Each Friday seminar hosted by the Center on Terrorism, focuses on a singular aspect of terrorism. The seminar series has been meeting alternate Fridays from 3-5pm since the beginning of the series in the fall of 2002. An invited speaker presents on a topic and a question-and-answer period follows. Refreshments are served and post-seminar conversation is encouraged. Graduate students at John Jay College are urged to attend and participate. We also warmly welcome all those interested in pursuing graduate work or currently working in the field of terrorism. This is an excellent forum for the exchange of ideas helpful to the academic and practitioner alike. The Seminars are also open to the general public.


Fall 2009 Seminars

9/11 – “Deployed: How Reservists Bear the Burdens of Iraq” withMichael Musheno, Professor of Criminal Justice Studies at San Francisco State University, and Distinguished Affiliated Scholar, Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California at Berkeley. His most recent book is Deployed: How Reservists Bear the Burdens of Iraq (2008).
Location: Room 630T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

10/9 – “The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One”with David Kilcullen
David Kilcullen is a leading figure in counter terrorism and the author of The Accidental Guerrilla, published by Oxford University Press in March 2009, a detailed study that analyzes the complex interplay between local guerrillas and global terrorists in contemporary war zones from Africa to Southeast Asia. Location: Room 203
Time: 3-5pm

10/16 – Graduate Student Presentation
Graduate students will present research on conducted during the past year an a variety of issues significant to the study of Terrorism.
Location: Room 610
Time: 3-5pm

10/30 – “Historical origins of European terrorism” with Martin Miller, Professor at Duke University.                                  
Location: Room 630T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

11/13 – “The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First 100 Days” with Karen J. Greenberg, Executive Director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law, is the author of The Least Worst Place: Guantanamo’s First 100 Days, editor of the NYU Review of Law and Security, and co-editor of the Center’s newest publication, The Enemy Combatants Papers: American Justice, the Courts, and the War on Terror.
Location: Room TBA
Time: 3-5pm

12/11 – Joseba Zulaika
Location: Room 630T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

Past Seminars

SPRING 2009 Seminars

2/13 – “Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond” with Mark S. Hamm, professor of Criminology at Indiana State University and the author of Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond (2007). He is currently at work on a study of terrorist recruitment in U.S. and British prisons, which is funded by the National Institute of Justice.

3/6 – “Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad” with Marnia Lazred, professor of Sociology at the Graduate Center and Hunter College, CUNY and is the author of Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad (2007).

3/20 – TBA

4/3 – “Landscape of the Jihad” with Faisal Devji, assistant professor of History at the New School University and the author of Landscape of the Jihad (2005). 

5/1 – “Caribbean Security in the Age of Terror: Challenge and Change” with Ivelaw Griffith, professor of Political Science, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at York College, CUNY and is the editor of the text, Caribbean Security in the Age of Terror: Challenge and Change (2008).

FALL 2008 Seminars

10/3 – “Leaderless Jihad” with Marc Sageman, forensic psychiatrist and NYPD’s first Scholar in Residence; government counterterrorism consultant; professor at University of Pennsylvania, and author Understanding Terror Networks (2004) and Leaderless Jihad (2008, University of Pennsylvania Press).
Location: room 630T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
**Time change: 2:30-4:15

10/17 – “Questioning Islamic Extremism: Religiosity and Radicalization” with Mucahit Bilici, Assistant Professor of Sociology.
Location: Room 203T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

CANCELLED
11/7 – “The Psychology of violent Intergroup Conflict” with Jeremy Ginges, professor at the New School for Social Research.
Location: Room 203T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

11/21– “Sacred Terror”with James W. Jones, distinguished professor of religion and adjunct professor of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University and author of Blood That Cries Out From the Earth: The psychology of religious terrorism (2008, Oxford University Press).
Location: Room 630T,
Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

12/5 - TBA
Location: room 203T, Haaren Hall 899 10th Avenue
Time: 3-5pm

Spring 2008

5/8 – "Global Security Conference " **Limited Space Available** RSVP to hbaldwin@jjay.cuny.edu. (certificate students will receive double seminar credit if attend full day program)

