Overview

This unit provides students with a critical understanding of terrorism and counter-terrorism policy and practices. It will explore the concepts and ideas surrounding terrorism and consider a variety of perspectives in order to make sense of the phenomena of terrorism and its implications for liberty, security and freedom.

Requisites

Prerequisites

50 credit points of level 2 units

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Teaching Period 1
Location
Online
Start and end dates
10-March-2025
08-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
23-March-2025
Census date
04-April-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
02-May-2025
Results released date
01-July-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Explain the problems of defining and conceptualising terrorism
  • Hypothesise the implications of specific ways of thinking about terrorism for counterterrorism practices and policy
  • Critique the role of experts and academics in the discourse of terrorism
  • Evaluate the importance of the specificity of particular case studies in debates about terrorism - as a global threat and as a particular or unique form of violence

Teaching methods

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Live Online
Class		1.00 4 weeks 4
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning		12.17 12 weeks 146
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
Major EssayIndividual 60% 1,2,3,4 
Minor EssayIndividual 30% 1,3 
PresentationIndividual 10% 1,2,4 

Content

  • Problems in defining and conceptualising terrorism
  • How knowledge of terrorism informs counter‐terrorism policy and practices
  • Terrorism in its many forms and questions of security and political violence
  • National, sub‐national and global implications of terrorism.
  • Case studies
  • Political and ethical dilemmas, with particular emphasis on the growth of terrorism as an 'industry'

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.