Homeland Security & Intelligence (HSI)

HSI 110  Introduction to Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Introduce the multidisciplinary approach to protecting and defending America. Knowledge domains of intelligence, emergency management, law and policy, critical infrastructure and resilience, strategic planning and decision-making, terrorism, cyberspace, human and environmental security, risk analysis and management, and professionalism.

HSI 115  Critical Thinking and Analysis  3 Credits (3,0)

Critical thinking and analytic methodologies commonly used in intelligence. Cognitive and perceptual biases and their effect on objective analyses, uncertainly, and the evaluation of information sources. Structured analytic techniques, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Cognitive and perceptual biases which affect analysis and techniques for recognizing and mitigating the impact of biases.

HSI 199  Special Topics in Homeland Security  1-6 Credit

Individual independent or directed studies of selected topics.

HSI 215  Introduction to Industrial Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Fundamentals of security planning and management: nature, scope, history, and essential elements of security in the workplace with emphasis on personal and property protection, including selected aviation and industrial settings. Operational aspects of security, including strategies for identifying and controlling security exposures and applicable legal issues. Develop and evaluate security programs for selected industries.
Prerequisites: HSI 110

HSI 220  National Security Enterprise  3 Credits (3,0)

Broad components of the national and homeland security enterprise and the inter-agency process. Role of national and homeland security in the increasingly complex governmental process. Examines the agencies and actors which take part in shaping America's security policies such as the executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as the military, state department, media, intelligence, and law enforcement. Analysis of elements of the organizational and institutional cultures driving the process. Factors relating to success and failure of strategy implementation.
Prerequisites: HSI 110 or HSI 115

HSI 250  Indications and Warning  3 Credits (3,0)

Indications and warning, its evolution, and its critical role in national and homeland security. The duty to warn, threat identification and assessment, and the means of providing decision-makers with the detail and context necessary for prevention, preemption, deterrence, or response. The history of warning; lessons learned from warning failures; warning's evolution; the methodologies and methodological issues associated with warning; and the structural, cognitive, and psychological issues affecting warning analysis.
Prerequisites: HSI 115

HSI 290  Introduction to Environmental Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Environmental issues related to socio-political instability around the world. Development and execution of U.S. domestic and foreign policy, and ultimately U.S. national security. Emerging threats to nations from environmental health issues, infrastructure vulnerabilities, and natural resource shortages caused by rapid industrialization, population growth, and urbanization in less developed countries. Transnational threats from ozone depletion, deforestation, and climate change.
Prerequisites: HSI 110

HSI 290HYB  Introduction to Environmental Security  3 Credits

Please Note: The HYB designator indicates that this course will be taught in a hybrid delivery format. In the hybrid format, some face-to-face class sessions are replaced with online activities. Hybrid courses are best suited for students who are technically competent, self disciplined and highly motivated.
Prerequisites: HSI 110

HSI 299  Special Topics in Homeland Security  1-6 Credit

Individual independent or directed studies of selected topics.

HSI 310  Fundamentals of Emergency Management  3 Credits (3,0)

Historical background of emergency management (EM) in the U.S. as well as significant laws and policies that define and shape the field, including HSPD 5, HSPD 8, the National Flood Insurance Act, and the Stafford Act. FEMA's all-hazards approach, all phases of the EM cycle, including mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery; integrated emergency management systems, the incident command system, the National Incident Management System, emergency support functions, and risk communications. Create integrated emergency management plan.
Prerequisites: HSI 110 and HSI 215

HSI 315  Critical Infrastructure Security, Resilience, and Risk Analysis  3 Credits (3,0)

Evolution of critical infrastructure on public and private levels. Federal definitions, sector identification, composition, and characteristics of critical infrastructure as expressed in formal documents and the private sector. The public-private partnership approach, sector-specific plans, critical infrastructure in a global context. Resilience in critical infrastructure planning, disaster mitigation, response, and recovery. Risk analysis as a means by which resources and assets are allocated to critical infrastructures. Risk fundamentals, network theory, continuity of business planning, mission of the DHS, and cost-benefit analysis.
Prerequisites: HSI 215

