The purpose of this course is to advance critical thinking, research and inquiry skills as a first step in the thesis writing process. This course identifies and teaches the principles of quality investigational research including research methodologies, sources, thesis organization and development. The goal of the sequence is to provide a sound foundation for initiating a thesis project and to support the degree objectives of the MA-HLS program by preparing students to conduct graduate-level, policy-relevant research and deliver the results of this research in an academically rigorous thesis.

(3 Credits)

This course provides an overview of the essential ideas that constitute the emerging discipline of homeland security. The objectives of the course are to expand students’ abilities to think critically, analyze and communicate the central tenents of homeland security from a social justice perspective. Students will examine the evolution of terrorist movements, strategies to combat terrorism, crisis management, response to conventional and non-conventional threats and the impact of heightened security and surveillance on individual rights and civil liberties.

(3 Credits)

This course analyses principles of critical infrastructure, in both the private and public sectors, vital to our community on a local, state, and federal level while demonstrating how critical infrastructure protection is one of the cornerstones of homeland security. This course evaluates risk reduction techniques to determine the optimal strategy for protection of each sector of critical infrastructure. This will include risk assessments for hard and soft targets that address risk mitigation plans and appropriate countermeasures in an all-hazards approach. Students will also apply vulnerability analysis techniques to critical infrastructure within their multijurisdictional region and derive optimal strategies and draft policies for prevention of future terrorist attacks.

(3 Credits)

This course serves as an introduction for homeland security professionals to terrorism as a psychological phenomenon. Government agencies involved in homeland security need to understand the psychological consequences of mass-casualty terrorist attacks and other disasters. This course provides a broad overview of the psychological effects of terrorism; the status of and fallacies related to the interventions applied to victims of terrorism and the generalized fear and anxiety experienced by the public at large. Current government strategies used to disseminate information to terrorist groups; psychological phenomena related to media coverage of terrorism; misconceptions and inaccuracies about the socio-political and religious motivations of terrorist groups; “profiling” and the typical psychological and cultural makeup of modern terrorists; and the social and cultural psychology of public conceptions of terrorists and acts of terror will be examined.

(3 Credits)

This course examines key questions and issues facing the U.S. intelligence community and its role in homeland security and homeland defense, including terrorism, emergency management, and cyber security. Intelligence community operations at the state and local levels, with federal cooperation through the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 are examined. This will afford students the opportunity to address, analyze, and critique policy, oversight, intelligence support, organizational protection of civil liberties and substantive issues regarding homeland defense/security and national decision-making.

(3 Credits)

This course is intended to provide practitioners with the opportunity to expand their ability to apply their education (undergraduate and graduate), training (vocational, career, job-related), and experience and knowledge to the homeland security capstone project. The homeland security capstone encompasses material in the other MA-HLS courses and, provides practitioners with the skills to perform their professional roles in new ways that will initiate and sustain change even at the level of the broader institutional context of governance in which they must function. This course completes the thesis project as the final step before graduation.

(3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to highlight important topics pertinent to the protection of human rights during a time of national security concerns. Protecting individual rights is an inseparable part of a democratic society, the rule of law and a government dedicated to the advancement of the common good. The aim of this course is to create a clear understanding among students how respect for human rights can positively impact human security and promote civil societies.

Offered fall/spring semester. (3 Credits)

The purpose of this course is to provide students with insight into the structural, conceptual, intellectual foundations and implications of a multidisciplinary approach to homeland security. Students will examine how the perceptions of homeland security varies among professionals in the field, the general public and differing ethnic, racial, religious and socio-economic groups.

(3 Credits)

This course provides an overview of forensic psychology to include a comprehensive history of the field and how the field has changed to impact today’s world. Forensic psychology will be examined as a profession, field of study and participant in the legal system. Emphasis will be placed on the relationship between psychology and law and the varying and expansive roles forensic counselors play in navigating both the mental health and the legal system.

(3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None

Information security is all about people. People are the first, last, and best line of defense. Attackers regularly make use of this understanding, spending a lot of time thinking about how to best manipulate people into performing actions against their best interests. Too often, security practitioners believe they can require people to behave in certain, tightly circumscribed ways. They miss that humans will continue to be humans, so it is best to work with them rather than against them. Understanding not only the attacker mindset but also the diverse mindsets of the people within the organization can help identify the best controls to implement.

Offered fall/spring semester. (3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None

This course introduces students to central questions and research in the field of victimology. Emphasis is placed on the role of victims in the criminal process, problems of adjustment to victimization, offender relationships, victim compensation, restorative justice, and victim’s rights. Several victim typologies will also be addressed. Students will be given the tools necessary for critical evaluation an understanding of the often-neglected role of the victim before, during, and after the criminal event.

Offered spring semester. (3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of the juvenile justice system. Major topics to be covered include normal juvenile development, juvenile delinquency, and the juvenile justice process including prevention, intervention and treatment methods and juvenile justice codes and case law.

Offered fall/spring semester. (3 Credits)

Prerequisite: None

This course is designed to provide a basic understanding of counseling techniques and the relationships with adult offenders in our society. Major topics to be covered include mental health issues common with adult offenders, assessment and diagnosis of adult offenders, role of counselors working with adult offenders, and current treatment approaches. The role of political ideology and social context in generating and supporting different correctional strategies will be reviewed.

Offered fall/spring semester. (3 Credits)