2/8 – “The Department of Homeland Security: Where it's Been, Where it's Going?” with three important representatives of the U.S. Government Accountability Office: Norm Rabkin, Managing Director, Homeland Security and Justice; Rebecca Gambler, Senior Analyst, Homeland Security and Justice; and Jason Barnosky, Analyst, Homeland Security and Justice.
Location: room 630T, Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

3/7 – "FBI Transformation: Integrating Intelligence and Investigations" Bill Priestap, Supervisory Special Agent of the Counterterrorism Intelligence Squad.
Location: room 203T, Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

3/14 – "The growing use of women suicide bombers by al-Qaeda related groups in Iraq" with Mona Eltahawi, award-winning syndicated columnist and international lecturer.
Location: room 630T, Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

3/28 – “Captured on Tape: Interrogation and Videotaping of Detainees in Guantanamo” with Mark Denbeaux, Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School and Director, Seton Hall Law Center for Policy and Research.
Location: room 630T, Haaren Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

Fall 2007

9/21 – "DIA Support for the War on Terrorism" with Gary S. Greco, a Senior Intelligence Officer in the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Location: room 630T, Haraan Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

10/12 – "Civil Liberties in an age of Counter-Terrorism" with Mike German, Policy Counsel on National Security, Immigration and Privacy for the Washington Legislative Office of the ACLU, and a sixteen year veteran of the FBI.
Location: room 630T, Haraan Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3-5pm

11/2 – "Terrorists/Heroes: The Kurdish War in Turkey" with Aliza Marcus, a former international correspondent for The Boston Globe, a freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor and later as a staff writer for Reuters. She received a National Press Club Award for her reporting.
Location: room 616BMW, 555 West 57th Street

11/16 – "Terror/Torture" with Karima Bennoune, Associate Professor at Rutgers University School of Law – Newark where she teaches international law and human rights, previously a legal adviser for Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat.
Location: room 630T, Haraan Hall, 899 10th Avenue 3:15-5:15pm

12/14 – "America's Public Policy Challenge: Radicalization" with Richard Davis, President of Davis Energy (partnered with RTI); Senior Associate at the Center for the Study of the Presidency; and Research Fellow at the Center on Terrorism – he worked previously in the White House under George W. Bush, for the Department of Homeland Security, and with numerous international organizations.
Location: room 616BMW, 555 West 57th Street

SPRING 2007

3/9 – “Trapped in the War on Terror” with Ian Lustick, Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. This discussion centered around contemporary strategies of counter-terrorism, and the current climate of paranoia that drives national and international security measures.

3/23 – “The War in Iraq : Four Years Later - Where did we come from? Where are we going? Where should we be? - A Teach-In” with presentations by Ray MacGovern, Chris Hedges, Susan Sarandon, Ellen Schrecker, several John Jay faculty and other scholars, activists, celebrities, and artists.

4/13 – “Global Network Terrorism” with Scott Atran, Presidential Scholar in the Department of Sociology at John Jay College, Senior Research Fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Director of Research in Anthropology at the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris. His presentation centered around recent developments in his research on transnational terrorist networks, specifically the Madrid 2004 bombing.

4/27 – “Terrorism Financing” with Thomas J. Biersteker, the Henry R. Luce Professor of Transnational Organizations at Brown University and member of the Council on Foreign Relations' Independent Taskforce on Terrorist Financing. His presentation gave an overview of terrorism financing and current countermeasures.

5/11 – "Domestic Terrorism" with David Kaczynski, of New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty. David Kaczynski is the brother of Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber, now in prison for life in Colorado. He spoke of the searing experience of recognizing his brother from the famous Manifesto that was published in the New York Times and alerting the FBI that led to his arrest, as well as his feelings about the death penalty.

Fall 2006

9/15 – “Giuliani and 9/11,” with Wayne Barrett, Senior Editor at the Village Voice.  In addition to covering city and state government and politics at the Voice for 28 years, Barrett has written 3 books: City for Sale (1988); Trump: The deals and the downfall (1991); and Rudy! An investigative biography (2000).  Barrett’s new book that is just out that he wrote with Dan Collins is called Grand Illusion: The untold story of Rudy Giuliani and 9/11. 

