Syllabus CRM 745

Special Topics in Homeland Defense and Security

Spring 2018

Instructor:Bernard J. McCarthy, PhD

Professor of Criminology

Director, Center for Homeland Security and Defense

Contact Information:

email:

Office phone: 417-836-6679 office

417-576-4935 cell

Office address:Strong Hall 222

Office Hours:I am available to meet with you at your convenience. Online students may come by the office or communicate via email or telephone. If you wish to meet face to face please send me an email to arrange a meeting.

Please Note: In order to be awarded the Certificate in Homeland Security and Defense you must be admitted to the degree program and file for the certificate during the semester you are completing the required courses. If you have any questions please contact the Graduate College.

Introduction and Course Description

This course will focus in on special topics in Homeland Security and Defense with an emphasis on terrorism, counter terrorism strategies and terrorist threats to border security. As part of this class we will also be using policy analytic tools. The class will be taught on line and uses aasynchronous format. What this means is that you will have maximum flexibility in working on your assignments based upon your schedule and not mine. Some of you are balancing, work, family and school and as a former graduate student who worked while going through school, I recognize the stress that may result from time to time. If you encounter difficulties please let me know and we will work out plan for you to accomplish success in this class. No text is required. We will be using material freely available on the web.

Homeland Security faces a number of challenges and the public policy responses to those challenges in a democratic society have the potential to be both effective and controversial especially in the area of terrorism. In this course, we will examine a range of policies and controversies related to the prevention and response to terrorism. For example, under the Trump administration how will the response to terrorism be conducted? Should drone attacks and targeted killing of terrorists be continued and or expanded? Should we resume the practice of harsh interrogations of terrorists? Should the government be given expanded powers to conduct surveillance of electronic communications of citizens and conduct proactive police and military actions domestically (within the United States)? Should the military be given expanded power to act domestically to respond to terror threats? What will be the role of the criminal justice system and the role of the military. Will government surveillance of suspected individuals and groups be expanded? Will a terrorist watch list include religion as a criteria for inclusion? Should immigration from suspect countries be banned? Should US citizens and businesses be banned traveling or doing business with countries the government has identified as sponsors or enablers of terrorism? Finally, how do we define terrorism and who is to be labeled a terrorist?

All these vital questions and more will be discussed during the course of the semester.

This course is a dynamic one in that we will monitorreal-time events and attempt to understand the issue within the context of the principles of homeland security.

In less than ten years, homeland security and defense hasevolved from new concepts to operational realities. This transformation has been driven by significant historic events and shaped by our efforts to understand and adapt to the emerging global security environment. The series of terror attacks from September 11 to the present, Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters have shaped the issues and direction of homeland security. In the past few years our traditional law enforcement, military and intelligence organizations have been challenged by the need to adapt to asymmetric warfare, terrorism and a virtual global battlespace that includes the homeland. In addition to these threats, we must also remain mindful of the dangers presented by nature and our increasingly technologically complex, interdependent and sometimes fragile society. Security is no longer solely the responsibility of law enforcement, the military and the intelligence community. A comprehensive and integrated HLS/D strategy must also include the full range of elected officials, first responders, the human, animal and plant health communities, business and our citizens. In this course we will examine the application, progress and problems of our efforts to date responding to terrorism.

This course is designed to promote educational outcomes expected at the graduate level. The primary learning objectives are:

  1. Tocritically examine the continuing threat posed by terrorism.
  2. To identify and describe the various terrorist threats facing the United States.
  3. To be able to identify, describe and critically assess counter terrorism strategies and their effectiveness.
  4. To identify and examine some of the emerging issues, especially political ones.
  5. To use policy analytic tools to examine homeland security policies.
  6. To develop perspectives and broaden discussion on HLS/D through a brief examination of some of the conceptual issues and current topics of concern beyond terrorism and the common natural hazards.
Suggested Prerequisites*

The Foundations of Homeland Defense and Security

Multi-Disciplinary Approaches to Homeland Defense and Security: Collaborating to Integrate

Strategic Planning and Organizational Imperatives in Homeland Defense and Security.

*Students who have not completed the above courses should familiarize themselves with the US Department of Homeland Security’s website (Strategic Plan and the National Strategy for Homeland Security) and read the section of the 9/11 report on the terrorist attack against the US in 2001. Also, the National Governors Association briefing document on homeland security provides a good overview.

