Teacher's Toolkit

MIIS classroom This part of NTI website highlights resources for teachers and students interested in non-proliferation and related issues. It was designed for NTI by educators at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and serves as a starting point for students conducting research and teachers building their own non-proliferation courses or simply wanting to bring these issues into the classroom. The organization of the Teacher's Toolkit is by topic of interest, rather than by source-type, which is more of the case in the Research Library section of our website.

You will find in this section:

Tutorials — explore these interactive tutorials for complete overviews of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the threats from biological and chemical warfare and radiological terrorism. View expert analysis of the issues, interactive timelines, maps and links to relevant resources.

The Nuclear Terrorism Tutorial considers the possibility of nuclear terrorism by examining the following four questions: What are nuclear weapons? How could terrorists acquire or build nuclear weapons? Why would terrorists use nuclear weapons? How should the world respond to the threat of nuclear terrorism? Updated August 2007

Explore the interactive Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Tutorial for a complete overview, expert analysis, and multimedia presentations on the NPT, the cornerstone of the international nuclear nonproliferation regime. Updated February 2007

The Biological Warfare (BW) Terrorism Tutorial addresses several aspects of BW terrorism, including the biological agents of concern, the characteristics and motivation of terrorists, approaches to prevention, and the available policy responses. Updated December 2006

The Chemical Warfare (CW) Terrorism Tutorial takes an in-depth look at CW terrorism by analyzing the most common types of chemical agents, the characteristics and motivation of terrorists, and steps being taken to prevent and prepare for a possible CW attack. Updated December 2006

The Radiological Terrorism Tutorial considers the possibility of radiological terrorism by analyzing the most common types of radiological sources, characteristics and motivations of terrorists, and steps being taken to prevent and prepare for a possible attack using a radiation dispersal device. Updated January 2007

The Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Tutorial provides an in-depth introduction to regional agreements banning the use, transfer, and development of nuclear weapons. In this tutorial, you will learn various aspects of NWFZs, including the definition and characteristics of a NWFZ, the relationship between NWFZs and the NPT, the process for establishing a NWFZ, the history and current status of existing NWFZs, the prospects and challenges for establishing future NWFZs, the benefits of NWFZs, and their role in nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. Updated September 2007

WMD411 — offers authoritative information on the threats from weapons of mass destruction and explores a range of policy options to reduce those threats. WMD411 provides students a thorough overview of the issues and links to a wide variety of resource materials.

Glossary — this easy-to-use online glossary defines frequently used technical terms and offers brief explanations of acronyms.

Education Links — this section offers users a list of links to organizations that provide education material on the threat from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. By providing this area of related Links, NTI is not endorsing any web sites or organizations. Neither is the omission of a site or group meant in any way as an editorial comment.

Sample Syllabi — instructors of nonproliferation courses from around the country and the world share their course syllabi.
Since the end of the Cold War, the threats from weapons of mass destruction have become more complex and dangerous, and there is a real need for new approaches to teaching about these issues. In this section you will find a collection of courses and educational modules covering nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and related issues of international security, proliferation and terrorism. These syllabi provide a diverse set of assignments, class activities, readings, web links and related materials.

The syllabi were collected by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies — the largest nongovernmental organization in the world devoted to curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and the only organization dedicated exclusively to graduate education and research on nonproliferation issues. Graduate students at the Monterey Institute can receive a Certificate in Nonproliferation Studies — the only one of its kind in the United States.

Internships — find and research internship opportunities with government agencies, NGOs, and academic institutions in the fields of arms control, international security, and nonproliferation.