Homeland Security 101
By MARGOT ROOSEVELT

Monday, Dec. 20, 2004

Three years after the al-Qaeda attacks, academia is embracing the post-9/11 world. Some 200 colleges and universities offer homeland-security studies much as, decades ago, national-security programs sprang up to address the issues of the cold war. Community colleges � already in the business of training fire fighters, police officers and medical technicians to deal with hurricanes and earthquakes � were first to mount new certification programs tailored to unnatural disasters. Four-year institutions quickly followed. Last fall San Diego State launched an interdisciplinary master's degree in homeland security, attracting students from nursing, criminal justice and political science. The University of Southern California is offering an online master's in system safety and security, for which students examine such problems as how to defend civilian airplanes against surface-to-air missiles. Engineering schools are adding classes on potential cyberattacks on the electrical grid. And George Washington University's medical school now requires its students to take an emergency-preparedness course.