3.00 Credits
Introductory course for students interested in both domestic and international terrorism. The course traces the history and beginnings of modern international and domestic terrorism, and focuses on conceptually defining terrorism, including foreign and domestic, left and right wing, religious, environemental and political, state and non-state. The course explores some of the fundamental questions of terrorism: why individuals join terrorist groups, why terrorist groups adopt certain tactics, such as suicide bombing, how terrorist groups organize themselves, and what counter-terrorism strategies are effective. Finally, students explore changes in terrorism over the past 40 years, what the future might hold, including terrorists' use of technology and the media, and potentially weapons of mass destruction.