Profession of Intelligence: Myths and Realities

"The workshop was a tremendous benefit to me both academically and professionally." - A recent student

"The caliber of speakers and presenters was phenomenal." -A recent student

Length:

5 days

Cost:

Workshop tuition is $2,950. Accommodation costs will vary according to choice of rooms. Options are dormitory rooms in downtown Washington, D.C. at approximately $200 - $300 for five nights or a shared hotel room in Reston, VA at approximately $600 for five nights. Contact Pherson Associates at 703-390-9903 or click here to send an e-mail for further information.

Pherson Associates will customize the workshop for institutions wishing to sponsor a dedicated running open only to their students. Contact Pherson Associates at 703-390-9903 for pricing information or click here to send an email requesting details regarding sponsorship of a workshop.

Description:

Participants in this workshop will experience the full range of activites in the Intelligence Cycle, including prioritizing operations, devising collection strategies, conducting a potential asset interview, validating source information, and writing intelligence products. Students will learn through interactive exercises designed and conducted by experienced intelligence officers - many of whom were intimately involved in the case under study or who had to make difficult analytic or operational decisions. Students will have opportunities for informal discussions with the faculty and also visit several intelligence agencies in the Washington D.C. Metro area. The workshop faculty has a foot in both the academic and intelligence worlds and includes: Mark Lowenthal, former Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production; Diane Snyder, former Senior Scientist, CIA, and Lecturer of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University; and Randolph Pherson, former National Intelligence Officer for Latin America, and co-author with Richards J. Heuer of Structured Analytic Techniques for Intelligence Analysis.

Who should take this course?

Undergraduate or graduate students contemplating a career as an intelligence officer.

Agenda:

Day 1
The Intelligence Cycle

The Intelligence Community - Its History and Organization

Resource Decisionmaking

Technological Challenges for the IC

Day 2
Collection - the Role of the INTs

HUMINT Collection

Visit to CIA

Moral Dilemmas

Day 3
Fashioning a Collection Strategy

Analytic Exercise on Mindsets and Biases

Dealing with Analytic Mindsets and Biases

Day 4
Key Assumptions Check

European Case Study

Visit to an Intelligence Agency

Day 5

Writing for the Busy Policymaker

Drafting Current Intelligence

Life on the Production Line

Future of Intelligence

If you're interested in future runnings of a course,
please send an email to registrar@pherson.org
to request information or call 703-390-9903.