IAS is delighted to invite American professionals to convene cutting-edge methodological or thematic crash-courses tailored for researchers, PhD students, and the wider public.
Open Source Analysis: Exploring Data Mining and Analytical Tools by Dr. Philip Baxter
27-29 Sep, 2022
This course hosted by our Institute focused on open-source research methods, including how to acquire, analyze, and visualize data from a variety of sources using a range of tools and methodologies. Participants engaged a variety of data types and data management best practices, while exploring how different approaches can be leveraged to further their data analysis skills. Topics included data structure, statistical analysis, geospatial analysis, data mining, and visualization approaches. This course is directed at a graduate school-level audience or junior analysts conducting research on a variety of topics.
Statistical Methodology and Data Science Course by Dr. Jesse Richman
16-18 May, 2022
Complementary to the formal education programs, our Institution hosted an SPSS course for students of the University of Public Service and other interested participants. Graduates in this course learned about quantitative methods in the social sciences, specifically statistical methods. They were exposed to the inner workings of the statistical software SPSS. Students undertakook practical book and computer-lab exercises that required critical thinking and analytical skills and developed skills to identify, construct and analyze many types of data to illuminate relationships between variables and test theoretically derived hypotheses. They also learned about key methodological choices and application tools to stretch and strengthen students’ quantitative research muscles.
Game Theory Course by Dr. Jesse Richman
10-12 May, 2022
Game theory is a modeling framework for the study of strategic interaction – of what happens when my actions have effects on you and vice-versa. How do populations of species, candidates, nations, or business firms reach or not reach equilibria? How do countries decide whether to go to war or negotiate an accommodation? How do candidates compete for votes? Why do groups of individuals, or groups of nations sometimes fail to preserve ‘common’ or collective goods? How do countries assess the intentions of international interlocutors, and what are the rational causes of war? How does the structure of agreements influence the outcomes they achieve? Game theory uses models, empirical investigation, and simulations in an effort to understand simple and complex strategic interactions among individuals, states, groups, and even species. The tools and results of game theory are widely applied across the social, economic, and biological sciences. In this course participants learned the tools of game theory, with a focus on applications in the fields of international relations and political science.
Senior Leader Information Environment Course by Robert Ehlers and Thomas Drohan
16-18 Nov, 2021
Our Institution hosted the Senior Leader Information Environment Course (SLIEC) – sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence – to address strategic and operational gaps relating to operations in the global information environment. The course prepared students of ministerial, research, or military background to apply SLIEC concepts to enable intelligence and operational communities to characterize, forecast, target, wargame and assess the information environment in support of a commander's decision-making process. Students were immersed in concepts, techniques, operational constructs, and case studies linked to the Joint Intelligence Preparation of the Operational Environment, Operational Design, and the Joint Planning Process.