Schedule

Important University Dates:

January 16Classes begin

February 19President’s Day Holiday

March 10-18Spring Break

March 29-April 1Spring Holiday

May 10Last day of the Semester for classes

Key Class Dates

January 19First Blackboard Discussion Assignment

April 27: Paper Due (100)*

Course Requirements

Grading Summary

Point Value

Discussion Posting (8x12pts)96

Current News analysis on Terrorism (8x5pts)40

2 NIMS Certificates* (2x10)20

Research/Policy Analysis Paper 100

Total Points:256

* and

If given prior notice, late submission of work within a week will be permitted.

Late work without notice will be penalized up to 2 pts per week late.

Please submit all assignments with a 12 pt font and double spaced.

Grading Scale

A=(90-100%) of total points

B=(80-89%)

C=(70-79%)

D=(60-69%)

F=(below 60%)

A note on class participation:

  1. 8 Weekly Question(s) for Discussion (every other week)

You will have 8 discussion board postings. You will have two weeks to respond to these questions/or the specific assignment, and your responses should be posted to the appropriate blackboard discussion board site. Your responses should be approximately one to two pages in length.

In addition, you will also read and respond to two of your classmate’s answers to the question (s). Your responses should reflect a critical analysis of the issues being addressed and integrate the reading or review materials for the week. Simply agreeing or disagreeing will not be sufficient. You must build upon or critique a position in a respectful way. You may earn a maximum of 2 points on your commentary, conversely you will lose 2 points if you do not comment.

Please note, your assignment will generally be posted on Fridays by 6 pm and your responses will be due no later than the day the next discussion question is posted (Friday, 6 pm). Unexcused late work will be penalized one letter point per day. In answering these questions, you will be expected to integrate the materials provided from the course into your responses. This means your posting should reflect/make reference to the readings you have been assigned. The postings will be evaluated and you will receive a maximum of 10pts (9-10=A) for your postings for each week.

In summary, you will have three postings each assignment for the discussion board posting: your individual posting and then two subsequent comments to postings by your colleagues.

  1. Current Event Analyses (8) of recent terrorist attacks. These are due every other week.

For this assignment, you will monitor news reports involving terror attacks in the media. The attacks you analyze must be recent, preferably in the last two-four weeks. You will have 8 posting worth up to 5 pts each. You will identify and describe the terrorist attack, including location, groups involved and tactics used. You will also identify the motive behind the attack and why the target was chosen. In your analysis, please make sure you explain how the attack fits the criteria for classifying a violent act as terrorism.

A note on the Rubric/ Grading for the postings: The point value you receive for your posting will be based upon a combination of three factors.

  • Is it apparent from reading your posting that you read and digested the material provided for the assignment? Is it apparent from your posting that you critically identified the key issues and problems? Did you cite or comment upon the assigned reading in a professional way in your response?
  • Is your posting well written (proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, word choice and sentence structure is expected)?
  • What is the level of effort that went into preparing the assignment? When you look at the postings during the course of the semester, you will note that some people put a lot more effort into the assignment than others. My assessment will reflect that differentiation. You will receive a numerical point value from 1-10 for the discussion posting and 1-5 for the terrorism news analysis.

II.Completion of NIMS training.

Submission of a completed certificate will be awarded the

equivalent of an A. The NIMS courses are online and after completion you are awarded a certificate of completion. Post those certificates in the appropriate tab.

Please take the first NIMS course, during the first two weeks of the semester.

The second class should be taken durig the second part of the class when we look at responses to terrorism.

The point of this exercise is to first expose you to FEMA’s NIM’s training and second, alert you to the plans that will be in effect if we suffer another catastrophe similar to September 11.

III.Paper (15-20 pages) Due: April 27

This semester you will be examining the terrorist threats toward the United States and counter terrorism strategies. The policy analysis/research paper will give you the opportunity to investigate and report on a significant issue/policy in homeland security that is related to terrorism. You will be expected to select a topic that is related to the course material.

Your paper should include a cover page and title, a short problem statement that identifies the depth and breadth of the problem or issue being investigated, a concise literature review reflecting the use of up to date materials, the main body of the problem, divided into subject headings appropriate for your paper, a final section that includes a summary and recommendations. The bibliography should reflect course content as well as an academic search of data bases.

