John Jay College - The Center on Terrorism

Graduate Assistantship in Homeland Security
John Jay College Alumni Association Counter-Terrorism Graduate Scholarship Award

Graduate Assistantship in Homeland Security
Sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security

The Office of Graduate Studies and the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY, are seeking applications for the inaugural Graduate Assistantship in Homeland Security. The assistantship has been made possible by a grant that the College has received from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The objective of the grant is to help prepare Masters students – especially those from underrepresented groups – for careers in DHS or in the broader field of homeland security.

The assistantship offers a stipend of $2300 per month for 12 months. In addition, the assistantship will reimburse the full costs of tuition, fees and health insurance. The successful applicant will work full time as a research assistant while continuing his or her studies.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT!! In the next assistantship, the GA will work with Professor Charles Jennings (Department of Protection Management) on a project titled “Best Practices and Environmental Factors in Achieving Regional Radio Interoperability.” The objective of this project is to develop summary measures of radio system interoperability in metropolitan areas and research will include trips to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, CD for archival research.

Application Requirements
The assistantship is for one calendar year (i.e. October 2008 – October 2009). Applicants must be enrolled in a Masters program at John Jay College for the duration of the assistantship period and maintain good academic standing with a GPA of at least a 3.3. Assistantships are limited to US citizens.

Download full application
Next submission deadline is noon, Monday September 22, 2008.

Past Recipients

2008-2009

Christopher Higgins was awarded the Graduate Assistantship in Homeland Security in October of 2008. He is currently seeking a Masters Degree in the Forensic Psychology as well as working toward the Certificate on Terrorism Studies offered by the Center on Terrorism. He aspires to complete his Masters by 2010 and pursue a PhD in Forensic Psychology. Christopher earned his B.A. in Sociology and Psychology from Columbia University in 2006. Additionally, Christopher works on a part-time basis as an Emergency Dispatcher for the American Red Cross Greater NY chapter.

Katharine Boyd was awarded the Graduate Assistantship in Homeland Security in March of 2008. She is currently working towards her Masters in Forensic Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and toward the Certificate in Terrorism Studies offered by the Center on Terrorism. Ms. Boyd earned a B.A. in psychology and political science from Ashland University in Ohio, and she wishes to pursue a Ph.D. following graduation in 2009.

Soon after 9/11 (her freshman year of college), Ms. Boyd became interested in what factors contribute to terrorist motivation. She did research in her undergraduate studies regarding radical Islamic moral development. Her research interests include studying radicalization and terrorist motivations in relation to public policy. As the current GA, Boyd is contributing to the literature review for the upcoming book, The Fundamentalist Mindset: On Religion and Violence with Professor Strozier (Director, Center on Terrorism) and History Will Judge: An Examination of Torture through the Ages with Professor Sneh (History Department).

John Jay College Alumni Association Counter-Terrorism Graduate Scholarship Award

The John Jay College Alumni Association and the Center on Terrorism have
established a special terrorism studies graduate scholarship in honor of
the many John Jay College Alumni who died in the September 11th attacks.
The scholarship memorializes the victims of 9/11, and supports the
advanced academic studies that promote better understanding of terrorism,
strategies for countering it, and policies for preventing it. This
scholarship is a $2000 award (i.e., $1000 per semester for two semesters)
to a graduate student studying terrorism. Students must be enrolled in at
least one course for each semester. (Please refer to enclosed list)

Application Requirements

Eligible candidates must:

be enrolled, full time or part time, in the Graduate School at John Jay College, or must be matriculated or non-matriculated alumni who have completed an undergraduate or graduate degree at John Jay;
have a minimum 3.5 cumulative GPA;
have completed or be enrolled in at least 1 graduate course pertaining to the Terrorism Studies Certificate Program Curriculum (refer to course list below);
have accumulated at least 9 graduate credits or completed an undergraduate or graduate degree at John Jay, at the time of application.

