Syllabus for RSK 520: Religious Terrorism 1
Texas A&M
University
Central Texas
Class Location:FH 316
Class Hours:R6:00 - 9:00
Instructor:Floyd Berry, PhD
Office:FH 217G
Office Hours:MWR 1:00 – 5:00
Phone:254.519.5705 (prefer Bb message)
Email: (prefer Bb message)
1.0Course Description
Critically examines the religious motivations, support, and tactics behind the phenomena of domestic and foreign terrorism. Case studies and histories of specific terrorist organizations will be reviewed. Justifications for violence and terrorist targets will be examined.
2.0Accessing Blackboard (Bb)
This is a lecture course with online components in Blackboard (Bb). The student accesses Bb on the TAMUCT website (“Quick Links”). The student may get assistance 24/7 by phone.
3.0Course Objectives
1. Students will be able to relate the phenomena of religious terrorism.
2. Students will be able to describe the religious motivations for terrorism.
3. Students will be able to define terrorism as a distinct form of violence.
4. Students will be able to describe the organizational and resource prerequisites for terroristic campaigns.
5. Students will be able to relate the consequences of terrorism in both general and specific ways.
4.0Textbooks
4.1Required for Course
Juergensmeyer, M. (2003).Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence
(3rded.). Berkeley: UC Press. ISBN: 9780520240117
Esposito, J. L. (2002). Unholy war: Terror in the name of Islam. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. ISBN: 9780195168860
4.2Recommended but not Required
Books Related to Specific Course Content:
Armstrong, K. (2000). The battle for God: A history of fundamentalism. New York:
Random House.0-345-39169-1.
Bunton, M. (2013).The Palestinian-Israeli conflict: A very short introduction. Oxford:
Oxford. 978-0-19-960393-0.
Capron, T. A., & Mizrahi, S. B. (2016).Terrorism and homeland security: A text/reader.
Los Angeles: Sage.
Esposito, J. L. (2002). Unholy war: Terror in the name of Islam. Oxford: Oxford. 978-0-19-
516886-0.
Hashmi, S. H. (Ed.)(2012). Just wars, holy wars, and jihads: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
encounters and exchanges. New York: Oxford. ISBN: 978-0-19-975503-5.
Hesterman, J. L. (2013). The terrorist-criminal nexus. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Juergensmeyer, M. (2003).Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence
(3rded.). Berkeley: University of California. 978-0-520-24011-7.
Kumar, U., & Mandal, M. K. (Eds.)(2014). Understanding suicide terrorism: Psychosocial
dynamics. Los Angeles: Sage. 978-93-515-0034-6
Lewis, B. (2003). The crisis of Islam: Holy war and unholy terror. New York: Random
House.978-0-8129-6785-2.
Martin, G. (2016). Understanding terrorism: Challenges, perspectives, and issues (5th
ed.). Los Angeles: Sage. 978-1-4833-7898-5
Medina, R. M., & Hepner, G. F. (2013).The geography of international terrorism. Boca
Raton, FL: CRC Press. 978-1-4398-8686-1
Ross, S. (2010). The Israeli-Palestinian conflict (2nded.). NP: Teach Yourself. 978-1-4441-
0524-7
Books Related to Writing and Referencing:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (6thed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Baugh, L. S. (2005). Essentials of English grammar: The quick guide to good English (3rd
ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. 978-0-07-145708-8
Langan, J. (2014). College writing skills with readings (9thed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
978-0-07-803627-9.
Lester, M., & Beason, L. (2013).The McGraw-Hill handbook of English grammar and
usage (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. 978-0-07-179990-4.
Schwartz, B. M., Landrum, R. E., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2014).An easy guide to APA style
(2nded.). Los Angeles: Sage. 978-1-4522-6839-2.
Strunk, W., & White, E. B.The elements of style (any edition will do).
5.0Course Requirements
5.1Exams (400 pts)
The student will take two exams, a mid-term and a final. Each exam is valued at 200 points. The student has a maximum of two hours to take the exam, given immediately after roll call. The exam window closes, however, when two hours have elapsed. The mid-term exam scores are reviewed during the subsequent class period. The exams are essay in nature, and the student must use a blue book. The student is advised to review his work before submission. Note: If a student has difficulty in writing at an acceptable level (6th grade level), then he is strongly advised to consult a writing manual (see 4.2 above). The student must write in complete sentences, avoiding run-ons. Forbidden items on an exam essay include the use of second-person pronouns (stated or implied in commands), the use of bulleted items instead of sentences, and the use of “etc.” Points are deducted for the use of forbidden items. Content of essays should reflect reading material covered in class and class discussions.
