Why do some people join violent extremist groups and what can be done to deter them? Much of the debate among policymakers on how states should respond to violent extremism and terrorism focuses on either using harsh policies of punishment to deter future acts or soft policies meant to reduce incentives to use violence. Ignored in these discussions are understanding motivations from the perspective of individuals engaged in acts of terror, alone or as part of a group. The course posits that the personal story of each individual matters when it comes to deciding what approach to take towards preventing violent extremism, responding to it, and helping people disengage.
The course takes a critical approach to problem solving solutions: It ask students to use different approaches, informed by various disciplines and fields of study, to analyze possible causes of violence and violent extremism and suggest concrete solutions from those perspectives.
Critical knowledge gained in the class relies on inter-disciplinary thinking, looking for approaches and frameworks taken from security studies, sociology, development studies, psychology, gender and youth studies, going beyond ‘ideology' as cause for violent extremism and terrorism.
Problem solving skills will be enhanced by looking at concrete programs and strategies currently used in the field of preventing and countering violent extremism and evaluating their relevance and efficiency. Students will also gain problem solving skills by designing and participating in policy exercises to seek solutions to what should be done. By managing a debate on carefully chosen reflection questions, students will also gain presentation and moderating skills.
Towards the end of the semester, after having looked at the various drivers of violent extremism, a workshop is organized during which students will be given various counter-terrorism and counter violent extremism strategies and programmes of different countries and asked to scrutinize them using the different approaches studied in class. They will also participate in a TableTop simulation exercise around a case study where they will role play to recommend concrete measures to take at different stages.
Learning Outcomes
1. Identify the different types of motivations, push and pull factors that contribute to a person deciding to join violent extremist groups.
2. Be able to analyze and evaluate the shortcomings of existing counter terrorism and prevention of violent extremism policies from a critical perspective, using the theories/approaches learned.
3. Be able to apply the theories and propose new alternative methods for preventing violent extremism using the different approaches learned
4. Overall develop a better understanding of why people do what they do, and think about how violence can be prevented.
Professional Skills
• Research and analysis
• Presentation skills, oral communication
• Teamwork
• Problem solving skills and finding solutions
• Moderation of discussions, and preparation of synthesis
• Creative thinking and putting creativity to use
• Critical thinking
• Evaluation of policies
• 1 individual project (written paper, 40%),
• 1 collective project (that includes an oral part 20 % and a written summary 30%)
• Participation (10 %)
1) INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT: A 10-15 page analytical paper on the themes covered in class, the choice of which should be discussed with the professor beforehand. Students can choose to work on a creative project in groups of 2 instead of a paper, with the prior approval of the instructor. The paper will be due 2 weeks after the end of class and will count for 40%
2) COLLECTIVE ASSIGNMENT IN GROUPS OF 3 students who will guide discussions of one chosen thematic class:
Oral part: Each group will choose one thematic session to lead. The group then prepares critical questions for discussions and a policy exercise for other students. Part of the grade will be the ability to organize class discussions on critical perspectives and creative way to organize exercises for policy (20%)
Written part: Based on the readings, the lecture and the discussions and the exercises that the students led, the group will turn in a paper, 7-10 pages long, answering a standard set of questions provided by the professor at the start of the semester. (30%). The paper is due one week after the session which the group leads.
3) INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION: Active participation in debates and discussions, including based on readings, (10%).
• After the first class, students will be given a choice to guide discussions on one of the approaches. They can work in groups of 3 to each take one session to “host”.
• One week before each class, the professor will send all students a PPT presentation with 4-5 profiles of extremists, with some short videos to watch. Students are required to look at the slides and the videos and come to class with ideas, based on the profiles sent and the readings.
• The first hour fifteen minutes of the class (1h15), the professor will present the theoretical part and guide discussions among students based on the profiles they looked at, their readings and what the lecture covered.
• For the second part of the course, discussions will be organized by a host group of students (in groups of 3) during the remaining 45 minutes: The students prepare their intervention/guided discussion of the class in 2 parts:
a) Part 1: Critical questions on the pros and cons of the approach for discussion
b) Part 2: Exercises for students to develop policy solutions
• The 3 ‘host' students who lead the exercises and discussions will then write up the findings of discussions by answering a set of standard questions provided by the professor at the start of the semester.
• Please note that this class includes a 4 hour Policy and Simulation workshop on Saturday the 29th of April. (Total class time is 28 hours).
• Students can also meet with the professor to discuss their final papers or ideas for projects as soon as they are ready. By mid-semester, everyone should have turned in a project idea/paper with research question to the professor.
• Readings for the sessions will be posted at the beginning of the semester. Skimming through the readings is a requirement.
• The PowerPoint presentation of the professor will be put on the Moodle drive for students after the class.
• The class is interactive and students are expected to contribute to discussions with their examples from the readings and from their experiences and opinions.
• At times outside of class, the student can communicate with the professor by email, zoom, etc.