James Ottavio Castagnera

James Ottavio Castagnera, associate provost and associate legal counsel, has been awarded one of 45 Academic Fellowships on Terrorism from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).

Entitled “Defending Democracy, Defeating Terrorism,” FDD’s Fifth Annual Academic Fellowship features an intensive 10-day course on terrorism and the threat it poses to democratic societies. The program is taught in conjunction with Tel Aviv University and takes place in Israel in late May and early June.

The course of study takes place in the classroom and in the field, with lectures by academics, diplomats, military and intelligence officials, and politicians from Israel, Jordan, India, Turkey and the United States. It also features visits to military bases, border zones and other security installations to learn the practical side of deterring terrorist attacks.

The goal of the program is to offer information to teaching professionals about the latest trends in terrorists’ ideologies, motives, and operations.

FDD is the only nonpartisan policy institute dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism. It was founded shortly after 9/11 by a group of philanthropists and policymakers to engage in the worldwide war of ideas and to support the defense of democratic societies under assault by terrorism and militant Islamism. They focus efforts where opinions are formed, and ultimately, where the war of ideas will be won or lost: in the media, on college campuses, and in the policy community, at home and abroad. The board of directors includes Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes Magazine; former Secretary of HUD Jack Kemp; and former U.N. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick.

“I believe one reason I was among the faculty from colleges and universities around the U.S. to be selected was my interest in covering terrorism rather frequently in my weekly newspaper and bi-monthly magazine columns,” said Castagnera, who thanks Professor Pamela Brown, director of the Law & Justice Program, for identifying the fellowship opportunity and distributing it to the Law & Justice faculty.

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