What can I study?

Charles Thomson, Jr., BA

Charles Thomson, Jr., BA
"My kids are very busy with sports. My wife is very busy with work, so it made it real easy for me..."
Watch Charles »

Yolanda Soto, BA

Yolanda Soto, BA
"Just because I decided to take that leap of faith to finish my degree, all these doors opened up..."
Watch Yolanda »

Corinne Rao, BSBA

Corinne Rao, BSBA
"It was a 24-year course overall, but I've succeeded and it is the most important thing. It shows my children that I can do it, it shows my self that I can do it..."
Watch Corinne »

James Hooper, BA

James Hooper, BA
"It seems like I have been going to school for 25 years. Thomas Edison was such a great thing for me because I was able to transfer so many credits..."
Watch James »

Farzana Haider, BA

Farzana Haider, BA
"I feel I am more competent now and that I can show my children how valuable education is. I'm setting the example for them..."
Watch Farzana »

Herbert Coleman, BA

Herbert Coleman, BA
"I was amazed to see how many credits this college accepted... I had amassed quite a few over the years...It means the world to me..."
Watch Herbert »

Barbara Becker, AAS & BSBA

Barbara Becker, AAS & BSBA
"My experience as a student at the college was very fulfilling. It was a nontraditional way..."
Watch Barbara »

Robey Reed, BSAST

Robey Reed, BSAST
"I looked at a lot of schools when I was in the military, and from what I saw..."
Watch Robey »

Maureen Hennessey, BA

Maureen Hennessey, BA
"I don't like leaving things unfinished... and I've gone back to college a number of times..."
Watch Maureen »

Tanvi Kothari, BA

Tanvi Kothari, BA
"Thomas Edison State College made getting a degree very convenient. Thomas Edison also offered..."
Watch Tanvi »

Jim Harrington, BA

Jim Harrington, BA
"I never dreamed I would have my degree at this age. I thought it was something..."
Watch Jim »

Helene Loeb, BSHS

Helene Loeb, BSHS
"Thomas Edison really prepared me to become a leader and interact as well as instruct and support the nurses that are out on the unit.."
Watch Helene »

Holly Pitti, BSBA

Holly Pitti, BSBA
"I wanted to show my kids that education was important. I have five children and the flexibility..."
Watch Holly »

Maryanne Spatola, BS

Maryanne Spatola, BS
"Finishing my degree was a tremendous leg up for me in terms of marketability..."
Watch Maryanne »

James V. McGuire IV, BSHS

James V. McGuire IV, BSHS
"My father always told me he wanted me to go to college. My father never finished high school..."
Watch James »

Kristina Romero, BA

Kristina Romero, BA
"...the best thing about Thomas Edison... your workload is whatever you want to make it..."
Watch Kristina »

Ashley Pistorio, BSAST

Ashley Pistorio, BSAST
"I wasn't really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I knew I needed a degree to go anywhere...."
Watch Ashley »

Rolondo Gorostiza, BSAST

Rolondo Gorostiza, BSAST
"My experiences as a student were nothing short of wonderful..."
Watch Rolonda »

Michael Mendes, MAEdL

Michael Mendes, MAEdL
"I can tell my expectations were exceeded. The school did so much for me. It helped me get where I am now..."
Watch Michael »

Irving Cintron, AAS

Irving Cintron, AAS
"I have done everything online which to me was exceptional..."
Watch Irving »

Dailys Cintron, AA

Dailys Cintron, AA
"Thomas Edison State College accepted more of my credits from my other university..."
Watch Dailys »

Adam Bernstein, BA

Adam Bernstein, BA
"I was able to complete my degree in about a year… It’s been a good experience..."
Watch Adam »

Rachel Moore, MSHRM

Rachel Moore, MSHRM
"I work in New York and have a long commute so the ability to work on my classwork when I had the time provided a good work-life balance..."
Watch Rachel »

Pedro Amaro, BSAST

Pedro Amaro, BSAST
"I have a demanding job and a family… Thomas Edison allowed me to pick me courses and that was best way for me to finish a little faster than if I went to a more traditional school..."
Watch Pedro »

