The Master of Arts in Homeland Security offers an advanced-level understanding of homeland defense, intelligence methods, terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, consequence management, interagency government issues, emergency management, public health, and information security. This program helps students develop the knowledge and skills to contribute new ideas, identify and critique unexamined assumptions of policy and strategy, and have the ability to translate good intentions into effective action.
This degree program is designed to enhance your leadership skills and improve your knowledge of national security and defense as these are often required skills for an analyst or manager in government agencies, the military, or similar organizations dedicated to protecting public safety. This master’s program is taught by highly credentialed and experienced instructors, many who hold key positions in government agencies or public safety organizations.
Degree Program Objectives
In addition to the institutional and degree level learning objectives, graduates of this program are expected to achieve these learning outcomes:
- Evaluate specific domestic security challenges for the 21st Century that face the United States and other industrialized nations.
- Evaluate and propose changes at federal, state, and/or local levels, to reflect the evolving strategic policy issues associated with a statutory and presidential direction for homeland security.
- Recognize terrorist groups’ proclivities in order to forecast the risks, types, and orders of magnitude of terrorist threats most likely to confront the nation-state.
- Define and describe by example the statutory, policy, strategy and legal differences between homeland security and homeland defense.
- Describe the roles/missions of USNORTHCOM, and the DSCA mission, compare and contrast these with the DHS mission.
- Recognize the interdisciplinary nature of Homeland Security functions and be able to assess and integrate various functional areas.
- Evaluate existing policies, procedures and protocols by DHS and inter-agency community to allow seamless agency integration through prevention, protection, incident response, and recovery scenarios.
- Validate literal and procedural alignment/compliance with the National Response Framework, National Incident Management System, and Homeland Security Presidential Directives (HSPDs).
Degree at a Glance
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | 18 | |
| Select one of the following concentrations: | 12 | |
| Final Program Requirements | 3 | |
| Elective Requirements | 3 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 36 | |
Degree Program Requirements
Core Requirements (18 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| HLSS502 | Homeland Security and Defense 1 | 3 |
| HLSS500 | Research Methods in Homeland Security | 3 |
| HLSS508 | Privacy & Civil Liberties in Homeland Security | 3 |
| HLSS523 | Domestic Terrorism and Extremist Groups | 3 |
| HLSS603 | Resilience and Homeland Security | 3 |
| INTL613 | Intelligence and Homeland Security | 3 |
| Total Semester Hours | 18 | |
| 1 | Required as the first course in this program. |
Students must choose a concentration for this degree program and may select from a General concentration, Concentration in Business Administration, Concentration in Counter-Terrorism Studies, Concentration in Criminal Justice, Concentration in Cyber, Concentration in Emergency Management and Public Health, Concentration in Intelligence Studies, or a Concentration in Transportation Security.
General Concentration (12 semester hours)
This general concentration allows you to select from all concentration courses offered within this program, enabling you to create your own focused area of study.
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Policing and Corrections in Homeland Security | ||
| Emergency and Disaster Planning and Management | ||
| Interagency Disaster Management | ||
| Hazard Mitigation and Resilient Communities | ||
| Economics of Disaster | ||
| Consequence Management: Terrorism Preparation & Response | ||
| Risk Communications | ||
| Security Risk Management | ||
| Weapons of Mass Destruction and the New Terrorism | ||
| Port Security | ||
| Strategic Intelligence | ||
| Collection | ||
| Intelligence Operations | ||
| Ethical Challenges in the Intelligence Community | ||
| Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) | ||
| Transnational Crime and Narcotics | ||
| Counterterrorism | ||
| Terrorism: Assessing the Past to Forecast the Future | ||
| Advanced Cybercrime Analysis | ||
| Cyber Ethics: Privacy and Intellectual Property | ||
| Intrusion Detection and Incident Handling | ||
| Immigration Law | ||
| Homeland Security and the Law | ||
| Law, Ethics and Cybersecurity | ||
| Cyber Policy and Practice in National Security | ||
| Political Psychology of Terror Groups | ||
| Public Policy | ||
| Quarantine | ||
| Disaster Health Management | ||
| International Terrorism | ||
| Computer Crime | ||
| Airport Security Design | ||
| Internship Program | ||
| National Transportation Management | ||
| Cargo Security Management | ||
| Port and Terminal Operations | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Business Administration (12 semester hours)
Analyzes the legal, regulatory, and compliance issues affecting managers in homeland security. Covers the decision-making and financial tools needed to conduct business analysis and to communicate possible solutions and implementation plans. Studies the role and function of leadership, and the impact of effective leaders on individuals, organizations and society.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Analyze the legal, regulatory, and compliance issues affecting managers in today’s market place and emphasize the importance of continuing education for managers for future legal changes.
- Evaluate and analyze advanced analysis methods and techniques to determine their interdisciplinary applicability to meet current and business needs and evaluate the need for changes in policies and procedures.
- Distinguish and implement analytical financial tools to conduct business analysis and to communicate possible solutions and implementation plans for business decisions.