Interested students must submit:

a John Jay General Scholarship Application [http://www.jjay.cuny.edu/GeneralScholarshipApplication.pdf ]
a written essay of two pages (approx. 500 words) pertaining to the ways graduate education can contribute to the understanding and the prevention of terrorism, and describing their professional ambitions after graduation;
an unofficial copy of their graduate transcript; and
a recommendation letter ( from a John Jay faculty member or a professional reference).

Candidates selected as finalists for the scholarship will also have a personal interview with the Alumni Association Board. Selection preference will be given to students enrolled in the M.A. Certificate Program in Terrorism Studies.

Interested students should submit an application with all supporting materials, including complete contact information, postmarked or delivered to Room 1285N by September 11, 2009, addressed to: Michael Scaduto; Scholarship Coordinator; 445 West 59th Street, Room 1285N; New York, NY 10019. For more information: email mscaduto@jjay.cuny.edu; tel: 212-237-
8872.

Terrorism Studies Curriculum

CRIMINAL JUSTICE COURSES
CRJ 744 – Terrorism and Politics
CRJ 746 – Terrorism & Apocalyptic Violence
CRJ 784 – Organized and Transnational Crime
CRJ 816 – Hostage Negotiation
CRJ 819 – Counter-Terrorism CJ
CRJ 826 – Interrogation and Confession: social science, legal
perspectives, and current controversies
CRJ 829 – Violence Across the Globe
CRJ 832 – US Intelligence
CRJ 835 – History of Genocide
CRJ 836 – September 11th
CRJ 840 – Women and Terrorism
CRJ 850 – Intro to Homeland Security

FORENSIC SCIENCE COURSES
FOS 821 – Counter-Terrorism Technologies and Techniques

PSYCHOLOGY COURSES
PSY 729 – Psychology of Terrorism
PSY 806 – Psychology of Cults
PSY 826 – Interrogation and Confession: social science, legal
perspectives, and current controversies
* Independent Study on the topic of terrorism will also apply.

Past Recipients

2008-2009

Katy Glover is the recipient of the John Jay College Alumni Association Counter Terrorism Graduate Scholarship Award for the 2007-2008 academic year. She is currently working toward her Masters in Forensic Psychology. Katy is also working toward the Certificate in Terrorism Studies offered by the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. She holds a B.S. in Forensic Studies with a minor in Psychology from Florida Gulf Coast University. She is currently employed with NYC Department of Investigation, as a Confidential Investigator. She is also currently serving as the coordinator of a major national conference hosted by the Center on "Interrogation and Torture Controversy: Crisis in Psychology" scheduled for the fall of 2008. After graduation she hopes to be employed by a federal agency as a Special Agent.

2006-2007

Benjamin Orr was the recipient of the John Jay College Alumni Association Counter Terrorism Graduate Scholarship Award for the 2006-2007 academic year. He obtained a Masters in Public Administration from the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, specializing in Policy Analysis. Benjamin also earned the Certificate in Terrorism Studies offered by the Center on Terrorism at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Missouri-Rolla. After graduation he hopes to enter law school.

Mr. Orr’s interest in terrorism and fundamentalist extremism both precedes and is a response to the attacks of September 11th, 2001. He was raised in a Christian sect that, though pacifist, bore many markers of more violent groups. After separating from the sect in college-the rest of his immediate family soon followed-he wrote his senior thesis in 2000 on the comparability of terrorist groups in first and third world countries, focusing on the Red Army Faction in Germany and Sendero Luminosa in Peru. His research interests are terrorist networks, terrorist financing and the intersection of civil liberties and counter terrorism policy. Benjamin serves as a Research Associate at the Center on Terrorism on the Global Network Terrorism project.

2002-2003

Robert Marmara of Rockaway, New Jersey, was the recipient of the John Jay College Alumni Association Counter Terrorism Graduate Scholarship Award for the 2002-2003 academic year. Robert was the first recipient of the award given to a graduate student in honor of the many alumni who died in the September 11th attacks. Mr. Marmara served as the coordinator of a major national conference hosted by the Center on “Torture After 9/11” in the fall of 2003.