct. 28. Seats are limited for the first iteration of these courses to 25 students per course. Courses are open to anyone;please see the full website for detailed descriptions and for information on how to apply as a visiting student to the University of Maryland. Successful students will be awarded one undergraduate credit per course from the University of Maryland, College Park as well as a printed certificate of completion. Register now.
Sign up for START’s free online course on understanding terrorism. Apply now.
MEMA Digital Engagement Coordinator. Apply by Oct. 1, 2014.
FLETC College Intern Program. Apply by Oct. 3, 2014.
CREATE Annual Call for White Papers. Due by Oct. 15, 2014.
START Spring Internships. Apply by Nov. 7, 2014.
Call for Papers: Studies in Conflict and Terrorism. Due by Jan. 15, 2015.
CNN: ISIS and religious justification
START Executive Director spoke with CNN and several other news media outlets about the Islamic State. Watch the CNN interview now. A selection of additional stories are below.
- Al Jazeera America: The Rise of I.S. (a link to the broadcast is not available)
- BBC: Sept. 13 State Department Response to ISIS online propaganda (begins at 7:34)
- CNN: Which is worse? ISIS or Al Qaeda?
- EWTN: How ISIS Operates Financially
- FOX: Killing in the Name of Religion
- NPR: U.S. Airstrikes Might Narrow Aims of Somalia’s Leading Jihadi Group
- Voice of America: State Dept. Uses IS Propaganda to Fight Militants
Al Jazeera America: Islamic State’s use of social media
START Researcher Gina Ligon spoke with Al Jazeera America on Sept. 19 about how the Islamic State uses social media. A link to the broadcast is not available.
CNN: What led another American to ISIS?
START Researcher Anthony Lemieux spoke with CNN about the psychology behind terrorism. Watch Now.
Haaretz: U.S., Iran may collaborate secretly on ISIS, analyst says
Dr. Gary Ackerman, director of START’s Unconventional Weapons and Technology Division, spoke with Haaretz regarding the U.S. collaboration with Arab countries to take down ISIS. Watch now.
Haaretz: Obama’s fight against ISIS is a gamble, but one the U.S. is willing to take
In this video clip, Dr. Gary Ackerman, discusses the U.S. military strategy against the Islamic State. Watch now.
38 North: North Korea’s cyber capabilities
In this article, START Researcher Egle Murauskaite discusses fear and circumstances surrounding North Korea’s growing cyber offensive capabilities. Read More.
A complete list of START’s media coverage can be found here.
START intern Kaitlyn Sandborn discusses her work on the Big, Allied, and Dangerous (BAAD) project. Read more.
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. Copyright © 2014 The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START), All rights reserved.