Global Terrorism Studies Minor Program

Welcome from our Head Faculty and Program Directors

Tom Guarrieri

Director of Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, Associate Research Professor, START

Liberty Day

Program Director for
Education and Training, START

Apply for the Fall 2025 semester!

Information Sessions:

Info sessions will be held in late January and early February. Dates will be announced in January. This is an opportunity to learn more about the program and to ask questions.

All applicants must have 12 academic credits that have been earned from an accredited college or university. These credits can be earned outside of UMD. The minor program is only open to University of Maryland undergraduates. Applications are due by 11:59 pm ET on February 14th, 2025. Apply here.

START accepts applications to the program from University of Maryland undergraduates twice per calendar year, during the fall and spring semesters. Students from all colleges and majors are encouraged to apply. 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. The program is part of the University of Maryland’s Global Studies Minor Program, alongside the minors in International Development and Conflict Management, Global Poverty, and Global Engineering Leadership.

If you have any questions, please contact the education team at education-start@umd.edu.

Student Quote

Student Learning Objectives

START's goal for the minor is to provide interested students of all majors with the education and training they need to pursue graduate education focused on terrorism research or employment in the ever-expanding homeland-security community, including opportunities within the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Through the Global Terrorism Studies minor program, students will:

Develop an understanding of the history of terrorism, terrorist organizations, and the impact of terrorism on individuals, groups, and societies
Develop an understanding of the theories and frameworks explaining terrorist motivations and behaviors
Explain how topics related to diversity and culture affect extremism and counterterrorism
Learn to develop innovative approaches to help counter terrorism
Engage in experiential learning opportunities to gain skills and knowledge for a career in security studies

Program Description

The Global Terrorism Studies Minor program focuses on exploring the origins and motivations of terrorism based on theoretical understandings of individual and group behavior. Students also explore the impacts of the threat of terrorism on individuals and communities as well as strategies for preventing, deterring, mitigating, and responding to terrorist threats. To graduate with the GTSM, students enrolled in the program are required to complete a total of 17 credits consisting of the following:

3 credits to fulfill the Introductory Requirement (met with BSST200 only)
3 credits to fulfill the Innovative Ideas Requirement (met with either BSST331 or BSST335)
1 credit to fulfill the Capstone Requirement (met with BSST377 only)
1 credits to fulfill the Experiential Learning Requirement (met with BSST386 only)
6 credits to fulfill the Electives Requirement (met with two BSST elective courses)*
3 credits to fulfill the Global Perspectives Requirement (met with one of the approved Global Perspectives courses)

Below is more information on each of the required courses to complete the GTSM.

BSST Required Courses

BSST200: Terrorism Studies (3 credits, offered in the Fall semester). This course explores theories explaining the formation of terrorist groups and the motivations behind terrorist behavior, building upon theories from social psychology, sociology, political science, criminology, and history. This course draws heavily from historical examples as well as current examples of international and domestic terrorist groups around the world.

Innovations in Counterterrorism

BSST331: Innovations in Counterterrorism (3 credits, offered in the Spring semester). (Formerly Responses to Terrorism). This course examines the impact of terrorism on groups and individuals and explores how communities have prepared and ideally should prepare in the face of potential terrorist threats. This course draws from anthropology, criminology, economics, history, political science, social psychology, and sociology.

*Global Terrorism Studies Minor students must take either BSST331 or BSST335 to fulfill the Innovative Ideas Requirement. If students would like to take both courses, they may use the second to satisfy one of the elective course requirements.

Innovations in Countering Violent Extremism

BSST335: Innovations in Countering Violent Extremism (3 credits, offered in the Fall semester). This course introduces students to Countering Violent Extremism to build resilience, community engagement, and advocacy. Drawing on innovative theories, students will develop their own CVE project ideas. Students will conclude the semester by presenting their proposals to a panel of CVE specialists drawn from homeland and international security professionals.

BSST377 (formerly BSST327): Applying Theory to the Practice of Countering Terrorism (1 credit, offered in the Spring semester). This course focuses on bringing current events and policy issues related to terrorism and counterterrorism, as they are discussed in mass media, into the dialogue with academic theories and research. Through a discussion-based seminar, students will bring current, terrorism-related events to classroom discussion, where they will consider the media-framed current events in relation to academic research. Students will be continually challenged to draw connections between terrorism-related events in the news and relevant academic research.

