HI510: History of Terrorism Summer of 2005

INTRODUCTION:

     This course is designed for undergraduates, teachers, and interested graduate students so that they may become better informed concerning the historical origins of political terrorism.  Karl von Clausewitz said that war is a continuation of politics by other means: terrorism, on the other hand, is war fought on a different level by a different set of rules. Political terrorism and political assassination have a long and varied history and have altered the world political stage, as we know it.  The History of Terrorism will begin with the assassinations of Caesar and continue through the tragedy of 9/11.  The birth of contemporary terrorism, however, has its origins in the nineteenth century, with the rise of nationalism and subsequent political extremism found in Russia, Bulgaria, and Ireland.   The History of Terrorism will examine all facets of terrorism and much more starting with  the Propaganda of the Deed to the suicide bombers inflicting such destruction in Israel, from the Inner Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) to the Islamic Jihad, from Osama bin Laden to the other radical groups, which are hell bent on toppling all existing regimes by violence.

CLASS ORGANIZATION:

The class will meet at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, June 27, 2005, and continue for the next three weeks and will conclude on July 14, 2005.  Terrorism is organized as a lecture/discussion class centering on a series of  PowerPoint presentations and films used during the course of the summer session. Students and teachers are encouraged to purchase the texts, Walter Laqueur's The New  Terrorism, Daniel Levitas’s The Terrorist Next Door, and John Miller and Michael Stone's The Cell, at either the Textbook Corner or the University Bookstore.   Additional materials are available on this site.

GRADES:

Grades will be based for undergraduates on either one of the two options. The first involves doing a practical exercise. If you select that option, a student must do one of the three practical exercises that will take the place of the traditional take-home examination due to the instructor of record by August 4, 2005. The second involves doing a traditional take-home examination. Students will select one of the questions found under examination questions. Plus everyone will do one book review over one of the books used during the class or from the reading list provided. The practical exercise should not exceed five double-space typed pages. The same applies to the book review. The take-home examination will involve writing a position paper and will be posted on this web page and center around analyzing what had happened at Oklahoma City and the parties involved and/or one of the two Practical Exercises.

For graduate students seeking an MA, they are expected to write a comparative book review over two books from those used in class or from the bibliography provided by the professor as well as taking the take home examination. For those graduate students not familiar with writing a comparative book review, they are encouraged to examine a copy of either the New York Review of Books or The New York Times Book Review available in the library.

Graduate students working on an MAT (Master of Arts of Teaching), they are expected to turn in an activity-based unit lesson plan on terrorism with an explanatory essay of no less than five double-spaced pages on how they would integrate a unit concerning terrorism into either their history or government classes.

All students, regardless of their classification are expected to take the pre and post examination which will be used to determine the final grade in the class.

PRACTICAL EXERCISES: Students will participate in  a practical exercises during the course of the class. Each will be completed in-class from materials available on this web site. The requirements for Practical Exercise One, Practical Exercise Two, and Practical Exercise Three can be found by using the hyperlinks.

TEXT BOOKS: Books can be purchase at either the Textbook Corner or the Memorial Union Bookstore.  The professor will also provide a bibliography, filmography, and other handouts for the class.

Books:

Walter Laqueur. The New Terrorism. Oxford, 1999.

Daniel Levitas. The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right. St. Martin's 2002.

John Miller and Michael Stone. The Cell. Hyperion, 2002.