ICST Speaker Series Event Planned - Feb. 25
"How to Build a Global Counterterrorism Database"
Dr. Erica Chenoweth
The Nittany Lion Inn, Boardroom I
February 25, 2010
4:00 PM
Which counterterrorism policies are the most effective? Under what conditions do more conciliatory policies reduce terrorist attacks? How do terrorist groups respond when declared counterterrorism policies are different from the tactics that the military and police use on the ground? Admission is free, all are welcome. View the event flyer.
Sponsored by The Pennsylvania State University Social Science Research Institute.
Welcome
Dedicated to the scientific study of terrorism and political violence, the International Center for the Study of Terrorism (ICST) engages in research, teaching and training activities that are international in scope and multidisciplinary in nature. The Center is committed to promoting and engaging in data-driven empirical research performed to the highest academic standards. With its hub at The Pennsylvania State University, the Center also functions around a core of Universities that comprise the Worldwide Universities Network. Using the global structure and capabilities of this network, the Center encourages collaboration, information sharing, dialog and debate across geographical and disciplinary boundaries.
Mission
The social and behavioral sciences have tremendous potential for advancing our knowledge and understanding of terrorism and for developing policy-relevant programs and interventions to reduce and control terrorism and its effects. Much of the solution to making progress in combating terrorism will derive from the application of perspectives, theories, methods and results from the social and behavioral sciences to questions from basic and applied research on the roots of terrorism, the effects of terrorism and the most effective means of responding to terrorism.
The International Center for the Study of Terrorism (ICST) was formally launched by Dr. Graham Spanier, President of The Pennsylvania State University, at a meeting of US and UK security experts which took place on May 20, 2006 in London. Recognizing the significant potential of Penn State’s connections with the Worldwide Universities Network, ICST's first Director, Dr. Kevin Murphy, brought together research teams in the US and UK to help develop a center which was truly international in nature, both in terms of research collaboration and its subsequent real-world application.
The mission of ICST is to engage in and promote the scientific study of terrorism and political violence. In doing so, ICST creates multidisciplinary, cross-national research teams, drawing strongly but not exclusively from the social and behavioral sciences, to respond to needs and opportunities in the broad areas of terrorism and counterterrorism. The overarching goal of ICST is to provide actionable knowledge and a conceptual basis to policy-relevant and operational counterterrorism activity.