Tiffany Jenkins, BSHS

Tiffany Jenkins, BSHS
"The mentors were awesome. They were always available. It really defied my stereotype of what it would be like to go to school online..."
Watch Tiffany »

Dean Clemente, BSOL

Dean Clemente, BSOL
"You come across a lot of different people geographically… that interaction added a great deal of value because I was able to obtain a different dimension and perspective from other professionals..."
Watch Dean »

Brian Fogarty, BSAST

Brian Fogarty, BSAST
"When I looked at schools, Thomas Edison really had the edge over all the other schools, even looking at private schools near my home outside of Philadelphia..."
Watch Brian »

Vietthi Nguyen, BSAST

Vietthi Nguyen, BSAST
"As a military member, I am busy serving our country, protecting our freedom and serving my family… TESC was the number one pick for me because it offers flexibility..."
Watch Vietthi »

Fakera Nazneen, MSM

Fakera Nazneen, MSM
"I liked the flexibility it offered and that the whole school is supportive of your goal..."
Watch Fakera »

Winfried Dzandu-Hedidor, BA

Winfried Dzandu-Hedidor, BA
"Some of the courses I took included Intercultural Relationships… for an organization like the UN, that lesson of how to communicate with people of varied back-ground assisted me a lot..."
Watch Windfried »

Jessica Vaz, BA

Jessica Vaz, BA
"I loved the flexibility the school offered and that is what made me chose Thomas Edison..."
Watch Jessica »

Arthur J. Pellerin, BA

Arthur J. Pellerin, BA
"I wanted to progress and show my kids that anyone can do it and prove the point to my soldiers as well..."
Watch Arthur »

Karen Hatcher, BA

Karen Hatcher, BA
"The prior learning assessment option for me was really amazing..."
Watch Karen »

Joshua A. Grimm, MSM

Joshua A. Grimm, MSM
"Without the degree I would have been passed over for the management position..."
Watch Joshua »

Lauren Centrella, BA

Lauren Centrella, BA
"I've always worked and gone to school part-time at other universities...and I wanted to finally finish up my degree..."
Watch Lauren »

Sudesh Joshi-Chhibbar, BSN

Sudesh Joshi-Chhibbar, BSN
"Online courses are very helpful for busy nurses because we don't have to leave our home..."
Watch Sudesh »

Jason Didomenico, BA

Jason Didomenico, BA
"I liked the curriculum and I liked this school is regionally accredited versus nationally..."
Watch Jason »

Barbara A. Hare, BSBA

Barbara A. Hare, BSBA
"I was determined to remove an obstacle to success by actually starting to complete my bachelor's degree..."
Watch Barbara »

Bill Benson, BSAST

Bill Benson, BSAST
"Once I talked with the people here at Thomas Edison, they guided my through the process..."
Watch Bill »

Annevictoria Palumbo, BSHS

Annevictoria Palumbo, BSHS
"The online was nice because it was flexible it gave me the flexibility of doing it when it was convenient for me..."
Watch Annevictoria »

John Kurzenberger, BA

John Kurzenberger, BA
"Coming to Thomas Edison State College was the only way I could complete my degree..."
Watch John »

Cheryl Jefferson, MSM

Cheryl Jefferson, MSM
"The experience developed my leadership skills much more than I already had..."
Watch Cheryl »

Saher Malik, BA

Saher Malik, BA
"Thomas Edison was very flexible and the professors were very accommodating and very helpful..."
Watch Saher »

Dexter Trotter, BA

Dexter Trotter, BA
"My inspiration for going back and finishing my degree was my daughter and my family..."
Watch Dexter »

Towanda Edwards, BA

Towanda Edwards, BA
"I didn't want to be one of those parents who says you must to go to college but hadn't done so..."
Watch Towanda »

Julio Hoyos, BSBA

Julio Hoyos, BSBA
"I wanted to show my kids that no matter what, you can do it..."
Watch Julio »

Benjamin Vonderreith, BSAST

Benjamin Vonderreith, BSAST
"One of the reasons I went to Thomas Edison is that they accepted so much of my Navy training..."
Watch Benjamin »

Angela Gibson, BSBA

Angela Gibson, BSBA
"In order to get back out into the workforce, I had to complete my degree..."
Watch Angela »

