BIOSECURITY COMMONS: YEAR 1

Brian J. GormanAssistant ProfessorDepartment of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal JusticeTowson University

6th Annual ODNI Intelligence Community Centers

of Academic Excellence Summer SeminarAugust 2, 2010

Gaylord National Harbor Hotel and Conference Center, National Harbor, MD

Goal of Biosecurity Commons: To engage students in national

security policy issues while making valued contributions to stakeholders through:

Data Mining, Information Sharing, and Critical Analysis.

Methodology: Via a new “Web-tank” concept that fuses the interests and efforts of faculty and students.

The web-tank merges classic and cutting concepts including: Traditional Think tank collaboration Traditional Scholarly research & writing Traditional Journal production New Web-based information approaches New Social networking platforms

Guiding Philosophy The concept relies upon a genuine

Faculty/Student partnership. *Not a mere student project, rather it’s a

collaboration on a genuine contribution to the field.

Faculty leads, but students are relied upon for critical input.

Some students are co-authors while others are publicly identified researchers who are associated with their published work. Analogy given to students: “A published paper

on the net is like a tattoo; it is public and permanent!”

Immediate Attribution of student contributions available online

Mastheads: Law Review inspired & reinforces pride in publicly shared work product.

Software: Wiki format for database

Manuscript Hosting by Scribd which is free and provides reading and download stats.

Readership Stats, graphics & Readership Feedback.

BsC Topics

Status Brief: State-of-the-art briefing for Stakeholders.

Weekly Protocol: RBP not GTL -Research-

-Brief--Post-

1. Research any BsC Index Topic. 2. Brief findings conforming to website

specs. -i.e. the facts, opinions & findings that inform

policy on the topic. 3. Post to the BsC website. 4. Enter topic covered during the week on

whiteboard and provide a digital copy of the sources for follow-up or verification.

Sample White Board for Weekly Protocol

Basic entry: citation, facts,& cross-indexed for surfing database.

Analytical Report initiated ¾’s into the year using database as point of Departure

Facebook Presence

BsC Director & Staff from Towson University

Affiliate Opportunities

Faculty Affiliates are welcome to join Biosecurity Commons and the companion project, Security Commons, with their own Independent Study Students.

Contact Brian J. Gorman at

bgorman@towson.edu