#11 - Women of the Caliphate in America – Dr. Margaret Webber Smith

On this episode, Dr. Margaret Webber Smith and I discuss her work on female Islamic State (ISIS) members who reside in the United States. We also talk about her career as an army officer, her new job at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and our shared love for the Pat Tillman Foundation. Margaret is a U.S. Army Officer with over fifteen years on Active Duty. She originally enlisted in 2004 to complete her undergraduate education but serving quickly became a passion and turned into a career. She commissioned as a Military Intelligence Officer in 2013 after completing her MPP (with a focus in Homeland Security and Intelligence Policy) at Georgetown University with the Army’s Green to Gold Program. While at GU she was named a Tillman Scholar and received the Whittington Scholarship for second year students at the McCourt School. She is a trained senior watch officer, cyberspace operations planer, offensive cyberspace operations mission commander, and will take a position at the United States Military Academy’s Army Cyber Institute in a couple weeks. She earned her doctoral degree at George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration. Her research focuses on the intersection of gender, terrorism, and technology by investigating female Islamic State supporters in the US but has also published work on the behavioral economics of the cellular phone app-market and cybersecurity preferences of senior executives in the private sector. Maggie is also a volunteer and advocate for previvors – women and men who inherit the BRCA 1 or 2 genetic mutation putting them at extremely high risk for developing breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer during their lifetimes. Sharing her personal experiences with preventive surgery, as a result of being BRCA 2 positive, with others facing a similar choice is a huge part of her life and personal healing process. Maggie is an avid outdoorswoman and ultrarunner who is always looking to turn a weekend into a micro-adventure.

Tom Baker has been a PhD student in UMSL's Criminology and Criminal Justice program since 2017. Tom received his BA in Political Science from Arizona State University and worked as a police officer for approximately nine years. His research interests include police culture, use of force, and qualitative research methods. https://www.umsl.edu/ccj/Graduate%20Students/baker.html

 

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