10/6 – “Counter-Terrorism: Alternatives to Failed Militarism” with Alastair Millar, Vice President of Fourth Freedom Foundation. He discussed effective and ineffective strategies and efforts against global terrorism and preventive measures that alter the risk factors that give rise to terrorism.

10/20 – “Global and Local Wars on Terror: International Counter-terrorism Cooperation Five Years After 9/11” with Peter Romaniuk, Assistant Professor of Government at John Jay College. His presentation addressed how states have cooperated to suppress terrorism since the attacks of 11 September 2001. 

11/17 – “Weapons of Terror: A Response to the Blix Report” with John Burroughs, Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University School of Law. He discussed the final report of the WMD Commission and the means to eliminate nuclear, biological and chemical arms.

12/8 – "The Ambiguous Synergy Between Media and Terrorism" with Bill Blakemore, Reporter, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings; Chief Science Correspondent for ABC's weekly show, Discovery News. Blakemore has covered nine wars, as well as Middle Eastern, European and Indian politics and culture.

Spring 2006

2/10 – “Ethical and Metaphysical Meanings of Al-Qaeda,” with Faisal Devji, Professor at the New School University, and author of Landscapes of Jihad:  Militancy, Morality, and Modernity (2005, Cornell University Press).

3/24 – “Global Terrorist Networks,” with Marc Sageman, Professor at University of Pennsylvania and Foreign Policy Research Institute Senior Fellow at the Center on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Homeland Security, was a CIA case officer in the 1980's, serving in Afghanistan between 1987–89, and is now a forensic psychiatrist, author of the book Understanding Terror Networks (2004, University of Pennsylvania Press.)

4/7 – “Reflections on Contemporary Iran,” with Ervand Abrahamian, CUNY Distinguished Professor, Department of History at Baruch College and author of the books, Iran Between Two Revolutions (1982, Princeton University Press);  Khomeinism: Essays on the Islamic Republic (1983, University of California Press); Inventing the Axis of Evil: The Truth About North Korea, Iran, and Syria (2004, The New Press); among many others.

4/28 – “Security Strategies & Organizational Change,” with Joseph W.  Pfeifer, Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Preparedness for the New York City Fire Department.  Pfeifer is the operational liaison with the FBI’s intelligence office in New York, is responsible for creating emergency response plans for terrorism and major disasters, develops risk assessment and critical infrastructure protection programs, conducts interagency counterterrorism exercises, and coordinates interagency incident management.

5/12 – “Biological Weapons and the Human and Animal Public Health Infrastructures: An Overview” with Laura H. Kahn, physician and researcher at the Program on Science and Global Security of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. 

Fall 2005

9/16 – “The New face of Al-Qaeda” with Alain Bauer, a criminologist at the Sorbonne University and co-author of The Al-Qaeda Enigma and author of Urban Crime in France (French University Press, 2003); Polices in France (French University Press, 2003), Violence and Crime in America (French University Press, 2000), and The War That Just Began (Lattès 2002).

 10/ 28 - “Law Enforcement Counter-terrorism Efforts Around the World,” with Maria Haberfeld, Chair of the Department of Law, Police Science, and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College.  She wrote the book, Critical Issues in Police Training (Prentice-Hall, 2003), co-edited the book, Contours of Police Integrity, (Sage Publications, 2003); and authored another book Police Leadership (Prentice Hall, 2006); in addition to numerous article contributions to law enforcement journals.

11/11 – “The Shadow of Terrorism in a Global Economy,” with Carolyn Nordstrom, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame., whose books include: Shadows of War: Violence, Power and International Profiteering in the 21st Century (2004, University of California Press); A Different Kind of War Story (1997, University of Pennsylvania Press); and the edited volume: Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Stories of Violence and Survival (1996, AGCM Robben); among others. 