Anne Rudolph, BA

Anne Rudolph, BA
"I finally found a profession I was interested in and I had to have a degree within that field, so that was what inspired me to comeback..."
Watch Anne »

Joyce Serdinsky, BA

Joyce Serdinsky, BA
"I had to say no to certain things and yes to my books, and it was worth it 100 percent..."
Watch Joyce »

Jennifer Consuegra, BS

Jennifer Consuegra, BS
"I think what I liked best about it was that I could make my own schedule..."
Watch Jennifer »

Joan Martins, BA

Joan Martins, BA
"My inspiration for returning to college to finish my degree was a personal one. I needed to finish something I started before I had a family..."
Watch Joan »

Patricia Stevens, BSN

Patricia Stevens, BSN
"I finally had the opportunity after my children were grown to fulfill my dream..."
Watch Patricia »

Kyle Robertson, BSBA

Kyle Robertson, BSBA
"My target was to graduate before my first child and he just turned 13, so I made it with some spare time..."
Watch Kyle »

Michele DeNoia, MSM

Michele DeNoia, MSM
"It was a wonderful experience..."
Watch Michele »

Tambra Butler, BA

Tambra Butler, BA
"It was a goal of mine ever since I graduating high school 20 years ago...for my parents, and my dad especially..."
Watch Tambra »

Keisha Patrick, BSBA

Keisha Patrick, BSBA
"Pretty much I wanted to get my bachelor's degree to pursue other opportunities and because I have two teenage boys so I wanted for them to see that this is possible..."
Watch Keisha »

Mia Keay, BSBA

Mia Keay, BSBA
"I always wanted to get my degree but I started working right after high school and a certain point I realized I would probably not be able to advance in my career unless I had a four-year degree..."
Watch Mia »

Tina Smith-Jeffries, BA

Tina Smith-Jeffries, BA
"it was challenging at times... There were long nights, large cups of coffee but it paid off in the end..."
Watch Tina »

Hazel Gordon-Suppa, BSN

Hazel Gordon-Suppa, BSN
"It's about getting the patient care possible; the more knowledge you have, the better equipped you are to take care of the patients..."
Watch Hazel »

Daniel Palermo, BA

Daniel Palermo, BA
"I had to take the time for my children to go college, which they have successfully done, and I felt it was time with the military's assistance for me to return to school and accomplish my degree..."
Watch Daniel »

Victor Dent, BA

Victor Dent, BA
"It is very convenient taking classes online. You can do your studies over the weekend, at night or in the wee hours of the morning..."
Watch Victor »

Terrorism as a Strategy

This eight-week course serves as the entry point into the Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Certificate Program, but may also be taken by interested individuals as a stand-alone course. Students come into the course with sometimes strongly-held notions of what terrorism is, but few have looked at the phenomenon from a myriad of perspectives. Therefore, we start off by asking if there is an Americanized view of terrorism, and if so, is that view the only view to consider? For example, students confront the issue of whether or not the United States engages in terrorism as a matter of policy and practice. And they are asked if terrorism is ever a legitimate strategy to use.

Progressing through the course, students begin to view the world of national security, terrorism, and their own American perspectives with a critical eye. Most feel disposed to take a closer look at their core values and beliefs in order to better understand the larger worldview. Only by doing so, can we become better able to devise effective counterterror tactics and strategies.

Any definition of terrorism is a product of bias, experience, political views, and goals. For example, the Civil War featured Sherman's famous 'March to the Sea' in 1864, which the southern populace viewed as anything but heroic. Was Sherman, therefore, guilty of terrorism? During World War II, the Allies bombed German population centers such as Dresden and Hamburg with incendiary devices designed to destroy residential neighborhoods and the humans within them as a way of weakening the resolve of the German people. Was that terrorism? And let's not forget the explosion of the world's first atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. What was the perspective of the ordinary Japanese civilian to these hellish events?

Today we hear the term freedom fighter used by many groups and organizations. But one person's freedom fighter is another person's terrorist. How we make these distinctions is the essence of this course, and peculiarly apt given the recent ceremonies commemorating the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

This course is not being offered in the Winter and Spring 2013 semesters.

Tuition: $475