5.2Class Participation (100 pts)
The student is expected to participate in class discussions. The student earns a point for full attendance on a specific day (appears on time and does not leave early). He earns another point for participating in class discussion. (No points are awarded on exam days, however.) Thus, the student earns 0-2 points on each class day (total of 13 days), which translates into the following grade for class participation in the course:
Points / Grade / Points / Grade26 / 100 / 16-17 / 75
24-25 / 95 / 14-15 / 70
22-23 / 90 / 12-13 / 65
20-21 / 85 / 10-11 / 60
18-19 / 80 / 0-9 / 0
NOTE: The student is allowed to miss a class without major reduction in points. If the student misses two classes, his final letter grade will be reduced by one letter grade (e.g., A becomes a B, B becomes a C, etc.). If the student is tardy (appears in class after roll is caused), it is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor at the conclusion of class (before leaving the classroom), that he arrived in class and would like to receive some credit for class participation. Failure to notify the instructor will result in an absence for that class day.
5.3Term Paper Presentation (200 pts)
On an assigned day, the student shall give an oral presentation of the significant points in his term paper to the class and field questions from members of the class. The student is required to present along with PowerPoint slides and to field questions afterward. This should take about 30 minutes.
5.4Term Paper (200 pts)
The student shall submit a term paper, using APA guidelines. The paper shall be a literature review pertaining to the religious nature of a certain terrorist group. The student may cite portions of his textbooks as sources of information. In addition, however, the student must, at a minimum, cite five articles from peer-reviewed academic journals from the TAMUCT library website. Students who wish to receive higher grades may choose to cite more articles than the minimum. NOTE: these must be legitimate citations in that the information from each source is uniquely relevant to the point that the student wishes to convey in his paper. News accounts do not count toward the required numbers of peer-reviewed articles.
The paper shall conform to the APA (American Psychological Association) Manual (6th ed.), having a cover page, an abstract page, and a references page. The body of the paper shall have section headings and be at least 10 pages in length, double-spaced. Thus the complete term paper shall consist of at least 13 pages of a Microsoft Word document, including a cover page, abstract page, body of paper, and references page. The typeface shall be either Calibri or Times New Roman, size 12. The paper shall have a header with page number. (One chooses Insert, Page Number, Top of Page, Plain Number 3.) The student shall use normal margins (1”) in the layout.
Avoid the use of second-person pronouns, bulleted lists without sentence structure, and “etc.” Under no circumstances shall the student quote any portion of a source. Instead, the student shall use his own words in conveying the meaning of cited source material. Points will be deducted for using these forbidden items or for the use of sentence fragments (incomplete sentences), run-ons, dangling modifiers, or metaphorical phrases and words. The student should avoid the use of metaphorical language and figures of speech. Such devices convey multiple meanings to the reader or are unclear or ambiguous in import. Instead, the student should strive to be unbiased, precise, and efficient in his use of language. The term paper should not read like an opinion editorial in a newspaper or a blog website. At least a sixth-grade level of grammar, usages, mechanics, and style must be used in the paper. The student should critically review his paper before submission. The cover page shall include the following information, centered on the page:
Religious Terrorism
John Smith (your name)
CJK 515-Terrorism
Texas A&M University-Central Texas
The student shall use the “running head” feature of APA.
NOTE: The student must not submit his term paper to turnitin.com. He will submit his paper to the instructor electronically, by attaching it to a message on Bb. The heading of the message should be Term Paper.
The following grading rubric shall be used to evaluate the term paper:
Qualities & Criteria / Poor / Good / ExcellentFormat/Layout
- Presentation of the text
- Structuring of text
- Requirements of length, font, and style
- APA style
(0-30 pts) / Mostly follows the requirements related to format and layout.
(31-35 pts) / Closely follows all the requirements related to format and layout.
(36-40 pts)
Content
- Elements of topics to be addressed
- Information is correct
- Coherency
(0-63 pts) / Essay is mostly objective and addresses most of the issues. Provided information is mostly necessary and sufficient to discuss the issues.
(64-71 pts) / Essay is objective and addresses all the issues. Provided information is necessary and sufficient to discuss the issues.
(72-80 pts)
Quality of Writing
- Clarity
- Grammar and English usage
- Organization and coherence
(0-30 pts) / Essay is mostly well-written, without spelling or grammatical errors. Essay is well organized, is clear, and ideas are presented in coherent ways.
(31-35 pts) / Essay is well-written, without spelling or grammatical errors. Essay is well organized, clear, and ideas are presented in coherent ways.
(36-40 pts)
Citations, References, & Style
- APA style
- Sources correctly cited regarding content of sources
(0-30 pts) / Essay mostly follows APA guidelines and sources are (mostly) cited correctly for content.
(31-35 pts) / Essay follows APA guidelines and sources are correctly cited for content.
(36-40 pts)
5.5Academic Honesty
During the first week of class, the student is to read the section in the syllabus on Academic Honesty and the material at the Purdue University OWL website regarding plagiarism. The student must sign the document on Academic Honesty and return it to the instructor. NOTE: The student will not be allowed to continue in the course without notifying the instructor of his comprehension of this material (by signing the document and submitting it to the instructor).
5.6Monitoring Bb for Announcements
It is the student’s responsibility to monitor Bb daily for Announcements and revised Course Calendars. Failure to do so may result in poor scores.
