Course

Terrorism

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Criminology
Course code
CRIM 3395
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Online
Hybrid
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course examines the pathways of radicalization toward terrorism and/or violent extremism in both online and offline environments. The course begins by defining and critically analyzing the concepts of terrorism, radicalization, and extremism, and in doing so will provide a brief background on the historical development and modern usage of these terms. In order to understand how and why certain individuals radicalize and join extremist movements, various theories of radicalization are discussed. In addition, several modern prominent extremist movements (along with their ideologies and radicalization/recruitment tactics) are highlighted and examined in detail including White Nationalists, Islamist extremists, and gender-based extremists. The course concludes with discussions about media depictions of terrorism, as well as a focus on counter-radicalization and counter-extremism strategies across governments, criminal justice agencies, and the public.
Course content

1) The historical context and perspectives about terrorism

2) Radicalization and Extremism

  • Overview
  • Definitions
  • Theoretical approaches

3) Islamist Extremism

  • Definitions and historical context
  • Modern trends
  • Case studies (e.g. ISIS, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram)

3) Right-Wing Extremism

  • Definitions and historical context
  • Modern trends
  • Case studies (e.g. Neo-Nazis, White supremacists)

4) Left-wing extremism

  • Definitions and historical context
  • Modern trends
  • Case studies (e.g. The Red Army Faction, The FARC)

5) Nationalist extremism

  • Definitions and historical context
  • Modern trends
  • Case studies (e.g. The FLQ, The IRA, The PKK)

6) Gender-based extremism

  • Definitions and historical context of gender-based movements and related violence
  • Discussion of gender-based extremism as terrorism 
  • Case studies (e.g. Incels)

7) New online extremist movement

  • GamerGate
  • Alt-Right
  • QAnon

8) Special interest extremism

  • Environmentalism
  • Animal rights

9) The role of media

10) Countering radicalization and extremism

  • Policy and legislative efforts
  • Education

11) Criminal Justice and Public Safety in the Canadian context

  • Best Practices
  • Lessons Learned
Learning activities

This course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:

  1. Lectures
  2. Seminar discussions
  3. Audio visual material
  4. Research projects and papers
Means of assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy.  Evaluation will be based on the course objectives.  The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester. 

 

An example of a possible evaluation shceme would be:

  Extremist Profile Assignment

20 %

  Seminar Participation

15 %

  Seminar Discussion Lead

10 %

  Term Paper

30 %

  Final Exam

25 %

Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class.  Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving human subjects.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • Describe a brief history of terrorism in various North American and international contexts. 
  • Define and distinguish terrorism, radicalization, and extremism.
  • Critically analyze a range of perspectives on terrorism including legal, political, and academic.
  • Explain and interpret how radicalization and extremism occur in the present day.
  • Illustrate and analyze how various modern extremist movements operate and persist.
  • Evaluate the role of various sources of media in depicting and representing terrorism. 
  • Explain and evaluate various modern counter-radicalization and counter extremism strategies.
Textbook materials

A selection of current journal articles and readings will be compiled for this course.

Requisites

Prerequisites

CRIM 1150

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for CRIM 3395
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX SOSC 2XX (3)
Athabasca University (AU) AU CRJS 3XX (3)
Camosun College (CAMO) No credit
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU SOC 3XX (3)
Coast Mountain College (CMTN) No credit
College of New Caledonia (CNC) CNC CRIM 2XX (3)
Columbia College (COLU) COLU CRIM 2nd (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU CRIM 3XXX (3)
LaSalle College Vancouver (LCV) LCV POL 3XX (3)
Northern Lights College (NLC) NLC CRIM 2XX (3)
Okanagan College (OC) OC CRIM 3XX (3)
Quest University (QU) QU TRN 3000 (4)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU CRIM 413 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU CRIM 3XXX (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU GENS 3XX (3)
University Canada West (UCW) UCW CRIM 3XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO ARTS_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ARTS_V 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC POLS 3XX (3)
Yorkville University (YVU) YVU TIER 3XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
35
Remaining seats:
0
On waitlist
17
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4306
Times:
Start Time
15:30
-
End Time
18:20