Lucian E. Dervan, assistant professor for Southern Illinois University School of Law, will travel to Israel in late May after being awarded a Foundation for Defense of Democracies Academic Fellowship. While in Israel, he will participate in an intense 10-day program that will focus on terrorism and its threat to democratic nations.
The first five days of the program take place in classroom settings at Tel Aviv University, where participants will meet with counter-terrorism scholars, military officers, intelligence officials, diplomats and personnel from Israel, Jordan, India, Turkey and the United States, according to the organization’s Web site. Participants will spend the next five days traveling around the country visiting military bases, border zones and security installations.
“As has become evident since Sept. 11, 2001, counter-terrorism and national security will continue to become ever more important issues to the United States,” Dervan said. “Learning from countries, such as Israel, who have grappled with those national security issues for decades, offers a unique and valuable learning experience.”
Dervan teaches in the area of criminal law, including international criminal law. As part of his research, Dervan writes about counter-terrorism in the United States, including the prevalence of plea bargaining in terrorism prosecutions. In addition to aiding with his research, Dervan believes the insights and experiences the fellowship offers will be invaluable to students in his international criminal law course and will assist him as he develops a course regarding national security and counter-terrorism laws.
“This fellowship offers an intense and hands-on experience,” Dervan said. “It provides incredible access to the people and places where counter-terrorism policy is both developed and implemented. For that reason it’s a very competitive program, and I’m excited to be selected.”
