1 VESALIUS COLLEGE Spring 2019 POL424M Terrorism, Counterterrorism and (De-)Radicalisation Number of ECTS credits: 6 Classes on Thursdays, 15:30-17:30 (Room VeCo1). Contact Details – Professor Thomas Renard E-mail: [email protected]Office hours: Mondays, 11:30-12:30 (please, schedule an appointment). Contact Details – Professor Koen Troch E-mail: [email protected]Contact Details – Professor Nathalie Marcus E-mail: [email protected]Course Description This elective seeks to enhance students’ understanding of ideological, strategic, and operational characteristics of global terrorism, radicalization as well as counter-terrorism strategies in the 21st Century. Students will define terms associated with the movement, and explore the development, motives, tactics as well as the variety of conditions of radicalization and terrorism, with a specific focus on Europe. The course will provide both a critical assessment of the contributing factors behind the emergence of terrorism as well as of the methods and policies used by national and international actor to prevent and counter terrorism. Policy debates, statements and literature from a diversity of actors, including jihadists themselves, will be introduced to create a comprehensive understanding of all perspectives involved in the movement. This course places heavy emphasis on the professional writing, briefing, conduct, and other skills needed for careers in the counter-terrorism and the security field.
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VESALIUS COLLEGE Spring 2019
POL424M
Terrorism, Counterterrorism and (De-)Radicalisation
Essay, presentation and final exam Oral feedback to the
presentation
Written feedback to the essay
Informal feedback throughout
the course during the seminar
D.1 Demonstrate and develop the
ability to communicate arguments,
recommendations and research
results in a confident, convincing,
precise, effective and engaging
manner in written form
To learn how to carry out
independent research.
To write clearly and effectively.
Essay. Essay
Written feedback to the essay
D.2. Demonstrate and develop the
ability to communicate arguments,
recommendations and research
results in a confident, convincing,
precise, effective and engaging
manner through the spoken word
and oral presentations
To learn how to make a good and
persuasive oral presentation.
To learn how to argue with
classmates, using scientific and
critical arguments.
Discussion and oral presentation Discussion and oral presentation Oral feedback to the
presentation
D.5 Demonstrate and develop the
ability to communicate complex
subject-matters to a predominantly
policy-oriented and professional
audience
To communicate more clearly
with policy-makers
Discussion in class with
practitioners
Guest lectures
Informal feedback throughout
the course during the seminar
E.1 Develop the ability to critically
reflect on one’s strengths and
weaknesses with a view to
continuously improve and enhance
one’s knowledge, skills and
capacities;
To critically reflect on one’s own
assumptions about (counter-
)terrorism
Lecture, discussion, student
presentation
Essay, presentation and final exam Oral feedback to the
presentation
Written feedback to the essay
Informal feedback throughout
the course during the seminar
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Major Learning Objectives
(see Categories A-F) – please
write down each required
Learning Objective
Course Learning objectives
addressing the Major
Objectives (choose the most
important ones that your
course actually addresses)
Methods used to Teach Course
Objectives
Methods (and numbers/types
of assignments) used to test
these learning objectives
Type, Timing and
Numbers of Feedback
given to Student
E.2 Develop independence of
thought and an autonomous
approach to studying, research as
well as the acquisition and
enhancement of new knowledge and
skills in unfamiliar environments
To learn how to carry out
independent research.
To be exposed to unfamiliar
perspectives.
Discussion, student presentation,
essay
Essay, presentation and final exam Oral feedback to the
presentation
Written feedback to the essay
Informal feedback throughout
the course during the seminar
F.5 Develop and demonstrate an
attitude of open-mindedness,
academic integrity, critical and self-
critical reflection with a view to
contribute to rigorous analysis and
diverse academic debates
To differentiate between empirical
and normative statements.
To have an open-minded attitude
toward different perspectives.
Lecture, discussion, student
presentation
Essay, presentation and final exam Oral feedback to the
presentation
Written feedback to the essay
Informal feedback throughout
the course during the seminar
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Course Assessment: Assignments Overview The students will be evaluated on the basis of their performance in the following assignments:
➢ Student presentations 25%
➢ Final Essay 35%
➢ Final examination 40%
TOTAL 100%
Deadlines:
- Contact the instructor about the topic for the presentation/essay by 7 February.
-Presentations: 7 March.
-Final essay by 15:00 on 4 April. To be submitted on Canvas, which uses Turnitin to
detect plagiarism.
Work Load Calculation for this Course: This course counts for 6 ECTS, which translates into 150 – 180 hours for the entire semester for this course. This means that you are expected to spend roughly 10 hours per week on this course. This includes 2 hours of lectures or seminars per week and 8 hours ‘out of class’ time spent on preparatory readings, studying time for exams as well as time spent on preparing your assignments. Please see below the estimated breakdown of your work-load for this course. Time spent in class: 2 hours per week / 28 hours per semester Time allocated for course readings: 7 hours per week / 84 hours per semester Time allocated for preparing for presentation: 14 hours Time allocated for preparing for the final essay and proposal: 20 hours Time allocated preparing/revising for written Final Exam: 10 hours Total hours for this Course: 156 hours
Grading Scale of Vesalius College
Vesalius College grading policy, in line with the Flemish Educational norms, is now as stated follows:
Grade Scale of 20 Scale of 100
A 17.0-20.0 85-100
A- 16.1-16.9 81-84
B+ 15.3-16.0 77-80
B 14.5-15.2 73-76
B- 13.7-14.4 69-72
C+ 13.1-13.6 66-68
C 12.3-13.0 62-65
C- 11.5-12.2 58-61
D+ 10.7-11.4 54-57
D 10.0-10.6 50-53
F Below 10 0-49
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Description of assessment activities, grading criteria and deadlines:
Student presentations (25%)
The oral presentation and the essay work hand-in-hand. The in-class oral assignment consists
of a 15 minutes presentation of the early findings that will guide the essay. More specifically,
the student will be expected to present one terrorist organisation, explain how it emerged/was
created, how it has evolved (in terms of ideology and methods), what was the overall profile
of the group members, and how it survived or alternatively was defeated. Students are expected
to rely on the teachings of class and existing literature. A PowerPoint presentation is expected.