The writing and organization of your paper will be greatly facilitated if you use headings and subheadings. The papers will be evaluated in terms of how well you addressed the assignment. Did you do a good job in finding and synthesizing the available materials, quality of writing (if you simply cut and paste, expect to get a low grade), and relative effort? A minimum of 15 scholarly or official sources should be included. Appropriate sources include books, peer-reviewed journal articles, statutes or congressional reports, plans, white papers, policies, standards, strategies or guidelines by government agencies, think-tanks, associations, etc. Articles in trade journals, newsletters or popular media (e.g., magazines, newspapers, etc.) may also be used on a limited basis to supplement or reinforce scholarly sources. Wikipedia and blogs are not acceptable sources.

Please Note: Late submissions will be reduced by a minimum of one letter grade on each activity submitted beyond the due date without a justifiable explanation and prior approval.

Helpful Resources

The following are excellent on-line resources for the study of HLS/D and this course:

The Naval Post Graduate School’s Homeland Security Digital Library at

National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START)=

The Department of Homeland Security at

The Federal Emergency Management Agency at

Congressional Research Services products can be found at *

Government Accounting Office Reports can be found at

RAND at

Center for Strategic and International Studies-CSIS

National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism

Council on Foreign Relations

The Heritage Foundation

Participation & Communication

The essence of this course revolves around effective communication by both the instructor and student. The nature of our subject, Homeland Security, means we engage in meaningful discussion and critical thinking concerning its many facets. In this class everyone brings something to the table. Your ideas and thoughts do count, not only to me, but the entire class. Our online sessions are designed to facilitate this type of discussion and stimulate our thinking processes. I cannot overemphasize how important this is to the success of our class.

To some, this may be their first online class and naturally, it could seem somewhat intimidating. As a class, we are together to help each other with this learning process and share our collective knowledge on how best to communicate, how to resolve technical issues that may arise (if we have the expertise), and to assist each other to find answers to our questions.

We will learn and work as a team.

Courtesy and Respect

Courtesy and Respect are essential ingredients to this course. We respect each other’s opinions and respect their point of view at all times while in our class sessions. The use of profanity & harassment of any form is strictly prohibited (Zero Tolerance), as are those remarks concerning one’s ethnicity, life style, race, etc., violations of these rules will result in immediate dismissal from the course.

Statement of nondiscrimination:

Missouri State University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution, and maintains a grievance procedure available to any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against. At all times, it is your right to address inquiries or concerns about possible discrimination to the Office for Equity and Diversity, Siceluff Hall 296, (417) 836-4252. Other types of concerns (i.e., concerns of an academic nature) should be discussed directly with your instructor and can also be brought to the attention of your instructor’s Department Head.

Statement on Disability Accommodations:

To request academic accommodations for a disability, contact the Director of Disability Services, Plaster Student Union, Suite 405, (417)836-4192 or (417)836-6792 (TTY), Students are required to provide documentation of disability to Disability Services prior to receiving accommodations. Disability Services refers some types of accommodation requests to the Learning Diagnostic Clinic, which also provides diagnostic testing for learning and psychological disabilities. For information about testing, contact the Director of the Learning Diagnostic Clinic, (417)836-4787,

If you are a student with a disability and anticipate barriers related to this course, it is important to request accommodations and establish an accommodation plan with the University. Please contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) ( Meyer Library, Suite 111, 417-836-4192, to initiate the process to establish your accommodation plan. The DRC will work with you to establish your accommodation plan, or it may refer you to other appropriate resources based on the nature of your disability. In order to prepare an accommodation plan, the University usually requires that students provide documentation relating to their disability. Please be prepared to provide such documentation if requested. Once a University accommodation plan is established, you may notify the class instructor of approved accommodations. If you wish to utilize your accommodation plan, it is suggested that you do so in a timely manner, preferably within the first two weeks of class. Early notification to the instructor allows for full benefit of the accommodations identified in the plan. Instructors will not receive the accommodation plan until you provide that plan, and are not required to apply accommodations retroactively.

Academic Dishonesty Policy:

Missouri State University is a community of scholars committed to developing educated persons who accept the responsibility to practice personal and academic integrity. You are responsible for knowing and following the university’s student honor code, Student Academic Integrity Policies and Procedures, available at and also available at the Reserves Desk in Meyer Library. Students who violate standards of academic honesty will fail the course.