Youth and the Internet: Fighting Radicalization and Extremism

Mark Brennan, Ph.D. is the UNESCO Chair for Rural Community, Leadership, and Youth Development and Professor of Leadership and Community Development at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Brennan’s teaching, research, writing, and program development concentrate on the role of community and leadership development in the youth, community, and rural development process. In this context, much of his work has focused on community action, youth development, locally based natural resource management, economic development, and social justice. He is co-founder of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Children, Youth, and Community. Dr. Brennan has over 20 years of experience in designing, conducting, and analyzing social science research related to community and rural development. This work has involved extensive comparative research throughout the United States, Europe, Africa, Asia and Central America. Dr. Brennan’s research and program development has been funded by a variety of governments, foundations, and private sources and resulting in over 120 publications in leading peer-reviewed journals, books, and outreach publications, and over  150 invitations to presentations at professional meetings. His recent books include Theory, Practice, and Community Development (2013) and Community Leadership Development:  A Compendium of Theory, Research, and Application (2013).