History of TISS
Originating nearly fifty years ago as a local academic seminar (D-UNC International Security Seminar), the Triangle Institute for Security Studies has since become a nationally recognized organization. In recent decades TISS has expanded and has undergone several reorganizations to better serve academia, policy makers, and the community at large. Generations of committed faculty members, graduate students, and members of the local community (many of them retired diplomats or military professionals) have provided loyal service to this organization over the years. Their dedication to TISS continues to provide it with a strong foundation.
In 1958, a common interest in issues of International Security led professors at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to form the D-UNC International Security Seminar. D-UNC was an informal venture that aimed to connect faculty and graduate students across the two universities and encouraged them to exchange ideas and collaborate together, when possible, in research projects. Members met informally to present a chapter of a book, a paper, or sometimes just for discussion. There was little fanfare, no dinners or drinks, and members met only six or eight times a year.
In the mid seventies, D-UNC members sought to expand the seminar's reach and applied for grants to fund post-doctoral fellows and research. These funds, including a generous grant from the Ford foundation in 1978, allowed D-UNC to engage in community outreach, and build a vibrant series of programs. Members now met for lectures, dinner-meetings, and conferences. The annual conference at the beautiful Quail Roost Center became a favorite D-UNC event. TUSS programs brought distinguished scholars and policy makers to our area and helped keep students and faculty in touch with the most current work and activity in the field.
In 1984 North Carolina State joined the organization and D-UNC became TUSS – The Triangle Universities Security Seminar. That same year saw the inauguration of the TUSS newsletter and the addition of official post-doctoral fellows. Until 2000, these fellows took charge of the day-to-day workings of TUSS, writing the newsletter and helping to organize conferences and meetings. During the nineties TUSS funded two large research projects: "The Study of War" (initiated in 1994) and "The Project on the Gap between Military and Civilian Relations" (1997). The former produced an on-going series of conferences and papers while the latter resulted in a book, Soldiers and Civilians (ed. Richard Kohn and Peter Feaver).
As TUSS continued to grow in scope and size and gained national recognition, the Executive Committee realized that the organization would soon outgrow its name. In 1995, TUSS became The Triangle Institute for Security Studies. TISS grew again in 1997 when the executive committee voted to include a representative from the North Carolina Consortium for International and Intercultural Education on its Board.
The turn of the millennium brought further changes to TISS. The offices of the organization, until now located on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus, moved to Duke University, first to the Franklin Center, and then, in 2005, to Rubenstein Hall. The day-to-day running of TISS programs and outreach activities was entrusted to a Coordinator. Although TISS ceased to support post-doctoral fellows at this time, it devoted considerable attention on providing programs that would serve local undergraduate and graduate students. An annual conference for graduate students in security studies was started in 2000 and undergraduates were encouraged to join the organization as Wickersham and Millennium Fellows (now referred to collectively as the Wickersham Scholars).. Since moving to Duke, TISS has continued to put on lively and relevant programs, holding on average two or three conferences and six seminars a year. It has expanded its outreach program to include first responders, and recently embarked on a research project, sponsored by Carnegie, examining the use of force in American foreign policy.
Today, TISS has some 800 members. It remains committed to its long-standing goal of promoting research, outreach, and communication in the field of security studies. The troublesome security environment has given its members an even stronger sense of the importance of their mission. We are confident that TISS will continue to evolve and in so doing find ways to better serve the needs of the community.
Julia Hueckel, June 2005
