Gus Martin: New Edition of Terrorism
Textbook Published

Gus Martin, assistant professor, Public Administration and Public Policy and acting assistant vice president, Faculty Affairs, has had a second edition of his 2003 book, Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2nd Ed., 2006) published at the beginning of this year. Widely used as a textbook, Understanding Terrorism in its new edition will reflect the evolution of the study of terrorism.

“There are many more courses being offered on more campuses and to practitioners,” Martin notes. “Some focus on domestic homeland security issues, but most explore the overarching phenomenon of terrorism.  Law enforcement, military, and corporate instruction has also been expanded.”

Martin’s “Terrorism and Extremism” class, which debuted in 2004, currently has 60 students enrolled for the spring semester. According to Martin, CSUDH is one of the first campuses to offer a course on terrorism as part of the criminal justice major. He describes the proactive position that students have taken, due to the availability of a more in-depth study of terrorism and its components.

“The most interesting aspect of teaching the course has been that students now enter into the course with defined opinions about the problem of terrorism; the issue is now something that each student has thought about prior to enrolling in the class.  This reflects what has occurred in our general population--what used to be an abstract concept about events far from home is now a reality of how we live these days.” 

Additions in the second edition include a new chapter on religious terrorism; new concepts of gender-selective and criminal dissident terrorism; a newly consolidated chapter on ideological terrorism; and a CD-ROM and dedicated Webpage for instructors and students.

“Student interest has moved beyond simply an intellectual interest and more into the realms of the causes of terrorism,” notes Martin, “whom the terrorists are, and what we can do about the problem.”

-Joanie Harmon