This 18-credit, 6-course certificate focuses on terrorism and security studies. The Post-911 world has made many sectors of the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors involved in preventing and combating terrorism as they try to ensure a safe and secure nation. The knowledge provides both historical and current information to add to the knowledge of various threats posed by terrorist organizations, whether domestic or international, and to provide organizations to prepare for the risks associated with such activities. These credits can also be applied to the MS in Cyber and Homeland Security Administration degree program.

Choose any six courses:

  • CHSA 6601*  Terrorism Issues and Implications
  • CHSA 6602*  Computer and Network Security
  • CHSA 6603*  Cyber Forensics Issues and Impacts
  • CHSA 6604*  Assessing Internal and External Threats
  • CHSA 6605*  Preparing for Catastrophic Emergencies
  • CHSA 6606*  Historical Perspectives of Terrorism
  • CHSA 6607*  Border Security: Policies, Actions, and Implications
  • CHSA 6608*  Terrorism and Disaster Management
  • CHSA 6609*  The Face of Terror
  • CHSA 6610*  Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response

* Also available in online modality

Course Descriptions

  • CHSA6601 This course will investigate the concepts, ideologies, goals, strategies, tactics and methods used by terrorist groups in the current and historical perspectives. The terrorist motives and their actions will be studies in relation to historic and current national and international policies. Terrorist organizations will be studied based on their specific criteria to better undersand their influence on oter nations. Also included will be the concepts of the media and terrorism, law and terrorism, the military response to terrorism, counter-terrorism and anti-terrorism approaches, and governmental responses to terrorism as well as how the intelligence community categorizes and prioritizes resources to target groups and issues.

  • CHSA6602 This course will investigate advanced topics in computer security and forensics. Included will be topics such as cryptography, automatic intrusion detection, firewalls, vulnerability scanning, and advanced pattern matching as well as statistical techniques.

  • CHSA6603 This course will investigate cyberterrorism and cyber crime, and how this differs from computer security. Technological advancements that are on the cutting edge present opportunities for terrorists, and it is necessary to explore the current domestic and international policies relative to critical infrastructure protection and methods for addressing issues.

  • CHSA6604 This course will investigate the usefulness of threat assessment in various contexts, such as the workplace, infrastructure protection and public safety. Included in the course will be basic methods for examining vulnerabilities to attack, evaluating capacities of the potential attackers as well as their motivation, and the role of the intelligence community in these actions. The course will link strategic analysis with priority setting and accountability.

  • CHSA6605 This course will investigate a wide range of natural and manmade disasters, and develop appropriate plans for mitigating the problems. Natural disasters include a wide range of issues from outbreak of diseases, floods, earthquakes, fires, and tornados. Manmade disasters include emergencies such as chemical spills, nuclear incidents, terrorist threats, transportation accidents, and power outages.

  • CHSA6606 This course will examine the social basis of fear and terrorism, and the related consequences on society. Factors such as race/ethnicity, class, religion, politics, local and international policies, and gender will be studied into the historical context of terrorism. Case studies will include terrorist techniques that have been used in the past.

  • CHSA6607 Immigration policies and terrorism threats have increased the focus on national borders. This course will investigate issues relative to border security from economic to security to social and cultural integration or separation. The costs of attempting to maintain a secure border are discusssed as are the implications of border security on free trade agreements.

  • CHSA6608 This course will focus on planning and preparing for terrorist acts as well as the area of disasters. There will be a focus on the legal and ethical issues that surround planning for acts of terrorism or disasters, and a study of the National Response Plan and its implications. The need for and how to develop interagency collaborative agreements from civilian, military, and governmental entities will be explored.

  • CHSA6609 This course will examine various characteristics of terrorism from left-wing terrorism to nationalist terrorism to religious terrorism to group dynamics to secret societies, and cults and charismatic leadership. Also included are identification of underground terrorist cells, both domestic and foreign and state supported and non state supported, as well as methods for dealing with the separate groups.

  • CHSA6610 This course will investigate options to address the threat of a biological attack. Options for identifying a bio-attack and potential responses for addressing these issues will be included in the course. Case studies of actual incidents will be included in the course.