Learn to Become a Terrorist at Tech

The School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech is offering a course on terrorism. I mean student projects in that course include terrorist acts.

For those students who always seem to have a gripe with Tech, a 3000-level special topics class in International Affairs entitled “The Challenge of Terrorism” could allow those idle musings about getting revenge on the Department of Parking to be more than just daydreams.

However, they should probably take a few pointers from Dr. William Hoehn, a visiting professor in the School of International Affairs, first.

“You should make sure your plan works so that you aren’t caught, which means you can’t just blow up a stop sign in the middle of the night,” Hoehn said, describing one of the activities his “Challenge of Terrorism” class undertakes each semester.

As part of an assignment, students address a grievance on-campus, without being caught or reprimanded, by employing methods used by terrorists. A stipend of $10,000 and the option of choosing three co-conspirators in any field at Tech are the only conditions set forth. By pretending to “think like a terrorist,” the students get a unique insight on the issues and challenges that terrorism poses.

“Our kids learn how difficult it is to not be a suicidal terrorist or behind bars and to work with a limited supply of money,” Goodman said.

Not surprisingly, when given the activity of “thinking like a terrorist,” most students usually target Tech parking, food services or the basic freshman computer science courses.

Obvious and popular targets, I guess.

For example, said the Goodman and Hoehn, one student wished to address his grievance of having to take the infamous introductory CS course by assassinating the professor.

That course is a huge greivance of quite a few freshmen.

The student tracked the professor, noting his daily schedule, and determined that the best time to do the job would be during his office hours where he sat alone outside of D.M. Smith.

However, Goodman and Hoehn emphasize that the class is not just about planning terrorist activities; it involves analysis, as well.

For example, the student who chose to target his CS professor failed to explain accurately what the lack of one CS professor would do to the course as a whole.

May be the student thought that this specific professor was uniquely evil.

The students present their terrorist plans in class which are critiqued for errors and practicality.

But the course is not just about committing terrorist acts.

This terrorism class, originally offered four years ago before Sept. 11 occurred, addresses the prevalence of terrorism throughout the world.

Like most International Affairs classes, students are expected to spend much of their time outside of class reading. In addition to studying terrorism as it relates to the U.S. and the Western world, students also study the terrorist regions of Latin America, Northern and Central Africa, Sri Lanka, and many more, attempting to understand why people continue to terrorize others and the impact they have on target populations. Also, the use of technology in those tactics is discussed in great detail.

However, the class is a mix of both traditional and creative activities: multiple choice exams are also mixed in with guest speakers, including former terrorists-turned-peaceniks.

It does seem like a very interesting course.