SOC 270I - Terrorism: Roots and Responses, 3 credit hours

Terrorism is often touched on in the news, but how much do you really know about its causes and consequences? Among the topics that are explored are: how terrorism is defined (and sometimes justified), the factors that promote its existence, features of terrorist organizations, the impact of media coverage of terrorist incidents, and the array of counter-terrorism measures undertaken by governments. While the course examines various terrorist campaigns around the world—past and present—the emphasis is on what is sometimes referred to as the “new terrorism.” That is, religiously motivated violence involving radical Islamist factions whose terrorist tactics and extreme violence set it apart from other examples of terrorist campaigns.

Crosslisted: CRJ 270I