What We Do

The UMass Lowell Center for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) examines practitioner-oriented and policy-relevant issues from multiple academic perspectives and methodologies. Our research is evidence-driven and non-partisan.

Our research is disseminated to various audiences. We produce academic books, journal articles and textbooks for undergraduate and graduate programs; for the general public we write blog posts and record educational podcasts; and for the practitioner we deliver technical reports, pragmatic briefs and notes for policy considerations. 

We teach undergraduate and graduate courses in several academic programs at the university, and provide training workshops and seminars for practitioners throughout the intelligence, law enforcement and military communities. 

About the Center

The Center for Terrorism and Security Studies was established at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in 2013 to bring together faculty from several colleges throughout UMass Lowell (and from other institutions and organizations in the Commonwealth) to work on a variety of collaborative research projects addressing the evolution, convergence and complexity of such domestic and foreign security challenges as terrorism, cyber-security, transnational crime and weapons of mass destruction (among many other topics). 

The Center is located within the School of Criminology and Justice Studies on the 4th floor of the Health and Social Sciences Building on the university's South Campus. 

CTSS faculty, staff and fellows are internationally recognized experts in their respective fields and represent such diverse disciplines as psychology, criminology, political science, education, philosophy and computer science.

CTSS is led by faculty in the School of Criminology and Justice Studies but is comprised of additional fellows and faculty members from other units within UMass Lowell and the broader UMass family. 

Several CTSS faculty teach courses in the university’s interdisciplinary MA/MS program in Security Studies and in the Ph.D, M.A. and B.S. programs in Criminal Justice and Criminology. Faculty also work closely with students enrolled in the Security and Human Rights concentration of the Ph.D. in Global Studies program offered by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences.

The Center co-sponsors the internationally renowned academic journal, Perspectives on Terrorismand will publish a variety of research reports and data resources on security-related topics. Faculty members of the Center are also on the Editorial Board for scholarly journals such as Terrorism and Political Violence, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, the Journal of Strategic Security and the Journal of Transportation Security.

Faculty members have given presentations on their research to many U.S. government and law enforcement agencies, the United Nations, and respective agencies of foreign governments. CTSS faculty have testified before Congressional hearings and served as expert witnesses for terrorism-related court cases. Media outlets around the world have called upon Center faculty to share their expertise and informed opinion about current events.

The Center is a member of the University and Agency Partnership Initiative (UAPI) (pdf), a program of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. Center faculty have also collaborated with the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) Consortium, and the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, along with many Colleges and Universities both nationally and internationally. The research of CTSS faculty has been supported by the United States Department of Homeland Security, the United States Department of Justice, Office of Naval Research, the UK Government and the United States Department of Defense through its Minerva Research Initiative.

Follow us on Twitter @CTSS_Research.