12/9 – “Militarism in Israel-Palestine: The Meanings of Death,” with Avram Bornstein, Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at John Jay College, CUNY, and author of Crossing the Green Line between the West Bank and Israel (2002, University of Pennsylvania) and numerous scholarly articles and book reviews on violence and policing, and is currently writing a book about militarism in Israel-Palestine.

SPRING 2005

2/25 – “Islamic Terrorist Networks: Recruitment in European prisons,” with Alon Daniel, a Program Director, Islamic Outreach Program at the World Policy Institute’s Counter Terrorism Project; and Douglas E. Thompkins, Assistant Professor of Sociology, at John Jay College; recipient of the Ford Pre-Dissertation Fellowship and the American Society of Criminology Minority Fellowship; former member and leader of the Gangster Disciples while incarcerated.

3/4 – “Domestic American Terrorism,” with Jeremy Varon, Assistant Professor of History at Drew University; author of Bringing the War Home: The Weather Underground, the Red Army Faction, and Revolutionary Violence in the 60s and 70s (2004, University of California Press).

3/18 – “The History of Torture,” with Itai Sneh, Assistant Professor of History of World Civilizations, Human Rights and International Law at John Jay College and author of a forthcoming book on human rights in the administration of Jimmy Carter.

4/1 – “Gender and Apocalyptic Violence,” with Lee Quinby, research fellow at the Center on Terrorism; author of Millennial Seduction: A  Skeptic Confronts Apocalyptic Culture (1999, Cornell University Press); Anti-Apocalypse: Exercises in Genealogical Criticism (1994, University of Minnesota); and Freedom, Foucault, and the Subject of America (1991, Northeastern University Press); and Catherine Keller, instructor of constructive theology at Drew University; author of From a Broken Web: Separation, Sexism and Self (1988, Houghton Mifflin); Apocalypse Now & Then: A Feminist Guide to the End of the World (1997, Beacon press); and The Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming (2003, Routledge); among others.

4/15 – “Terrorism in Turkey,” with Omer Onhon, Turkish Consul General in New York. Onhon has served in the foreign services of Turkey; was a diplomat in Saudi Arabia and Vienna; served in the International Security and Disarmament Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Turkey; was a member of the Turkish delegation to NATO; served two years in Syria in the late 1990s; was head of the Department of the Middle East in the Foreign Affairs Department in Turkey.

5/6 – "Mismeasuring Militias: The Limitations of State-Level Studies of Paramilitary Groups," with Joshua D. Freilich, Assistant Professor of Sociology at John Jay College and author of American Militias: State-Level Variations in Militia Activities (LFB Scholarly Publishing).

FALL 2004

9/10 – “The World Trade Center Disaster,” with Sally Regenhard, Director of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign (SSC), created in memory of her son, Christian Michael Otto Regenhardalong; Diana Stewart, coping with the awful loss of her husband on 9/11; and Manuel Chea, a survivor of the North Tower and a member of the Survivors' Network Steering Committee.

10/15 – “Blood and Tears: The Arab-Israeli Conflict,” with William Helmreich, Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center, CUNY, and author of Against All Odds: Holocaust Survivors and the Successful Lives They Made in America (Simon & Schuster, 1993); The Things they Say Behind your Back; and The World of the Yeshiva; among many others.

11/5 – “Intelligence Gathering,” with David B. Low, National Intelligence Officer of the CIA for Transnational Threats, and Stuart A. Cohen, Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council of the CIA and for two years a Professor of Law and Police Science at John Jay College.

11/5 – “Every Day Stories of Life and Death,” with Anne Nivat, an award-winning Moscow-based war correspondent who extensively covered the war in Chechnya and the aftermath of the military phase in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and author of  Chienne de Guerre: A Woman Reporter Behind the Lines of the War in Chechnya (Public Affairs, 2001).

2/13 – “Terrorism in America,” with Bruce Hoffman, the Vice-President of External Affairs and Director of the Washington Office of the RAND Corporation, and author of the book, Inside Terrorism (Columbia University Press, 1998). 

