Master of Arts in Homeland Security

This course is a survey of the capabilities and limitations of the systems and procedures that affect joint planning in time-sensitive situations, and the criteria for the use of force and the need for Crisis Action Planning (CAP).

The course introduces the philosophy of social science and detailed procedures for designing a social science research project. Emphasis is placed on research ethics and the collection of empirical data using a number of social science procedures. Students are also introduced to the latest homeland security intelligence methods for the analysis of competing hypotheses and predictive analysis techniques. Establishing a grant management system for hypothesis-based and need-based projects and preparation of winning grant proposals are also covered.

This course explores the boundaries of this 21st century national security mission by examining the threats, the actors, and the organizational structures and resources required to defend the American homeland. It examines how we have shifted the emphasis to protect the US homeland from the defensive measures taken during the Cold War to both reactive and proactive actions against the wide variety of asymmetric threats posed by Global Terrorism.

This course traces the history, emergence, and growth of paramilitary and terrorist groups within the United States. Students will assess various groups' intentions, capabilities, and activities within contexts of and ramifications on political, national security, and legal paradigms.

Explores the theory, practice, challenges and prospects for securing America against terrorist attack and protecting citizens and resources from the consequences of natural disaster, with special emphasis on how policy makers are resolving this dilemma. The primary focus is on fundamental challenges to the American political order and the strategic issues raised by the prospect of a long war against terrorism, and the dedication of significant resources for responding to catastrophic disasters which may come into conflict with the resources needed to fight a long-term War on Terrorism. The course draws heavily on current events and emerging policy solutions.

This course deals with the interaction, coordination, and facilitation between federal, state, and local AND the different functions associated with emergency and disaster management (fire, police, emergency medical, military, public health, etc.) during public crises. Included in the course is in-depth study of current policy and plans associated with interagency cooperation, shortfalls in interagency and intergovernmental efforts, principles for effective interorganizational behavior, and concepts for closer interorganizational action.

This course is a study of the economics associated with international, national, state, or local level disaster. Students will study, analyze, and conduct research on the direct and indirect economic losses associated with disaster. The course will cover the economics associated with both public and private institutions.

This course deals with the casualty consequences of large scale emergency, disaster, and/or destruction. Public health, emergency casualty services, mortuary, and other issues are addressed using case examples, theory, and principles that have been researched, studied, and documented in international, national, and local settings.

This course addresses the potential results from nuclear, biological, and chemical incidents or uses. Topics include public health consequences of such incidents, emergency planning and response measures in place among U.S. agencies, and emerging detection and management technologies. Existing vulnerabilities to these types of incidents and attacks will also be discussed.

This course gives the student an arsenal of usable tools and techniques that are universally prescriptive and can be implemented in nearly every risk-associated situation, from public health to accidents to terrorist attacks and even to challenges to corporate reputation management. Students who complete this course will be prepared to make the best possible decisions during a crisis emergency about the effected population’s well being, and communicate those decisions, within nearly impossible time constraints, and ultimately, to accept the imperfect nature of choices as the situation evolves.

This course explores the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) as a new phenomenon. WMD, possibly wielded by terrorists, is the ultimate nightmare of a world society which likes to think of itself as having moved to a new plane of conduct. The U.S. government takes the matter seriously and it is presently devoting tens of millions of dollars to prepare for an incident. This course explores this new potential threat and the various responses to prevent, prepare, and respond to its use.

This course will survey the critical importance of ports to trade, their vulnerability to disruption and attack, and defensive measures to mitigate risk focusing on international cooperation and legislation. Special emphasis will be placed on defensive measures to protect ports from disruption or asymmetric attack, international cooperation, and national legislation.

Learn how to improve interagency relationships among security, defense, and intelligence agencies. This course introduces the student to theoretical and practical material for understanding the behavior of individual organizations and what can be done to make organizations work more closely together at the federal, state, and local levels. Students are introduced to theoretical material on organizational cultures; bureaucracy; social trust; individual, group, and organizational decision-making; and interagency collaboration. Emphasis is placed on explaining why organizations act the way they do and how to improve interagency coordination. Prerequisite: INTL500 Research Methods in Security and Intelligence Studies or other APUS 500-level graduate research methods course.

Examines intelligence community responses to threats to the U.S. homeland from transnational and domestic terrorists, including the employment of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Threats to the U.S. borders, including illegal immigration, narcotics smuggling, money laundering, commercial smuggling, and other organized crime activities are also covered.

This course is a study and analysis of international threats to security. It focuses on a variety of aspects related to both U.S. and foreign threat analysis and action, including the evolution of responses to threats, perspectives on threat action since World War II, principles of threat analysis and response, and assessments of successes and failures of such actions. The student will develop a comprehensive knowledge of threat analysis, how intelligence agencies in the U.S. assess and counter international threats in order to guard U.S. global interests and protect U.S. national security from adversaries, and how various threats affect national security policy and decision-making.

