604 Introduction to Biodefense I: Bacterial and Toxin Agents (3:3:0) Covers pathology, metabolism, and threat of bacterial agents that can be used as biological weapons.
605 Introduction to Biodefense II: Viral Agents (3:3:0) Covers pathology, metabolism, and threat of viral agents that can be used as biological weapons.
607 Introduction to Biodefense/Threat Analysis III: Toxins (3:3:0) Discusses the threat of toxins as biological weapons. Special focus on microbiological toxins, including botulinum toxin, and biochemical action of toxins. Comparison to chemical weapons and debate about classification as such.
609 Biodefense Strategy and Policy (1–4:1–3:0–6) Prerequisite: BIOD 604 and 605 or permission of instructor. Introduces students to the biodefense and biosecurity strategies and policies of the United States, other nations, and international organizations. Evaluates the effectiveness of these policies in strengthening defenses, improving intelligence, increasing oversight, enhancing nonproliferation, and reinforcing norms. Examines the interaction of biodefense and biosecurity with homeland, national, and international security.
610 Advanced Topics in Biodefense (1–4:1–3:0–6) Prerequisite: BIOD 604 and 605 or permission of instructor. Different topics, depending on instructor’s specialty. Topics include legal, ethical, scientific, and political aspects of biodefense, emphasizing current problems and research. May be repeated when topic is different.
620 Health and Security (3:3:0) Prerequisite: BIOD 604 and 605 or permission of instructor. Explores issues emerging from the interaction of health and security that represent novel challenges to policymakers confronting a rapidly changing security landscape. Presents the major lines of discourse in the academic literature examining links between health and security. The impact of the AIDS epidemic on national and regional security, the role of health issues in post-Cold War conflict situations, and the security implications of advances in the life sciences.
621 Ethics and International Security (3:3:0) Challenges students to wrestle with dilemmas raised by the desire to behave ethically in an international system in which consensus about ethical matters is absent. Students will develop, apply, and justify their own perspective on an ethical problem related to international security using ethical theory and social science research. Ethical issues related to nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons that confront researchers, policymakers, and practitioners will be addressed.
622 Negotiating in the International Arena (3:3:0) Provides students with the concepts and tools for analyzing complex negotiation processes and introduces them to the challenges facing international negotiators. Students will read about the frameworks and perspectives that have guided the scholarly research on negotiation, as well as the latest findings from that research; analyze complex cases of actual negotiations in the security, trade, and environmental areas; and negotiate key issues on the agendas of nations and international organizations.
702 Biodefense Colloquium (1:1:0) Forum for presentation and discussion of original and current research in biodefense. May be repeated for credit.
705 Intelligence: Theory and Practice (3:3:0) Prerequisite: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Theory and practice of intelligence, including the intelligence cycle, organization of the intelligence community, and the origins and impact of recent reforms. Examines the capabilities and limitations of the different collection disciplines, analytic methodologies and pathologies, and the relationship between intelligence and policy. Analyzes challenges posed by collecting and analyzing intelligence on weapons of mass destruction programs conducted by states and terrorists.
706 Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Weapons Policy and Security (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Explores the causes, conduct, and consequences of the proliferation of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. Covers the historical, technological, normative, and strategic factors that have promoted and restrained the spread of these weapons. Addresses the motives for states to develop these weapons and the debate over the security implications of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapon proliferation.
709 Nonproliferation and Arms Control (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Examines the array of national and international measures used to slow, halt, and reverse the spread of nuclear, biological, chemical, and missile weapons. Explores the theory and practice of proliferation to provide insights into the supply and demand aspects of proliferation.
710 Approaches to Bioweapon Medical Treatment and Response (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605. Examines research, treatment, and preparedness strategies against natural and human-made biological agents. Focuses on various strategies, including immunological, pharmaceutical, and medical treatment methodologies and designs.
722 Examining Terrorist Groups (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Introduction to terrorism including the history and evolution of terrorism, case studies of key terrorist groups, the current nature of the terrorist threat and counterterrorism strategies.
723 Legal Dimensions of Homeland Security (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Introduces the impact of legal issues on homeland security and biodefense. Topics include the origins of the Department of Homeland Security, the relationship between public health and law enforcement, the role of the military in homeland security, trade-offs between privacy and security, legal aspects of public–private cooperation in biodefense and homeland security, quarantine authority and enforcement, ensuring compliance with international treaties, and implementing biosecurity regulations.
725 Terrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Examines the capabilities and intentions of terrorists to acquire and use chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) weapons. The course provides an in-depth understanding of the history of CBRN terrorism, the current challenges posed by this threat, and the range of national and international policy tools available to address this threat.
