Draft:Douglas Weeks, PhD

Douglas Weeks
Nationality	American
Occupation(s)	Academic, researcher and firefighter
Academic background
Alma mater	University of St. Andrews
Academic work
Sub-discipline	Counter-terrorism research

Douglas Weeks is an American academic, researcher and former firefighter. Weeks' research focuses on counter-terrorism, radicalization, and de-radicalization.

Education

Weeks completed his Associate of Science in Fire Science Technology at Red Rocks Community College, Lakewood, Colorado, in December 1987, and later earned a Bachelor of Science in Fire Administration from Cogswell Polytechnical College, Sunnyvale, California, in August 2005.

In September 2007, he obtained his Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.

In 2013, he completed his PhD in International Relations and Terrorism Studies from the University of St. Andrews. His PhD thesis explored how counter-terrorism policy in the UK is delivered, and how communities and the radical fringe react to it.

Career

In 2008, he joined the California State University as a Senior Lecturer where he lectured in Emergency Services Administration at the graduate level and Criminal Justice at the undergraduate level. Weeks had previously spent his adult life as a career firefighter and paramedic retiring due to an injury in 2009.

Weeks has been involved in research and consultation on counter-terrorism, radicalization, and de-radicalization since 1995. He specializes in ethnography and has engaged with several high-profile radical Islamic ideologues. He has a background in engaging with those that follow the teachings of Omar Bakri Mohammed, who established Hizb ut Tahrir in the UK in 1986 and al Muhajiroun in 1996. His basic approach to research is that one cannot develop effective, equitable, and sound counter-terrorism policies and practices unless you have firsthand knowledge of the individuals that represent that threat. He has also spent considerable time with those tasked with ‘deradicalizing’ individuals once they are released from prison.

Between 2013 and 2014, Weeks was a Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence (CSTPV) at the University of St. Andrews.

In 2014, he worked as a researcher for Kingston University, London.

From 2014 to 2018, Weeks was a Visiting Research Fellow at the John Grieve Centre for Policing and Community Safety, London Metropolitan University.

Weeks has authored the books, "Al Muhajiroun: A Case Study in Contemporary Islamic Activism" (2020) and "Communities and Counterterrorism" (2019). He has published numerous peer-reviewed journal articles on radicalization, deradicalization, community-based counter-terrorism, and counter-terrorism policy and practice. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several terrorism and security related journals.