Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity Courses

Ehc 536 Information Security Compliance Auditing (3)

This course focuses on information security and privacy compliance auditing from technical, legal, and business perspectives. The main objective of information security compliance auditing is to ensure business systems, electronic management of data, and critical electronic processes used to achieve organizational goals are adequately controlled, monitored, and accessed in such ways to be compliant with government legislation (e.g. HIPAA, COPPA, SOX, EU-GDPR, etc.), and industry standards (e.g. ISO, PCI-DSS, etc.). Students are introduced to principle security-related laws, regulations, standards, policies, and guidance. Students learn how to plan audit services in accordance with information security audit standards, guidelines, and best practices as well as how to assess whether an organization has the structure, policies, accountability, mechanisms, and monitoring practices in place to achieve the requirements of corporate governance of IT, and ensuring that the safety and effectiveness of computer systems and their related security components. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Ehc 545 (Pad 545) Principles and Practices of Cyber Security (3)
This course provides a broad introduction to cyber security and the way in which cyber security is viewed, studied, or executed by professionals in industry, government, the military, and academia. For students that approach the topic from a policy or management perspective, this class will enhance your understanding of the interaction between social, technical, policy, and management factors that affect the creation and management of secure cyber infrastructure. A brief introduction to the technical side of cyber security will be provided. The course will offer technically advanced students an opportunity to better understand the management, policy, and political equities involved in cyber security. Students approaching the subject from either the technical or policy/management perspectives will be equipped to take a more advanced technical courses in a multitude of disciplines that make up cyber security.

Ehc 546 (Pad 546) Homeland Security Risk Analysis and Risk Management (4)
This course looks at the various risks that homeland security professionals and researchers are forced to grapple with, including the various threats, vulnerabilities and consequences associated with these risks. It examines important homeland security policy areas through a risk analysis framework, with an emphasis on issues like infrastructure protection and resilience, cybersecurity, terrorism, and the implications of catastrophic disasters (both naturally occurring and human-caused disasters). In each of the policy areas of concern, the class will discuss both the risks that exist, but also risk mitigation strategies; including the building of capabilities for preparedness, prevention, protection, response, and recovery. Prerequisites: Pad 554 or permission of instructor.

Ehc 547 Cybersecurity Risk and Policy (3)

This course provides a basic framing of cybersecurity risk elements, including cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences at the organizational level. This includes why cyber threat actors target organizations, technical and non-technical vulnerabilities that are exploited to create cyber incidents, and the kinds of organizational consequences that result when cyber incidents occurs. It looks at steps that organizations take to mitigate or manage the risk associated with these elements of cyber risk. Finally, it connects these risk elements and management techniques to policies, rules, regulations, and law - a set of questions often termed "governance, risk and compliance" or GRC in many agencies in the private and public sectors. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Ehc 549 (Pad 549) Cyber Security: Long Term Planning and Risk Management (4)
The goal of this course is to equip decision makers with the principles and methods that will allow for more informed budget decisions as it relates to Cyber Security. First this class will review budgeting basics as well as the core of budgeting for Information Technology and Cyber Security. We will then examine Risk Management as a total program component of Cyber Security as well as applying it to the budgeting process. Finally this class will take a comprehensive approach to managing IT/IS projects from a risk management, budgeting, and procurement point of view.

Ehc 550 Cybersecurity Policy, Law and Institutions (3)

This course examines some of the key debates and issues in cybersecurity - including legal, policy, and economic concerns. Additionally, it will look at key stakeholders; including a variety of enforcement and regulatory institutions at different levels of government, businesses and industries across many sectors, as well as civil society organizations and other non-profit organizations. Some of the topics that will be considered include cybersecurity information sharing, breach notification, the dated legal underpinnings of current cyber enforcement, vulnerability disclosure, encryption and law enforcement access, attribution, liability, and international norm building and coordination. Prerequisites: Graduate standing.

Ehc 553 (Pad 553) Topics in Homeland Security and Terrorism (4)
This course examines an array of topics related to homeland security, terrorism, responses to terrorism, and the role of terrorism in public policy problems. Depending on the semester, the course will focus on a subset of issues in this field and may include both substantive and methodological topics relevant to the study of homeland security and terrorism. Course may be repeated with topic change.

