Countering Terrorism & Extremism with Foundation Year

Canterbury Christ Church University

The course will enable you to develop a contextual and critical outlook on polarising issues surrounding terrorism and extremism, analyse highly publicised cases, delve into the aspects of security and threat that the media does not talk about, and gain applied skills in tackling the issues. After the tragic events of 9/11 in the USA, the world entered what many see to be a new era in how we understand, perceive and react to terrorism and extremism. Whilst not new concepts, they and are issues currently faced by many countries around the world. To understand the current strategies in tackling these phenomena, the course interrogates topics surrounding their history, inherent complexities, power imbalances, inequality, identity, community, conflict, risk, ethics, politics, policies, international relations, or policing powers. Uniquely, this course has at its core an applied perspective, ensuring that theoretical knowledge is balanced with an active understanding of actual tactics to counter terrorism and extremism. You will learn through simulated exercises (e.g. Hydra Suite), working on real life cases, applied assessments to enrich transferrable skills, and through knowledge of a highly experienced teaching team with input from current and previous professionals working in the terrorism and extremism areas.

We have invested significantly in a Hydra suite that will allow our students to simulate crime scenarios under ‘close-to-real’ conditions You will have the opportunity to use the Hydra facility during some modules (e.g. decision making) to allow you to directly experience highly realistic incidents, situations and scenarios as part of your integrated learning.. You will also be able to gain some applied knowledge of criminal justice processes through our ‘courtroom’ which is a lecture theatre which simulates a courtroom and which used to be a courtroom in the past. As part of our continued commitment to further develop your skills and enable high quality learning, we are opening more specialist facilities, including police interview rooms or custody cells.

This course is run at our Canterbury Campus in Kent. Canterbury is just 50 miles south-east of London and less than an hour by high-speed train from St Pancras. Located on a UNESCO World Heritage Site the campus offers state-of-the-art buildings, right in the centre of a vibrant and world-famous cathedral city. You’ll benefit from a campus with excellent learning and teaching resources, music venues, a superb sports centre, a well-stocked bookshop and plenty of coffee bars and places to eat. A short walk away is Augustine House our award-winning library and home to a vast range of learning resources and student support teams.