2/27 – “War Profiteering and the Bush Administration,“ with William D. Hartung, Senior Fellow at New School University, Director of the Arms Trade Resource Center, and author of two books: How Much Money Did You Make On the War, Daddy? A Quick and Dirty Guide to War Profiteering in the Bush Administration (Nation Books, 2003); and And Weapons for All (Harper Collins, 1994).

3/19 – “We Are Not Defeated: Justice Not Revenge,” with Marianne Perl, the wife of Wall Street Journalist murdered in Iraq, and author of The Mighty Heart: The Brave Life and Death of My Husband Danny Pearl (Scribner, 2003).

 3/26 – “U.S. State Policy: Human Rights and Political Violence,” with Lesley Gill, Professor of Anthropology, American University, and author of The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the Americas (Duke University Press, 2004); Teetering on the Rim: Global Restructuring, Daily Life and the Armed Retreat of the Bolivian State(Columbia University Press, 2000), and Precarious Dependencies: Gender, Class and Domestic Service (Columbia University Press, 1994).

4/16 – “Federal, State, and Local Jurisdictions in the Fight Against Terrorism,” with Robert Louden, Professor of Management, John Jay College, and former commander of the NY Police Department Hostage Negotiation Unit. 

4/30 – “Politics and Violence in Post-Terrorism Ireland,” with Conor Brady, former editor of The Irish Times and The Sunday Tribune both newspapers in Ireland, and author of two books Guardians of Peace (Prendeville Publishing, second edition 2000) and Up With The Times (2005).

 5/14 – “Intersection of Terrorism and Drug-related Violence in Contemporary Columbia,” with Gipsy Escobar, a graduate of John Jay College, and former advisor to the Presidential Office for Urban Security and Peaceful Co-Existence.

FALL 2003

9/12 - "The Selling of Fear in America: The Press, the Iraq War, and Terrorism," with John R. MacArthur, publisher of Harper's Magazine and the author of Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War (1993, University of California Press).

10/10 – “9/11 and the New York Environment,” with Juan Gonzalez, columnist for the New York Daily News, and author of Fallout: The Environmental Consequences of the World Trade Center Collapse (2002, WW. Norton and Company); Roll Down Your Window: Stories of a Forgotten America (1995, Verso Books); and Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America(2000, Penguin Books), discussed the environmental effects of 9/11 in New York, especially in terms of what went into the air, and the mostly inadequate way public officials handled the information.

11/7 – “Evacuation from Tall Buildings in Emergencies,” with Glenn Corbett, Assistant Professor of Fire Science at John Jay College, a leading critic of the investigation of the World Trade Center collapse.

11/21 – “History of the Civil War in Sri Lanka and Female Suicide Terrorists,” with Dilshika Jayamaha, journalist for the Associated Press and graduate student at John Jay College, who has covered Sri Lanka and the bloody war and terrorist campaign of the Tamils.

12/5 - "From Oklahoma City to Columbine: Paramilitary Influences on Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold,” with Ralph W. Larkin author of Suburban Youth in Cultural Crisis (1979, Oxford University Press) and with Danile A. Foss, Beyond Revolution: New Theory of Social Movements (1986, Greenwood Press).

Spring 2003

2/21 – “Terrorism and the Media,” with Brigitte Nacos, instructor of Political Science at Columbia University and author of Mass-Mediated Terrorism: The Central Role of the Media in Terrorism and Counterterrorism (2002, Rowman and Littlefield).

3/7 – “Jesse James: The First American Terrorist,” with T.J. Stiles, independent scholar and author of Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War (2003, Vintage Press).

3/21 – “The Origins of the Cold War,” with John Fousek, Ph.D., author, To Lead the Free World: American Nationalism and the Ideological Origins of the Cold War, University of North Carolina Press.

4/4 – “The Political and Social Contexts of Nuclear Power,” with Randall Archibald, New York Times reporter that covered Indian Point nuclear power plant for years and Stephen Kent, a principal of Kent Communications, a company that represented nuclear weapons reduction and environmental groups advocating for the closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

5/16 – “Bio-Weapons As Instruments of Terror,” with Ed Hanlon, Professor of History, John Jay College, and specialist on the Pacific area of operations during the Second World War.