Ehc 554 (Pad 554, Pos 554, Int 543) Political Violence, Insurgency and Terrorism (3)
This course examines the relationships among, and differences between the following activities in the international political system: political violence, insurgency, and terrorism. The course will include a consideration of the causes of these activities, their effects on national and international politics, and an evaluation of governmental responses to them.

Ehc 555 (Pad 555) Disaster, Crisis and Emergency Management and Policy (4)
This course studies the policies, statutes, and priorities established by federal, state, and local governments to plan and prepare for emergencies, disasters, and catastrophic events caused by nature, technology, or humans. The course’s scope will include all mission areas established by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and prioritized by the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services as an example of State policies. The course will rely heavily upon primary source documents, and will involve simulations.

Ehc 556 (Pad 556) Homeland Security Intelligence (3)
This course examines Homeland Security Intelligence at the Federal, State, and local levels. We begin with an overview of the US foreign intelligence community, its mission, history, structure, and capabilities. We examine how this community’s composition and structure have changed as its mission was fundamentally altered twice, first with the end of the Cold War and then with the rise if terrorism. Next, we look at the capabilities of new producers of terrorism related intelligence at federal law enforcement agencies and at the Department of Homeland Security. The main thrust of the course is intelligence at the State and local levels. The federal government has worked with the states to create significant intelligence capabilities outside the beltway since the events of 9/11/2001. This course identifies and discusses the State and local customers for homeland security intelligence and examines the degree to which these intelligence requirements are being met.

Ehc 557 (Pad 557) Intelligence Analysis (3)
This course provides instruction in conducting intelligence analysis. After an overview of the history and structure of the US foreign intelligence community, we review the fundamentals of intelligence analysis tradecraft as practiced within the CIA and other federal intelligence agencies. Extensive time is devoted to learning and using structured analytic techniques through student-led analytic exercises on terrorism and major crimes.

Ehc 558 (Pad 558, Int 542) Intelligence & US National Security Policymaking (4)
This seminar examines the role of intelligence in the formulation and implementation of US foreign policy. Through critical analysis and case studies, students will develop techniques to increase intelligence’s contribution to policy deliberations while ensuring that it does not prescribe policy. The course will assess the most appropriate role for the CIA and the Intelligence Community in supporting this executive branch process. After an overview of the CIA, its functions, structure, and capabilities. We review the US foreign policy process, key players, and institutional bias. The bulk of the course is devoted to a series of mock intelligence and policy meetings on the Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq crises to critically analyze the CIA’s proper role in supporting the policy process.

Ehc 559 (Pad 559) Homeland Security: Building Preparedness Capabilities (4)
The short but significant history of the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will serve as the starting point for this course which will provide a comprehensive and functional approach to understanding this department and its role. The preponderance of time will be spent in developing an understanding of the nation’s effort, led by DHS to develop preparedness capabilities to prevent, protect from, respond to, and recover from high consequence events caused by acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and accidents. The course will rely heavily upon scenario-based activities and case studies to guide the student through the DHS maze and the nation’s preparedness efforts at the federal, state, and local levels.

Ehc 569 (Pad 569) Cyber Threats and Intelligence (4)
Cyber threats currently are posed by state and non-state actors whose motivations include financial gain, notoriety, social activism, espionage and even revenge. This course will examine cyber threats from different angles to introduce students to today's actors, motivations, tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs), and mitigation techniques, while providing insight into the impact of cyber crime on victim organizations and employees. A variety of case studies will be used to study how TTPs are applied, and aid students in understanding attack consequences, responding agency abilities, and the various protection, mitigation, and remediation measures. The course will also examine models of cyber activity, as well as how models from other fields can be applied to thinking about cyber threats. The objective of the course is to provide students with a foundation for leading their organization in prevention mitigation, and remediation of cyber attacks.

Ehc 571 (Pad 571) Military Forces in Support of Civil Authorities (4)
This on-line course provides a comprehensive strategic level examination of the Homeland Security Enterprise and the methodology for integrating Federal and State military forces in support of civil authorities during the planning, training and response phases of emergency operations. Federal, State and Local civilian authorities are responsible for preparing for and responding to natural and man-made emergency incidents and disasters. Emergency managers often include military forces in their emergency management planning and training programs as necessary to support potentially overwhelmed civilian first-responders during an incident. This course examines various agencies associated with homeland security and focuses on specialized military forces mission support sets such as Weapons of Mass Destruction, Critical Infrastructure Protection and defense of the homeland.

Ehc 572 (Pad 572) Disaster and Crisis Management in the Public, Private, and Nonprofit Sectors (4)
This course will examine how disaster and crisis management has evolved over time in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. We begin by identifying key issues and challenges facing emergency managers and other crisis management professionals. We will then systematically examine the similarities and differences across the various sectors and analyze contemporary trends and common challenges, to include risk management, crisis communication and crisis leadership. Through the use of conceptual models and real-world case studies, we will further explore the application of theory and practice within the field. We will examine specific events, how organizations responded to those events, and how those events changed and shaped the various organizations, and the discipline itself.

Ehc 589 (Sph 589) Emergency Preparedness: The Public Health Perspective (3)
Preparedness planning has been an essential but often overlooked aspect of public health. Events of this decade have clarified the need for preparedness training around issues such as bioterrorism and have emphasized a new role for public health workers in community response activities. This course will serve as an introduction to the knowledge, skills and competencies needed by public health staff in being prepared for these new concerns.

Ehc 600 Fundamentals of Emergency Management (3)

What is a disaster? What causes disasters? What can be done about them? These are the questions that will be tackled in this course. In this course, students will learn the basics and fundamentals of managing across the life cycle of disasters. Students will explore the fundamentals in how to approach vulnerability assessment, risk reduction, preparedness and response for both natural and man-made disasters. This course will review the history of policy, organizational, and structural issues that have plagued disaster management in the U.S. Students will develop an emergency manager's decision-making tool kit by analyzing the historical development of emergency preparedness, important policies guiding emergency management practice, and key insights about the origins of and responses to disasters.

Ehc 609 Fundamentals of Risk Analysis (3)

This is a graduate course in the principles and applications of risk analysis in the context of emergency management. In addition to specialized topics in risk analysis, this course will also discuss topics in economics, statistics, decision science, social science, and other fields related to managing risks, and is designed to provide relevant methodological development grounded on current issues.

Ehc 610 Fundamentals of Homeland Security (3)

This graduate survey course introduces students to origins, concepts, issues, and contexts for homeland security within the United States. This course will examine the homeland security enterprise's national context, origins, and drivers; its authorities and strategies, current strategic priorities and how they are formulated; resulting policies, resources, programs, and capabilities; and their relationship with interagency and non-federal partners. The course will evaluate these dynamics as they are implemented through the interagency frameworks connecting federal, state, local, tribal, territorial, international, and private sector partners. Topics examined include the origins of homeland security, terrorism and counterterrorism, border and transportation security, critical infrastructure protection, privacy and civil liberties, and emerging threats and challenges.

Ehc 628 Leaders and Individual Assessment (3)

This course provides a theoretical overview of approaches to the remote assessment of individuals, including psychobiography, motivations, leadership trait analysis, operational code, cognitive mapping, and integrative complexity, along with contextual influences on assessments and individual behavior, and methodological considerations. The major course project is an in-depth assessment of an individual using one or more of the approaches studied.

Ehc 629 Transnational Organized Crime (3)

This class introduces the major ideas and problems associated with the study of international and transnational crime in the context of global politics. It will examine transnational criminal activities, illicit markets, those individuals and organizations involved in such crime, and how governments attempt to respond to and cope with such criminality. In order to understand the various phenomena that constitute transnational crime, there are both substantive and theoretical insights that are required. This course will pursue substantive knowledge of various illicit goods and industries, as well as the actors and organizations that take part in such "black market" trade. Besides examining the crimes themselves, and those engaged in them, this course will use certain theoretical perspectives to examine the dynamics that underpin and enable such activities, including concepts from organizational studies (like hierarchies and networks), the analysis of business and political economy ("the firm" and markets), and numerous concepts from political science (the salience of borders, sovereignty, globalization, and others). This course will also look closely at efforts by government and law enforcement agencies to respond to crime that does not respect traditional jurisdictional or national borders, often using some of the same theoretical insights that may help to illuminate the criminal side of this phenomenon. In addition it will examine how criminal activities impact states and governments negatively, including through funding insurgencies and instability, drawing states into conflicts, and weakening state control. It is increasingly hard to understand global politics without understanding the dark underside of globalization. This course will offer substantive insights and theoretical insights to help students examine the "other" global economy.