HLS 275 : INTRO TO THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

This introductory course offers undergraduate students fundamental knowledge of the Intelligence Community (IC) specific to the homeland security enterprise. Students will gain an understanding of the nature of intelligence – specifically its roles, structures, and missions – in the context of homeland security. The course offers a brief history of intelligence; and introduces the individual IC agencies from the national security context while looking at how intelligence purposed at this level can be applied to domestic security. A separate focus on the role of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in its intelligence-gathering and prosecution function will also be analyzed. This course also examines the reasons and rationale different agencies collect intelligence and discusses specific threats – ranging from drug trafficking and money laundering to bioterrorism and the challenges of Covid-19 – and how the IC addresses them. Students will be exposed to key ethical issues and the realities of information-sharing among federal, state, and local organizations, and will learn about the intelligence cycle and how it contributes to the intelligence process.