Teaching About Terrorism: University College Birmingham

Teaching About Terrorism is a 2009/10 research project funded by C-SAP, one of the Higher Education Academy's subject networks. The project aims to research the extent and nature of teaching about terrorism in UK Universities, primarily in the disciplines of Sociology, Politics and Criminology.

Freedom of Information Request 1

• Does your institution provide any information or advice to students or staff on any potential liability under Terrorism legislation which might result from accessing materials for teaching or research?

UCB provides guidance to staff and students on the use of the internet and restricted sites that may fall under the remit of terrorist legislation. In addition the firewall and web caching software will stop access to terrorist related sites. The relevant documents are:

• page 98 of the student handbook http://www.ucb.ac.uk/downloads/policies-and-regulations/student-administration/higher-education-handbook.pdf
• Attached the current internal web filtering by category
• Attached the staff internet policy.

• Does your institution have any kind of procedure to review or assess reading lists, module descriptors or other teaching materials which explicitly or in practice considers questions of safety and risk under terrorism legislation as part of its remit?

UCB has a procedure for module review which includes an editorial panel for assessment and review of the reading lists although there is not specific reference to risk under terrorist legislation.

• Does your institution have any system, policy or procedure in place for dealing with any potential actions taken by the authorities against the institution, its students or staff under Terrorism legislation?

UCB is currently working on a strategy, policy and procedures in relation to the questions you raised

• Does your institution have any system, policy or procedure in place for ‘preventing violent extremism’ as recommended for example in the government guidance document ‘Promoting Good Campus Relations’?

UCB is currently working on a strategy, policy and procedures in relation to the questions you raised

Resources

• Freedom of Information Results, Teaching About Terrorism: FOI Results