Posted: February 3rd, 2017

Evaluate at least two of your classmates’ submissions. Determine what elements of these presentations were effectively presented and could further be used in the program manager’s report to the Secretary.

Prior to beginning work on this assignment read the required chapters in your texts as well as Part 1 Section 1, “How to read a research article on terrorism,” in the Capron & Mizrahi (2016) text. You must also review the Summative Assignment in Week Six. To check your understanding of the material required for this interactive assignment, you may wish to access the quizzes and flash card activities on the companion website for the Martin text.

Understanding how to read journal articles in both the academic and professional world is important in order to critically examine what the author is presenting and how the article contributes to the overall body of thought on a given topic. Journal articles tend to be structured in a particular way. Some journal articles are a summary of current thought; others will present original research with a thesis, hypothesis, and a conclusion. Over the next two weeks, you will have the opportunity to identify several journal articles that you can use in your Final Paper. Capron and Mizrahi’s Part I exercise on reading research articles related to terrorism offers an effective way to analyze and understand the perspectives of various authors.

This interactive assignment is designed to contribute to your research for your Final Assignment, the development of a Department Counterterrorism Policy to implement a U.S. counterterrorism strategy against a specific international terrorist group.

Using the Ashford University Library, search for full-text scholarly journal articles related to terrorism theory. Once in the library website, follow these steps to conduct your search:

Select “Advanced Search.” On the next screen, enter “terrorism” in the first search box. In the second search box, enter “theory.” To focus your search further, under the “Limit your results” heading, check the following boxes: “limit to full text” and “limit to scholarly/peer reviewed.” Finally, select the “Search” button at the top of the page. After your results appear, select the box next to “Academic Journals” under the “Limit by Source Types” heading. You must review the abstracts of several applicable journal articles. Narrow your selection to three articles, of which you must select one for your Theory and Terrorism Journal Article Analysis. (Note: the SAGE companion website for this course is another good place to identify applicable journal articles.) Your chosen article should focus on at least one of the following elements: a) the underlying causes and effects of terrorism, b) the historical socio-political structures that contribute to terrorism, c) and/or the ethical and legal issues from either the perspective of the terrorist group or the government.

The Scenario: Choose a federal department, either the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of State (DOS), or the Department of Defense (DOD). (Note: In addition to this interactive assignment, the interactive assignments in Weeks Three, Four, and Five, as well as your final policy proposal in Week Six, will be developed from the perspective of this chosen department.) Assume the role of a staff officer from your chosen department. In this role, you must prepare a slide presentation on the chosen journal article to present to your Program Manager that is appropriate for use in developing and shaping the counter terrorism policy in Week Six.

Your presentation must include a minimum of four content sections, in addition to title and references slides. Each content section must be a minimum of one slide and no more than three slides. You may include visual enhancements in your presentation. These may include appropriate images, a consistent font, appropriate animations, and transitions from content piece-to-content piece and slide-to-slide. (Images should be cited in APA format as outlined by the Ashford Writing Center. Students may wish to use the MSCJ Homeland Security Where to Get Free Images guide for assistance with accessing freely available public domain and/or Creative Commons licensed images.) It is recommended that you access Garr Reynolds’s Top Ten Slide Tips and/or PowerPoint Tips which provide useful assistance with creating successful PowerPoint presentations. For complicated issues addressed by the author, you may script a portion in the speaker’s notes section of the slide presentation. You can find the speaker’s notes in the “Click to add notes” section at the bottom of each slide.

In the role of staff officer, you must convey the critical elements of your chosen scholarly journal article to your program manager. Your presentation should demonstrate your ability to write succinctly and effectively. Each slide should reflect distinct organizational and creative efforts.

Your presentation must adhere to the following:

The first slide is the title slide which must contain the following: Title of presentation Student’s name Course name and number Instructor’s name Date submitted The first section must summarize the author’s credentials, briefly describe the publication, and include the full APA citation. In the second section, summarize the author’s main points in the journal article. The third section should address how the article reflects at least one of the following: The underlying causes and effects of terrorism. The historical socio-political structures that contribute to terrorism. The ethical and legal issues from either the perspective of the terrorist group or the government. In the fourth section, evaluate the chosen journal article’s contribution to the topic and how it aligns with the expert opinions of the two other articles you reviewed. The final slide will be an APA-formatted Reference Page. Attach your PowerPoint presentation to your initial post. Guided Response: Review several of your colleagues’ presentations and respond to at least two of your peers by 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 of the week. You are encouraged to post your required replies earlier in the week to promote more meaningful and interactive discourse in this assignment forum.

In your responses, you will assume the role of a program manager in your selected department (DHS, DOS, or DOD). Your staff has presented the latest intellectual thought on at least one of these three elements: the causes and effects of terrorism, the socio-political structures that contribute to terrorism, and/or the ethical and legal issues to help formulate a comprehensive policy to counter terrorism in your area of responsibility. As program manager, you will craft the Department Counterterrorism Policy (the Week Six assignment) and must present the most salient points your staff has selected to the Department Secretary.

Evaluate at least two of your classmates’ submissions. Determine what elements of these presentations were effectively presented and could further be used in the program manager’s report to the Secretary. Specifically consider how the staff officers explained the underlying causes and effects of terrorism, examined the historical socio-political structures that contribute to terrorisms and/or evaluated the ethical and legal issues from either the perspective of the terrorist group or the government. Finally, compare and contrast at least two staff officers’ presentations in terms of their effectiveness for further development of the program manager’s briefing to the Secretary.