UMass Lowell’s Center for Terrorism and Security Studies (CTSS) is seeking to hire several highly motivated students as Research Assistants, who will work alongside CTSS personnel to conduct research on terrorist behavior. Successful applicants for these positions will gain valuable experience in collecting, coding and analyzing data on terrorist offenders and terrorist attacks.
About the Project:
Increasingly we are becoming interested in the “online” lives of people who become involved in terrorism, and more and more, when someone commits a terrorist attack, we look back and say there was a “cue” or “indicator” in their online behavior.
However, Researchers in the field of security studies have thus far been unable to make informed judgments about the risks posed by an individual based on the nature of their online activity and expressions of ideology. This CTSS project therefore seeks to apply a novel form of narrative and discourse analysis to explore whether online expressions of intent and ideology can be used to diagnose an individuals’ intent to engage in extremist behavior.
Research Assistants will be involved in every step of this project; from data management, to assisting data collection, to write up and delivery.
Eligibility
These research assistantships are part-time and open to all UMass Lowell undergraduates, regardless of academic degree program, although students majoring in Criminal Justice and Psychology (either single of joint honors) are especially encouraged to apply.
The position will require a commitment of 10 hours per week. Students may work remotely on some project tasks. Research Assistants will be paid at a rate of $12 per hour and will be expected to work 8 hours per week.
Access the call for applicants here: