Teaching About Terrorism: St George’s University

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 ?

The response to question No 1 is - Information Security Policy Guidance on proper & improper use of IT Services which states "The following examples of misuse are likely to be considered as gross misconduct and will be dealt with under the relevant disciplinary procedure: Deliberately accessing from the Internet material which is counter either to legislation or to commonly accepted standards.

• 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?

The response to question No 2 is - all our courses are medical or health care related and therefore reading lists will be around these topics. Therefore the answer to No 2 is, no we do not have this procedure.

• 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?

The response to question No 3 is 'no'.

• 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'?

The response to question No 4 is - The institution is aware of the Prevent agenda as one of the strands of the government's counter terrorism strategy and we have recently been awarded a £10k grant from BIS: the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. We plan to train up staff who work in front line services with students to understand the different types of extremism: how the radicalisation process works, what is meant by the term 'extremist', the triggers and potential vulnerabilities for radicalisation with a view to key personnel being able to identify, refer and support vulnerable individuals. We have set up links with the Prevent Engagement Officer Counter Local Authority Prevent steering group to advise us on how to approach these issues.

We plan that our multi faith prayer room be refurbished in line with the advice given by St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace and we will then re-launch this new space. We have begun work with the Students Union to refine university policy on freedom of speech. We plan to train the senior management teams of St Georges University of London in possible responses to a major incident. We plan to raise awareness of key strategies for risk prevention and for offering a unified and coherent response. We plan to Introduce a faith literacy programme on the 5 major faiths prevalent in the borough (according to the 2001 census) to be delivered to identified key staff who offer support to students. We want to encourage community cohesion by running a series of university wide events encouraging open debate and discussion of some of the issues surrounding violent extremism. Students will be able to engage in dialogue and discussion with representatives from different faiths and beliefs.

Resources

• Freedom of Information Results, Teaching About Terrorism: FOI Results
• St Georges University, Teaching About Terrorism Freedom of Information Request 1 Response, Scribd