6.0Grading Rubric and Conversion
6.1Rubric
Points
Exams (2 @ 200) / 400Class Participation / 200
Presentation / 200
Term Paper / 200
Academic Honesty Document / -----
Total: / 1000
6.2Conversion to Course Letter Grade
Points % Grade
900 – 1000 / 90 – 100 / A800 – 899 / 80 – 89 / B
700 – 799 / 70 – 79 / C
600 – 699 / 60 – 69 / D
0 – 599 / 0 – 59 / F
7.0Course Calendar1
Date Topics/Activities Readings2 Assignments Due3
8/25 / Academic honestyCourse requirements / Academic honesty/plagiarism readings (see document)
Syllabus
9/1 / Introduction to Religious Terrorism / J, ch 1 / Academic Honesty document is due
9/8 / Christian Terrorism / J, ch 2
9/15 / Jewish Terrorism / J, ch 3
9/22 / Islamic Terrorism / J, ch 4; E, ch 1
9/29 / Islamic Terrorism, continued / E, chs 2-4
10/6 / Sikh Terrorism / J, ch 5
10/10 / Mid-term Exam (J, chs 1-5; E, chs 1-4)
10/13 / No Class
10/20 / Review of Mid-term Exam
Terrorism as Performance / J, ch 7
10/27 / Cosmic War / J, ch 8
11/3 / Enemies and Martyrs / J, ch 9
11/10 / Empowerment / J, ch 10
11/17 / Religious Justification of Violence / J, ch 11
11/24 / Holiday – No Class
12/1 / Presentations / Term Paper Due
12/8 / Final Exam (J, chs 7-11)
1 Events are subject to minor revision
2J = Juergensmeyer, Terror in the mind of God (3rded.)
E = Esposito, Unholy war
ch = chapter
chs = chapters
3 All assignments are due at 6:00 p.m., unless otherwise noted
8.0Academic Honesty
TAMUCT expects all students to maintain high standards of personal and scholarly conduct. Students guilty of academic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary action. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, cheating on an examination or other academic work, plagiarism, self-plagiarism (“recycling”), or collusion. The instructor shall initiate action for each case of academic dishonesty and report it to the Associate Director of Student Conduct. Zero points will be assigned for any course product that violates academic honesty. The student should access this link for more information:
9.0Disability Support
If you believe that this course may present barriers to learning due to a disability, please contact Access and Inclusion at (254) 501-5831 in Warrior Hall, Ste. 212. For more information, please visit theirwebsite at Any information you provide is private and confidential and will be treated as such. The instructor cannot accommodate your disability unless you communicate with Access and Inclusion.
10.0Tutoring
Tutoring is available to all TAMUCT students, both on campus and online. Subjects tutored include Writing (APA). Tutors are available at the Tutoring Center in Warrior Hall 111. Visit click “Tutoring Support” for tutor schedules and contact information. If you have questions or need to schedule a tutoring session, contact Academic Support at 254-501-5830 or email .
11.0Writing Center
The University Writing Center (UWC) at Texas A&M University-Central Texas is a free workspace open to all TAMUCT students. The UWC is located in Warrior Hall, Rm 416. The Center is open 11 am - 6 pm, Monday-Thursday during the Spring semester. Students may work independently in the UWC by checking out a laptop that runs Microsoft Office suite and connects to WIFI, or by consulting the resources on writing, including all of the relevant style guides. Students may also arrange a one-on-one session with a trained and experienced writing tutor. Tutorials can be arranged by visiting the UWC. Tutors are prepared to help writers of all levels and abilities at any stage of the writing process. Sessions typically last between 20-30 minutes. While tutors will not write, edit, or grade papers, they will help students develop more effective invention and revision strategies.
12.0Late Work
As a rule, make-up work for term paper topic, term paper, presentation, and exams will not be accepted. In rare instances, however, the mid-term exam may be offered, but with a 20-point deduction (evidence pertaining to a serious emergency will be considered for such a makeup). In no instance will a make-up be offered for the final exam, and in no instance will a make-up for an exam be given after two weeks from the original exam date. To be considered as a prospect for making up an exam, the student must contact the instructor within 24 hours of having missed an exam for purposes of making it up. A request for make-up, of course, may or may not be granted. The final course grade will be posted within a few days of the final exam; therefore, no incompletes will be awarded for this course. If the student foresees that he will be unable to complete the course, then he should either drop the course or accept the posted grade.
13.0Modification of the Syllabus
This syllabus may be revised in minor ways at the discretion of the instructor. The student is responsible for noting any changes in the syllabus. More than likely, a change in the syllabus will pertain to events in the Course Calendar (sect. 7.0). A revised course calendar will be posted on Bb.
14.0Contact with the Instructor
The student should contact the instructor via the message feature of Bb about any topic or issue that pertains to the course.
15.0Announcements
The student is responsible for checking Bb for ongoing announcements pertaining to the course.