Students in this course synthesize the elements of information warfare or what is more commonly called today, Information Operations (IO). The course will cover actions taken to deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy or influence an adversary, while protecting/defending own force information. Through the use of both textbooks and online resources, students will be introduced to such IO disciplines as Electronic Warfare (EW), Computer Network Attack (CNA), Psychological Operations (PSYOP), Military Deception (MILDEC), and Operations Security (OPSEC).

This course will expose the students to a variety of counter-terrorism intelligence methodologies and analytic tools, and extensive academic, government, policy literature on the challenges, opportunities, and assumptions related to forecasting terrorism. The course will provide students with the analytic capability to understand the types of terrorist threats that are most likely to confront the U.S. and its allies, in addition to challenging students to evaluate the efficacy and impact of prediction-based efforts in counter-terrorism intelligence.

Students in this course examine a top national intelligence priority, weapons of mass destruction, and some of the intelligence techniques used against them. Topics include scientific and technical intelligence and its emergence since World War II, sessions on each of the four dominant WMD (chemical warfare, biological warfare, nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles) and important issues related to monitoring and verification. Capabilities and outlook provided in the open literature will be employed to improve familiarity with issues and impact on national security strategies.

This course examines the way government policies emerge from the political process and are implemented through participating institutions. In this class students will investigate how good analysis can contribute to informed policy-making and review the factors that go into developing effective implementation strategies. In addition, today’s need for enhanced public accountability and the challenging problems of measuring program performance are examined.

This course examines a range of management issues and strategies within the context of managing public organizations. The core focus is on an enhanced understanding of the theoretical and practical approaches to public management, an examination of enduring and day-to-day dilemmas faced by competent public managers, and the application of relevant theories to public management within the United States.

This course is a study of the theoretical, historical, and contemporary issues associated with quarantine as a public health and safety measure. Students will learn of quarantine strategy, implementation, effectiveness, and debate. The course topics will include consideration of quarantine as a health and safety measure in the modern homeland security strategy.

This course focuses on the principles, types, and forms of health management systems that exist to serve public needs during society’s most threatening crises. Topics range from international and national political and policy views of disaster health management down to local levels where leading hospitals and emergency managers must respond to public health disasters on a daily basis.

This course examines the global terrorism phenomenon and the social, economic, political, and religious conditions of select states, groups, and individuals that influence the terrorist mindset. Students examine the definitions, origins and development of terror as a means of influencing public policy decisions and in fostering transitions in public power to promote group goals. Specific historical instances of the use of terror are evaluated, assessed, and analyzed. Examples of groups such as the Al-Qaeda terrorist network are assessed including focused discussions on current events. Topics include: geography and geopolitics of terrorism, origins and history of terrorism, characteristics and goals of terrorism, role of politics and religion in terrorism, media impact on terrorism recruiting, and Al-Qaeda in Iraq organization.

This course will examine cybercrime and the legal, social and technical issues cybercrime presents. With a multi-disciplinary perspective, we will focus on ways information technology is used to commit crimes, investigative techniques used to discover the crimes, and the challenges involved in prosecuting cybercrimes These challenges include jurisdictional issues, application of traditional laws to cybercrimes, and privacy issues encountered during prevention, investigation and prosecution.

This course stresses the core principles of the CPTED (Crime Prevention through Environmental Design) concept. Students learn how to work with architects, city, and municipal planners to ensure new or refurbished construction is designed in such a way as to minimize or eliminate criminal activity. Topics covered include initial planning considerations, gathering information from multiple sources, formulating and implementing the plan based on core CPTED principles, and the need for modifications and review over time.

This course provides a comprehensive overview of the current state-of-the-art in airport security. Air terminal security is covered from the aspect of physical security considerations, baggage screening, training requirements for security personnel, employee screening and awareness programs, aircraft security, ground and air security technologies, integrating security systems for maximum coverage and protection, effective local, state, and federal liaison, counter and anti-terrorism measures, narcotics and contraband - the use of working dog teams, and apron access and security considerations.

This course is designed to address the multi-billion dollar annual loss globally due to cargo theft. Topics include: asset protection in the transportation industry, analysis of freight system vulnerability, development of an effective cargo security plan, review of industry standards, and best practices in the industry.

Comprehensive final examination for students in the Master of Arts in Homeland Security program. The "Comprehensive Final Examination" is tailored specifically to each program and must be taken after students have completed 36 hours of study (i.e. during the semester following the final course) and successfully completed before the award of a degree.