The grading will be based on the substance (i.e. how well-researched is the presentation, how
well-informed and argued), as well as on the form (communication skills). Possibility will be
given for a discussion with classmates, which is also considered as part of the presentation.
The topic should be agreed with the Instuctors by 7/2 (week 3). Presentations will take place
during the same week (week 7), on 7 March. Absence to that class should be strictly justified.
Descriptor Excellent Satisfactory Unsatisfactory
Oral presentation
skills
(20 points)
Very well structured;
focused and clear
presentation
Well-structured, mostly
focused presentation.
Disorganized and unclear
presentation.
Visual presentation
skills
(10 points)
Good use of visual aid
(where provided)
Appropriate visual aid
(where provided)
Visual aid is not used or
organized at best (where
provided).
Origins/causes/profile
(30 points)
The presentation
addresses various
elements that explain the
emergence of the
movement.
The presentation only
partly addresses core
causes.
Inability to explain why and
how the terrorist group
emerged.
Evolution of
tactics/methods
(30 points)
The presentation explains
clearly and
comprehensively how the
tactics of the group
evolved, and why.
The presentation explains
partly how the tactics of
the group evolved, and
why.
The presentation insufficiently
explains how the tactics of the
group evolved, and why.
Lessons
(10 points)
The presentation draws
convincing lessons for
modern CT.
The presentation draws
partly convincing lessons
for modern CT.
The presentation draws
insufficiently convincing
lessons for modern CT.
Total
( /100 points)
Final Essay (35%)
You will write an essay that analyses the evolution of a terrorist group and the responses that
were devised to combat it, and reflect on lessons for modern counter-terrorism. You will be
required for this to rely and use scientific literature, including but not limited to the class
readings. The topic/group will be the same as the one of the oral presentation.
Your essay is due by 15:00 on 4 April on Canvas, which uses Turnitin. A hard copy should
be submitted in class as well. When submitting to Canvas, use an informative file name,
including your surname and the issue covered (for example “Smith_Cuban Missile Crisis”).
Make sure you submit your paper in Word format (NO PDF). NOTE: Late submission
reduces the score 10 percentage points per day (if you are late for 1 minute, your
maximum point becomes 90%. It becomes 80% between 24 hours and 48 hours late, and
so on). To avoid problems with the computer or the Canvas website, you are strongly
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encouraged to submit the paper a few days before the deadline. The essay should be
submitted in Times New Roman font, 12 points type, 1.5 spaced. It should be between 4000
and 5000 words, INCLUDING every part of the paper (e.g., the cover page, footnotes, and the
bibliography). Papers that deviate from the word range will be penalized.
Papers should be structured in 4 sections, distinguishable by clear headings and subtitles (see
the table below for more details). Please note that the title of each section is your compass to
navigate both your topic and your selected theories. Make sure that each section is coherent
and that the argument draws on and follows the selected subtitle. The paper should be structured
as follows:
Section Description and checklist
Introduction
This section sets the context of the essay and presents the core argument. This
should be done in the form of a research question/statement.
Part two –
The group
This section addresses the root causes of the terrorist group, its evolution in
time (in terms of size, popular support, strategy, tactics and methods), it
explores what made it successful or not.
Part three –
The response
This section addresses how one country responded to the terrorist
organisation, what measures where taken and whether these measures were
effective and why (not).
Conclusion
The conclusion should not only summarise the main argument of the paper,
but also draw some lessons for modern counter-terrorism campaigns, which
can be presented in the form of reflexions or recommendations.
System of bibliographic referencing
Please use APA, MLA, Chicago, or Harvard style for your referencing.
For general guidance on “Acknowledging, Paraphrasing, and Quoting Sources”, please consult
this overview developed by the writing center at University of Wisconsin-Madison and
available at: http://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Acknowledging_Sources.pdf.
Please, also consult the following short guide for “Acknowledging, Paraphrasing, and Quoting
Sources”, available at: writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/Acknowledging_Sources.pdf
For direct quotes, page number, when available, should be cited in the text of your work.
Harvard style of referencing - Examples:
In-text citation:
Both unities of discourses and objects are formed “by means of a group controlled decisions” (Foucault,
2011:32).
Habermas acknowledges the crucial function of language as a “medium of domination and social force”
(1974:17, in Forchtner, 2011:9).
In your reference list:
How to quote books:
Held, D. (1980). Introduction to Critical Theory: Horkheimer to Habermas. Berkley: University of