USC geography professor Susan Cutter is one of several USC faculty who will conduct research for a new, U.S.-sponsored social and behavioral research center dedicated to reducing worldwide terrorism.
The $12 million center is named the Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Behavioral and Social Research on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism. The five partnering institutions are the University of Maryland, University of Colorado, University of Pennsylvania, Monterey Institute of International Studies, and the University of California, Los Angeles.
Cutter, who led a USC team to New York to study disaster response efforts after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, said USC will play an important role in educating the next generation of homeland security specialists.
"USC is a national leader in hazards research and vulnerability science. Our leadership role and affiliation with the Department of Homeland Security will enable USC to conduct important and timely research on hazards and terrorist threats and educate the next generation of homeland security specialists," Cutter said.
The center's research will focus on how to disrupt the information of terror networks and minimize the impact of future attacks. Cutter's team will lead the effort to develop better methods for understanding and warning of terror risks, preparing for attacks and limiting the damage after an attack. By pulling together a wide range of databases and conducting geographic analyses, Cutter's team, comprising 10 USC faculty researchers and six graduate students, is responsible for providing a better understanding of the dynamics of terrorists and terrorist groups and how society responds to attacks.
Cutter, a Carolina Distinguished Professor of Geography, is one of the nation's foremost authorities on hazards research and launched USC's Hazards Research Center in 1995, a research and training center that integrates geographical information science with hazards analysis and management. She is the co-founding editor of an interdisciplinary journal, Environmental Hazards. Cutter's most recent book, The Geographical Dimensions of Terrorism, examines the role of geographic research in understanding the root causes, societal vulnerability and responses to terrorism.
Funded for three years, the Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Behavioral and Social Research on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism is the fourth university-based center of excellence funded by the Department of Homeland Security.
In addition to Cutter, USC faculty researchers involved with the center include Walter Piegorsch, statistics; John Rose, computer science; Ann Bowman, political science; Mark Tompkins, political science; David J. Cowen, Michael Hodgson, Marcia de Castro, Diansheng Guo, and Frank Hardisty, geography.
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