- Focus on business strategies and approaches used by organizations in their mission to sustain and obtain various marketing segments to increase their growth potential and integrate business functions into a coherent business strategy.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Strategic Management | ||
| Applied Decision Making | ||
| Emergency and Disaster Planning and Management | ||
| Economics of Disaster | ||
| Leadership | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Counter-Terrorism Studies (12 semester hours)
Delves into the causes of and threats from domestic and international terrorism. Covers counterterrorism intelligence methodologies and analytic tools, as well as the challenges, opportunities, and assumptions related to forecasting terrorism. Topics include analysis of terror groups from a political psychological perspective, problems presented by terrorism to U.S. national security, and links to terrorism from transnational crime and narcotics.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Appraise the causes of and threats from U.S. domestic and international terrorism.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Weapons of Mass Destruction and the New Terrorism | ||
| Transnational Crime and Narcotics | ||
| Counterterrorism | ||
| Terrorism: Assessing the Past to Forecast the Future | ||
| Political Psychology of Terror Groups | ||
| International Terrorism | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Criminal Justice (12 semester hours)
Examines the rule of law and its changes as they pertain to influencing and impacting social reactions to crime, corrections, and homeland security. Compares the new criminal threats of terrorism in relation to traditional criminal behavior theories. Topics include criminal justice major systems; interface between police, prosecution, courts, and corrections; and immigration law.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Distinguish between the major systems of Criminal Justice, how the functions of police, prosecution, courts, and corrections interface and understand the role of immigration law as it related to criminal justice and the homeland security framework.
- Evaluate definitions, objectives, and issues of new or emergent criminal threats such as terrorism and how they compare and contrast with traditional criminal behavior theories.
- Assess the rule of law and changes to it as it pertains to direct and indirect influence and impact on social reactions to crime, corrections, and the homeland security enterprise.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Organized Crime | ||
| Drug Cartels and the Narcotics Threat | ||
| Policing and Corrections in Homeland Security | ||
| Constitutional Law | ||
| Transnational Crime and Narcotics | ||
| Immigration Law | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Cyber (12 semester hours)
Covers cyber intelligence from its nascent stages to its current operational and policy impact, including its effect on intelligence collection, operations, and analysis across America’s intelligence and defense communities. Topics include: Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) application to military and civilian intelligence questions; laws and ethics pertaining to intellectual property and right to privacy; and the collection of electronic evidence.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Analyze the cyber discipline from a multi-disciplinary perspective.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Emergency Management Perspectives on Cybersecurity | ||
| Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) | ||
| Advanced Cybercrime Analysis | ||
| Cyber Ethics: Privacy and Intellectual Property | ||
| Law, Ethics and Cybersecurity | ||
| Cyber Policy and Practice in National Security | ||
| Computer Crime | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Emergency Management and Public Health (12 semester hours)
Provides an overview of what is known about natural hazards, disasters, recovery, and mitigation; how research findings have been translated into policies and programs; and a sustainable hazard mitigation research agenda. Deals with the interaction, coordination, and facilitation between federal, state, and local agencies during preparation, response, and recovery operations. Also looks at public health management during disaster and crisis.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Organize emergency management functions and activities using contemporary emergency and disaster management concepts and federal guidelines.
- Formulate plans that clearly differentiate disaster response actions including recovery operations and their funding from routine emergency operations.
- Design and promote inter-disciplinary training to assure integration between all aspects of an Emergency Operations function including: planning and pre-event preparedness; threat and vulnerability assessments; capability and capacity evaluation; public policy issues; mitigation strategies; exercises and training; program evaluation.
- Develop plans and policies that ensure the strong organizational and personal relationships necessary to be able to work with the key federal agencies to ensure interagency cooperation at all levels during any large-scale incident.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Emergency and Disaster Planning and Management | ||
| Interagency Disaster Management | ||
| Hazard Mitigation and Resilient Communities | ||
| Risk Communications | ||
| Emergency Management Health and Medical Issues | ||
| Quarantine | ||
| Disaster Health Management | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Intelligence Studies (12 semester hours)
Traces the evolution, structures, functions, capabilities, and activities of the national intelligence community, both pre- and post-9/11. Evaluates the intelligence cycle, including planning, data collection and exploitation, analysis, production, and dissemination. Threats to homeland security, and techniques for improving cooperation and intelligence sharing among agencies are also covered.
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Examine the evolution, structures, functions, capabilities, and activities of the national intelligence community, both from the pre-and post-September 11, 2001, perspectives.
- Assess traditional and non-traditional threats to homeland security.
- Appraise the intelligence cycle, including intelligence planning, data collection, data exploitation, analysis, production, and dissemination phases.
- Evaluate the latest techniques and procedures for improving interagency cooperation and intelligence sharing.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Strategic Intelligence | ||
| Collection | ||
| Intelligence Operations | ||
| Ethical Challenges in the Intelligence Community | ||
| Transnational Crime and Narcotics | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Concentration in Transportation Security (12 semester hours)
Objectives
Upon successful completion of this concentration, the student will be able to:
- Assess the various components of the maritime-based transportation system as it related to the homeland security enterprise.
- Apply economic principles to evaluate the performance of maritime transportation system.
- Analyze the history, pattern, and impact of laws and regulation on the various modes of maritime-based transportation in the United States.
- Evaluate the importance of transportation at the organizational and national levels.
Concentration Requirements (12 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 4 courses from the following: | 12 | |
| Security Risk Management | ||
| Port Security | ||
| Airport Security Design | ||
| National Transportation Management | ||
| Cargo Security Management | ||
| Port and Terminal Operations | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 12 | |
Final Program Requirements (3 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select 1 course from the following: | 3 | |
| Creative Project Capstone Option in Homeland Security 1 | ||
| Homeland Security Capstone 1 | ||
| Total Semester Hours | 3 | |
| 1 | Taken once all other degree requirements have been met. |
Elective Requirements (3 semester hours)
| Code | Title | Semester Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Select any graduate courses not already taken to fulfill the requirements listed above. | 3 | |
| Total Semester Hours | 3 | |