HSI 320  Homeland Security and Intelligence Law and Policy  3 Credits (3,0)

Key legal, policy, and ethical issues in the context of Homeland Security and Intelligence policy and practice. Examine legal concepts regarding constitutional rights of individuals, legal process, access to courts, the law of war, and national security principles as they relate to homeland security legislation and policy initiatives. Legal principles of due process, habeas corpus, search and seizure, compulsory process, and international agreements are explored. Elements of national security law, including intelligence collection and sharing, the Patriot Act, and military-civilian relations. Analyze recent Supreme Court decisions relating to applicable concepts and legal principles.
Prerequisites: HSI 215

HSI 321  Introduction to Fraud Investigation  3 Credits (3,0)

Contemporary forms of white-collar crime, its explanations, theories, and laws; investigation and adjudication, of criminal and regulatory cases. Strategies and policies of law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction responsibilities in white-collar crime matters. Utilization of business, public, and accounting records and tools to investigate fraud.
Prerequisites: HSI 110

HSI 323  Government of the U.S.  3 Credits (3,0)

Introduction to basic issues of democracy in the U.S.; constitutional principles; the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.
Prerequisites: SS Lower Level General Education Equivalent

HSI 325  Terrorism: Origin, Ideologies, and Goals  3 Credits (3,0)

Concepts of terrorism. The history, background, types, and definitions of terrorism. Terrorist groups, domestic and worldwide, examined in the context of doctrine and goals. Counter-terrorist measures, domestic and worldwide. National strategies in light of past and present progress in what the Bush Administration called "The Global War on Terror.
Prerequisites: HSI 110

HSI 328  History of U.S. Intelligence  3 Credits (3,0)

History of United States civilian and military intelligence from the Revolution to the 21st Century.
Prerequisites: Lower-level General Education Social Science Equivalent

HSI 340  Aviation Transportation Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Introduce the fundamentals of Aviation Security. Aviation as an advanced industry sector for the application of sophisticated security systems. History and threat matrix of aviation security, rules and regulations for aviation security, homeland and international organizations dedicated to aviation security, and security systems and processes at airports and within airlines. Management of security risk and quality assurance in international flight operations, the role of security in aviation crisis management, challenges from cyber security in the aviation industry.
Prerequisites: HSI 215 or permission of instructor

HSI 342  Maritime Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Broad aspects of maritime security, including seaports, maritime transportation, regulations, piracy, drug trafficking, terrorism, and threat mitigation strategies. Examine maritime security in various hot spots and commercial straits and chokepoints around the world, including the South China Sea, the Caribbean, the Persian Gulf, and the Black and Baltic Seas. Introduces ocean and port vulnerabilities and how to counter these potential threats in the larger homeland security context.
Prerequisites: HSI 110 or permission of instructor

HSI 350  Intelligence Systems and Structures in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Appraise the systematic process of collection, analysis, and dissemination of information in support of national, state, and/or local policy or strategy; the varied expressions of the intelligence community existing in the U.S. Explore the history and development of the intelligence community in the U.S. and major legislative acts that led to the development of intelligence as a major function of U.S. national security strategy.
Prerequisites: HSI 325

HSI 360  Strategic Planning and Decision Making in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Concepts of and techniques for strategic communication related to decision-making: Defining an organization's strategy (a long-term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal or objective) or direction and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital, its technology, and its human resources. Nature of strategic planning as it relates to homeland security and national security. Strategic planning in relations to decision-making in more stable environments as well as under uncertainty. Relevant legislation and past decisions will be explored.
Prerequisites: HSI 215

HSI 370  Emergency Management Strategy and Policy  3 Credits (3,0)

Emergency management policy and strategy at the local, state, and national levels. Legal motivations and structures supporting the emergency management function, FEMA as an organization, and the cross-over to homeland security tactics. Public education and risk communication efforts and strategies as well as the role of the Emergency Operations Center in the community.
Prerequisites: HSI 310 or HSI 315

HSI 375  Studies in Transportation Sector Infrastructure and Protection  3 Credits (3,0)

Critical infrastructure in the multimodal sectors of transportation. All-hazards risk analysis methodology. Assess adversaries, threats, economic consequences, and controls regarding protection of these key assets. Examine government oversight of transportation security; review current federal documents, legislation, and regulations; examine human factors in transportation security logistics; crisis, disaster, and risk management; technology of transportation security; smuggling, cargo theft, and contraband; weapons of mass destruction. Breakdown selected case studies in transportation security.
Prerequisites: HSI 310 or HSI 315

HSI 399  Special Topics in Homeland Security  1-6 Credit

Individual independent or directed studies of selected topics.

