Political Violence in Modern World: Causes, Cases, and Consequences

Limited to first-year freshmen. Exploration of causes, dynamics, and consequences of political violence. Political violence can include anything from extra-legal warfare, ethnic cleansing and genocide, civil war, riots and pogroms, terrorism and state repression, revolution and counter-revolution, and more. Political violence is not modern phenomenon: it has been part of human experience from antiquity to present. Examination, from interdisciplinary perspective, of political violence, in particular, extreme form of political violence, genocide. Readings of theoretical and empirical works from history, comparative literature, sociology, political science, psychology, and more. Employs art, film, literature, diaries, memoirs, and news media to encourage critical thinking about political violence.

P/NP or letter grading.