16th Annual Society for Terrorism Research
By: J. David Chapman/August 8/23/ 2024
In April of 2015 I presented a paper on the built environment at the American Real Estate Society national conference at Sanibel Harbour, FL. At that meeting I met fellow presenter and researcher Dr. David McIlhatton from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was the Director of a counter-terrorism research group at Coventry University. We immediately found a common interest in protecting people and places from those trying to cause harm.
The friendship and brotherhood with Dr. McIlhatton, with the help of our colleagues from Coventry University and the University of Central Oklahoma, has produced changes in the ways we protect people in crowed places such as sporting events, shopping centers, office buildings, parks, festivals, and concerts. Along with our colleagues, we have created best-practices backed by international research.
One of the organizations that Dr. McIlhatton, myself, and others publish our peer-reviewed articles in is called The Society of Terrorism Research (STR). STR is an international, multi-disciplinary organization of theoretical and empirical researchers whose mission is to enhance knowledge and understanding of terrorism and political violence.
I am thrilled to announce that STR24, this organization’s annual international conference, will be held at UCO in a couple weeks and counterterrorism experts from US, UK, Europe, Australia, and Africa will be speaking at the conference covering a broad range of topics on protecting people and places. The conference theme of ‘Learning Lessons from the Past, Considerations for the Future’ is designed to position our thinking on how terrorist attacks in the past can help us understand, counter, and mitigate terrorism and terrorism risks more effectively in the future through impact-focused research.
Even with recent announcements of international events such as the Olympics being help in Oklahoma, it is no coincidence that STR24 is being held in Oklahoma. April 2025 will mark 30 years since the Oklahoma City Bombing, an attack that shaped new policies and new practices, and has influenced many research agendas – some of which we will hear at the conference.
It is also appropriate that UCO was chosen as the hosting venue. Our President, Todd G. Lamb, was a Special Agent with the U.S. Secret Service. He was appointed to the Joint Terrorism Task Force and was assigned to portions of the 9/11 investigation. He also served on details protecting President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush. President Lamb, Dr. McIlhatton, and I welcome STR24.
Dr. J. David Chapman is a Professor of Finance & Real Estate at The University of Central Oklahoma (jchapman7@uco.edu