This lecture begins with a broad overview of modern terrorism and government efforts to stop it. In doing so, I introduce the framework of deterrence beginning with its original formulation in Cesare Beccaria’s 1764 book On Crimes and Punishment, which was used to establish the U.S. criminal justice system. When applied to contemporary counterterrorism efforts, leaders in the U.S. and across the globe have neglected to adhere to its key principle of proportionality, which has inadvertently — and perhaps in some cases, advertently — fueled ongoing terrorism campaigns and stirred latent prejudices and hatred.
This talk is appropriate for high schoolers and beyond.
This event is free and open to the public. We ask that you kindly RSVP using the form below. For questions regarding RSVPs, please call 614-292-2281. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.
Laura Dugan is Ralph D. Mershon Professor of Human Security and Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University. Her research career has been dedicated to understanding and addressing violence in different contexts, and assessing policy and practices that can mitigate or exacerbate its effects and impacts. She has adopted a systematic, multidisciplinary framework to approach problems of violence, and over the years has engaged in several large data collection efforts, drew upon theoretical paradigms from different disciplines, and modified analytical approaches to better isolate estimated effects. Furthermore, her research career has expanded with changing national concerns, beginning with the violent victimization of women by their intimate partners, to terrorism and extremist violence. She is currently expanding her research to include the role of rhetoric used by U.S. and other global leaders to divide the country, encouraging violence. Dr. Dugan is one of the founding principal investigators of the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), cocreator of the Government Actions in Terrorist Environments (GATE) and is currently building datasets of tweets and truths posted by state and federal politicians on Twitter and Truth Social that can be used by scholars to study a wide range of topics. Her scholarship has expanded traditional theories to consider how raising the benefits of abstention from violence might reduce terrorism, how political threat can lead to emboldened violence when political elites openly express hostility toward marginalized groups, and how disproportionately lenient responses to bad behavior can perpetuate extremism. Her research is published in books and journals in criminology, sociology, political science, and terrorism studies.
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Science Sundays is a free lecture series open to the public that provides a wide range of current and emerging topics and issues in science that touch our everyday lives. Speakers are experts in their fields from on campus and around the world with experience in making their topics interesting and accessible for audiences of all ages, with or without a science background.
Each lecture is followed by a free, informal reception from 4-5 p.m. at the Ohio Staters Traditions Room in the Ohio Union.
If you have questions about accessibility or wish to request an accommodation for a disability please contact John Beacom (beacom.7@osu.edu; 614-247-8102). With advance notice of two weeks, we can generally provide seamless access.
