Terror in the Classroom: Teaching Terrorism Without Terrorizing

Abstract

Despite its popularity among students, terrorism is a sensitive and emotive topic that is difficult to learn, and challenging to teach. Given the lack of a simple definition, terrorism is hard to explain objectively and comprehensively. Perceptually value-laden and provocative, it can reinforce stereotypes and prejudices against a group of people generating conflicting emotional reactions in the classroom. The disturbingly violent nature of the subject can also be hard to communicate to students while staying calm and professional. Additionally, it is a subject where interactive methods cannot easily be incorporated, and the use of humor may come out as inappropriate and abrasive to different audiences. Taking these as a point of departure, this article draws on my experiences as a researcher and professor of terrorism to illustrate the ways in which these challenges can be mitigated. Overall, the article provides examples and strategies to help instructors not terrorize or be terrorized while teaching sensitive and controversial subjects such as terrorism.

Keywords:

• Helpful teaching strategies for controversial topics
• teaching contentious topics
• terrorism as a challenging subject

Notes

1 For an exhaustive list of documentaries for instructional purposes, please see the website (topdocumentaryfilms.com,), which offers a solid collection of free documentaries from terrorism to politics, religion, economics and science.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Burcu Pinar Alakoc

Burcu Pinar Alakoc is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Department of History, Politics and International Relations at Webster University in St. Louis. Dr. Alakoc’s research focuses on the drivers of and solutions to political extremism across the world with a particular emphasis on terrorism and political violence. She currently has several related projects underway examining the lethality of suicide terrorist attacks, the strategic use of females suicide bombers in terrorist operations, and the diverse strategies employed by terrorist organizations for increasing the commitment of suicide bombers to their missions. Her work on terrorism appears in The Journal of Political Violence and Terrorism and The International Journal of Conflict and Violence. Dr. Alakoc teaches several undergraduate and graduate courses in international relations, comparative politics, international security, and terrorism and political violence. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, and she also holds a Master’s degree in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas, where she studied as a Fulbright scholar. Dr. Alakoc completed her doctoral studies in Political Science, earning both a Master’s degree, and a PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder.