Spring Break
East Coast school offers new security studies degree
University introduces security degree designed to capitalize on demand
Jonathan Cribbs - The Beaufort Gazette
Issue date: 3/7/07 Section: Career Fair
(BEAUFORT, S.C.) - MCT - On the second floor of a training building in Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort on a January night, security didn't come from the barrel of a gun or the buzz of a Taser.
It started with rote memorization of obscure foreign capitals: Riga, Latvia, and Skopje, Macedonia, and Vaduz, Lichtenstein.
In Room 215, University of South Carolina Beaufort instructor Colin Pearce stood in front of his class and called out countries.
"Finland? Olympic Games? Nineteen-fiffteeeeee-two?" he asked.
"Helsinki?" one student blurted out.
"The Netherlands," Pearce said, moving on. "Sin City? Where you want to go if you want to commit sins?"
"Amsterdam?" said Richard Smith, a student from Bluffton.
It was the beginning of Introduction to Security Studies, the first class in the university's new security program, a degree designed to capitalize on the surging demand for homeland security professionals in the country following Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. The program is the first of its kind in South Carolina and one of few nationwide.
University officials have said they hope demand for the program will flourish among the 6,000-plus military personnel at the air station and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, many of whom may be looking for work in the private sector when they leave the service.
But at its core, security studies is really history and geography, Pearce said.
"The issue is, do contemporary American students have the basic geographic knowledge of the world around them that can give them the understanding of international security, foreign conflict, all those things?" he said.
Over two hours, Pearce's lecture skimmed hundreds of years of world history, the philosophy of democracy and relationships between world leaders. At one point, Pearce touched on Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. government and its allies believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is covertly developing nuclear weapons in violation of an international treaty. Iranian officials claim they are simply looking to create nuclear power for electricity.
It started with rote memorization of obscure foreign capitals: Riga, Latvia, and Skopje, Macedonia, and Vaduz, Lichtenstein.
In Room 215, University of South Carolina Beaufort instructor Colin Pearce stood in front of his class and called out countries.
"Finland? Olympic Games? Nineteen-fiffteeeeee-two?" he asked.
"Helsinki?" one student blurted out.
"The Netherlands," Pearce said, moving on. "Sin City? Where you want to go if you want to commit sins?"
"Amsterdam?" said Richard Smith, a student from Bluffton.
It was the beginning of Introduction to Security Studies, the first class in the university's new security program, a degree designed to capitalize on the surging demand for homeland security professionals in the country following Sept. 11 and Hurricane Katrina. The program is the first of its kind in South Carolina and one of few nationwide.
University officials have said they hope demand for the program will flourish among the 6,000-plus military personnel at the air station and Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, many of whom may be looking for work in the private sector when they leave the service.
But at its core, security studies is really history and geography, Pearce said.
"The issue is, do contemporary American students have the basic geographic knowledge of the world around them that can give them the understanding of international security, foreign conflict, all those things?" he said.
Over two hours, Pearce's lecture skimmed hundreds of years of world history, the philosophy of democracy and relationships between world leaders. At one point, Pearce touched on Iran's nuclear ambitions.
The U.S. government and its allies believe Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is covertly developing nuclear weapons in violation of an international treaty. Iranian officials claim they are simply looking to create nuclear power for electricity.
Be the first to comment on this story