726 Agroterrorism and Food Security (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Analyzes the threat of agricultural terrorism, including assessments of the chemical and biological agents used to disrupt agriculture and livestock, and the national and global economic and social impacts of these disruptions. Also examines strategies for enhancing the security of the food production and supply systems.
751 Biosurveillance (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Provides an understanding of the capabilities required to provide reliable early warning of disease outbreaks and identify their etiological agents. Assesses strengths and limitations of physicians, laboratories, epidemiologists, aerosol sensors, and syndromic surveillance systems. Considers challenges posed by the integration and analysis of the information collected by these sources.
752 The Role of the Military in Homeland Security (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Analyzes the role that the armed forces play in homeland security, including historical and legal developments, the role of the National Guard, capabilities for crisis and consequence management, and case studies of military assistance to civilian authorities in response to riots, terrorist incidents, and natural disasters.
760 National Security Technology and Policy (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Introduces students to the intersection of science, technology, and policy in national security. Will examine the players in the formation of science policy; the roles they play; how the types, uncertainties, and availability of data affect science policy debates; and how science policy decisions are made. Topics to be covered include weapons of mass destruction, nonlethal weapons, nanotechnology, bioengineering, energy security, and pandemic influenza.
761 Dispersal Patterns of Biological Agents (3:3:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Introduction to military and terrorist methods of dispersal patterns. Covers physics of aerosols; engineering and mechanics of building ventilation systems; and mechanical dissemination, including hand-held, automatic, vehicle, and truck-mounted systems. Includes viability of specific agents involved.
762 Into the Hot Zone: Working in a High Threat Environment (2:2:0) Prerequisites: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of instructor. Introductory course covers methodology of working in a Biosafety Level 3 or 4 environment. Special attention to responding to biowarfare or bioterrorism-related event.
766 Development of Vaccines and Therapeutics (3:3:0) Analyzes the process of developing new medical countermeasures against biological weapons and emerging infectious diseases such as SARS and pandemic influenza. Special attention is paid to the scientific, technical, political, regulatory, and economic obstacles to developing new vaccines and therapeutics. Examines the causes and potential solutions of public and private sector failures.
780 Master’s Supervised Internship (1–6:0:0) Prerequisite: permission of program director or advisor. Internship under supervision of qualified professional in biodefense at a government agency, consulting firm, industrial firm, or other acceptable agency.
793 Directed Studies in Biodefense (1–3:0:0) Prerequisite: permission of the instructor and program director. Individualized study of topics not otherwise available in graduate program. May involve reading assignments, tutorials, lectures, papers, presentations, or lab or field study, determined in consultation with instructor.
798 Master’s Research Project in Biodefense (3:0:0) Prerequisite: 24 credits in BIOD and permission of project director. Research project related to student’s concentration under supervision of faculty advisor. Student produces substantial and original contribution to the field of biodefense on the model of an article in a scholarly journal. Graded S/NC.
799 Master’s Thesis in Biodefense (1–6:0:0) Prerequisite: 24 credits in BIOD and permission of thesis committee. Master’s thesis research under direction of thesis committee. Graded S/NC.
810 Advanced Seminar in Biodefense (3:3:0) Prerequisite: BIOD 604 and 605, or permission of advisor. Explores issues of contemporary and emerging concern in biodefense and biosecurity. Topics may include legal, ethical, scientific, economic, and political aspects of biodefense and biosecurity. May be repeated for credit twice when topic is different.
890 Doctoral Supervised Internship (1–6:0:0) Prerequisite: permission of program director or advisor. Internship under supervision of qualified biodefense professional at government agency, consulting firm, industrial firm, or other acceptable agency.
899 Directed Research in Biodefense (1–12:0:0) Prerequisites: approval of program director. Research on a pertinent topic in biodefense; scope and subject determined by instructor.
996 Doctoral Reading and Research (1–9:0:0) Independent reading and research on specific biodefense topic under faculty member’s direction. Specific arrangements for designing scope and area of study to be determined in consultation with instructor. May involve literature searches and review, workshops, tutorials, or other formats. May be repeated for credits.
998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal (1–12:0:0) Development of a research proposal, which forms the basis for doctoral dissertation under guidance of dissertation director committee. Only 12 credits may be applied to the degree. Graded S/NC.
999 Doctoral Dissertation (1–12:0:0) Prerequisite: Completion of 998 and advancement to candidacy. Doctoral dissertation research under direction of dissertation chair. Graded S/NC.