BSST386: Experiential Education in Terrorism Studies (minimum of 1 credit, offered in the Fall, Spring, and Summer semesters). This course will supplement student's experiential learning experience, or internship in the field of terrorism studies and homeland security with guided reflection on their experiences.

BSST Elective Courses

In addition to the above requirements, students must take 6 elective credits from within the Terrorism Studies Department (BSST) that are not from BSST200, BSST377, BSST386, or the Innovative Ideas Requirement. (Note that if students choose to take both BSST331 and BSST335 they may use one of these courses to satisfy 3 of the elective credits.) You can find course syllabi on Testudo.

Some of the elective courses that BSST has offered in previous semesters include:

BSST338V: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State, and Global Jihadist Movements (Winter 2023, Winter 2024)
BSST371 (formerly BSST338R): Far-Right Extremism: Violent Ideologies and Actions (Spring 2023, Spring 2024)
BSST338D: Psychology of Radicalization and Terrorism (Summer 2023)
BSST338J: Analyzing Terrorism: Simulations, Wargaming, and Strategies of Security (Summer 2023, Summer 2024)
BSST338L: Violent Non-State Actors in Latin America: Terrorism, Cartels, and Crime (Summer 2023)
BSST240/241: Understanding the Principles and Perils of CBRN Weapons (Fall 2022, Fall 2023 Freshmen Connection only)
BSST334: States of Emergency (Fall 2023)
BSST340: Oral Communication for National Security Careers (Fall 2023, Freshmen Connection only)
BSST338Y: The New Theater of Terror: Online Terrorism (Spring 2021)
BSST338W: Geographies of Terrorism: Violence, Terror, and Space (Summer 2021)
BSST370: Financing Terror and Hate (Summer 2021)
BSST338E: Political Assassinations (Summer 2020)
BSST338O: School Shooters and Spree Killers (Summer 2024)
BSST372: Terrorist Hostage Taking (Summer 2020)

Global Perspectives Courses

To fulfill the Global Perspectives Requirement, students must earn 3 credits from one of the approved courses from the below list.

The current list of approved Global Perspectives Courses is as follows:

ANTH265: Anthropology of Global Health
AREC345: Poverty, Public Policy and Economic Development
AREC365: World Hunger, Population and Food Supplies
ENES269: Grand Challenges in Engineering
ENES316: Global Perspectives of Leadership in Engineering, Business, and Technology
ENES464: International Entrepreneurship
ENES472: International Business Cultures for Engineering, Business, and Technology
ENES474: Global Perspectives of Engineering
GEOG330: As the World Turns: Society and Sustainability in a Time of Great Change
GVPT200: International Political Relations
GVPT280: The Study of Comparative Politics
GVPT282: Politics and the Developing World
GVPT206: Appetite for Change: Politics and the Globalization of Food
GVPT204: Uncertain Partners: US & China in a Changing World
GVPT210: Religions, Beliefs, and World Affairs
GVPT306: Global Environmental Politics
GVPT309: Topics in International Relations
GVPT354: International Development and Conflict Management
GVPT359: Topics in Comparative Politics
GVPT409J: Multi-Track Diplomacy and Conflict Transformation
GVPT409K: Workshop in Multi-Track Diplomacy

All courses used to satisfy the requirements of the minor must be completed with a grade of "C-" or better. Students must have a minimum 2.0 cumulative grade point average across all courses used to satisfy the minor requirements.

Meet the Faculty

One of the unique elements of the Global Terrorism Studies Minor is that students have the opportunity to learn from leading researchers in the field. Our world-class faculty bring both substantive expertise and practitioner experience into the classroom.

Jason Blazakis – Affiliated Faculty, Director of Center on Terrorism, Extremism, and Counterterrorism at Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Liberty Day – Program Director for Education and Training, START
Michael Egnoto – Affiliated Faculty, Clinical Informaticist at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Max Erdemandi – Dual PhD/MS Candidate in Communication Science; Social Cognition and Quantitative Methodology, UMD
Tom Guarrieri – Director of Undergraduate Studies, Associate Research Scientist, START
Amy Pate – START Acting Director, START
Holly Roberts – Affiliated Faculty, Strategic Communications Lead at Akoya
Steve Sin – Unconventional Weapons and Technology (UWT) Director, START
Bryan J. Arva - Professorial Lecturer and Director of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Master's Program, American University