HSI 405  Emergent Topics in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Emerging Homeland Security topics. Business continuity planning, tools, and best practices. Domestic and foreign policy implications. Threats and opportunities on each topic. Pre-requisite: Junior Standing
Prerequisites: HSI 310 and HSI 325

HSI 410  Exercise Design and Evaluation in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

The nature and structure of exercise design as it is applied in the homeland security domains in general, and in the field of emergency management in particular. Applied exercise design is key to national preparedness; allows assessment and validation of capabilities; addresses areas for improvement. Proper exercise design and execution builds and sustains capabilities, and maintains readiness.
Prerequisites: HSI 310 and HSI 315

HSI 411  Terrorism, Insurgency and Irregular Warfare  3 Credits (3,0)

Phenomena of terrorism and insurgency in the context of irregular warfare. Compare efficacy of current counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations for U.S. forces throughout the world. Current COIN concepts will be examined in the context of current and prior U.S. attempts to conduct operations in non-traditional operational environments. Strong civil-military partnerships as a necessary prerequisite for mission success. Overarching importance of strategy as a template for COIN operations.
Prerequisites: HSI 325

HSI 435  International Crime and Criminal Justice Structure  3 Credits (3,0)

Current status and predicted trends in global crime, criminology, and the international criminal justice system. Explanations related to various aspects of criminology and theories related to criminal behavior. Concepts and theories on how to best combat organized crime, terrorism, human trafficking, international white-collar crime, and terrorism/insurgency.
Prerequisites: HSI 350

HSI 450  Advanced Topics in Terrorism  3 Credits (3,0)

Strategies and policies of the U.S. and its allies to utilize counterterrorism (CT) measures to mitigate or defeat effects of terror violence and its challenges. History of terrorism in the U.S. Development of CT methods used to respond to attacks. Government agencies and organizations charged to ensure that CT policies and strategies are acted upon and adhered to including the intelligence community and federal law enforcement agencies tasked to combat terrorism. Asymmetry as a tool of terrorism including the indiscriminate use of violence, weapons of mass destruction, and cyber-attacks to information systems and critical infrastructure.
Prerequisites: HSI 320 and HSI 325

HSI 470  Intelligence Experiential Learning Laboratory  1 Credit (0,1)

Interactive simulations, exercises, and games involving planning, collection, exploitation, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence concepts and techniques.
Prerequisites: HSI 110 and HSI 115 and HSI 250 and HSI 315

HSI 490  Senior Capstone in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Collaboratively solve a homeland security or emergency management-related challenge for real client. Research the origins of client's challenges, and attempt to identify best practices to adapt and apply to the client's challenge. Compose introduction, literature review, problem statement, risk/hazard analysis, risk mitigation plan, and policy recommendations sensitive to economic realities facing their client.
Prerequisites: HSI 310 and HSI 315

HSI 491  Thesis in Homeland Security  3 Credits (3,0)

Pass/fail advanced thesis in homeland security. Professional paper that investigates current issues or challenges to U.S. national or homeland security or intelligence; the project may use either primary or secondary data collection methods. Since students may, at the discretion of the HSI program coordinator, use HS 491 to substitute for the internship requirement, the expectation is that the research project must be equivalent to the 300 hours interns are obligated to work. Students will function fairly independently but remain in regular contact with the course instructor.
Prerequisites: HSI 310 and HSI 315 and HSI 350 and HSI 360

HSI 499  Special Topics in Homeland Security  1-6 Credit

Individual independent or directed studies of selected topics.