Tags
WP
Admissions requirements
A 200-level course from the same track or permission from the instructor.
Description
This course focuses of mass atrocities (large scale and systematic human rights violations, particularly genocide). Typically, these types of violations are framed as international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture or enforced disappearance. Genocide is not a new phenomenon. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, mass atrocities have killed millions. For example: ISIL’s terrorism, state violence in Syria, mass rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, genocide in Rwanda, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia, mass murder in Guatemala, the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Stalin’s gulags, The Holocaust, death marches in Armenia and the colonial genocide in Namibia. These massive persecutions and massacres were exceptionally destructive. Millions of people were killed or otherwise victimised. It has been estimated that in the last century approximately 191 million persons lost their lives due to collective violence. The perpetrators appeared in various guises: as politicians, bureaucrats, murderers, torturers, rapists, thieves, agitators, informants, beneficiaries, or silent spectators. Mass violence concerns everyone and differs greatly from domestic criminality in its causes, morphology, and consequences.
This course will analyse the causes and prevention of genocide and mass atrocities. In the first part, we look at the causes and processes of genocide and other mass atrocities. We will examine the nature of genocide and mass atrocities, what are the causes and how do they unfold? We will look in depth at ideology, propaganda, and roles in genocide. In the second part of the course, the focus shifts towards the questions of whether mass atrocities can be prevented, and, if so, how? What role does the international community play? Do international criminal prosecutions deter perpetrators? At the end of the end of the course, we will bring everything together and look at the future of mass atrocities.
Course objectives
By the end of the course students should achieve the following outcomes:
1) Students will be able to describe and explain various types of mass atrocities.
2) They will gain understanding of its causes, its process and prevention. They will be able to apply social scientific, historical, and legal theories to specific cases of genocide and mass atrocities.
3) Students will be able to assess the risk of mass atrocities and suggest appropriate policy interventions to prevent or stop further escalation.
TEACHING METHODS
The course will be taught through seminars, presentations by students and general debates. Each session will have a lecture on key concepts and theories. Interactive class discussion, case studies, and current affairs will be central in the course and discussions. When possible, documentaries will be shown to further illustrate concepts covered in the course.
Timetable
Once available, timetables will be published here.
Mode of instruction
The course will be taught through seminars, presentations by students and general debates. Each session will have a lecture on key concepts and theories. Interactive class discussion, case studies, and current affairs will be central in the course and discussions. When possible, documentaries will be shown to further illustrate concepts covered in the course.
Assessment
*Interactive engagement with course material and discussion. In-class participation 15% Ongoing Weeks 1 – 7
*Critically assess concepts covered in required readings; presentation skills. Analytical summary presentation of course literature (groups of 2, 15 minutes total) 15% Ongoing Weeks 2 – 7
*Understanding of course content Exam 30% Week 8/9 TBD
*Expression of holistic understanding of the course Individual assignment; essay
(2400-2800 words) 40% 13 May 2018
Blackboard
There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.
Reading list
Compulsory literature:
Jens Meierhenrich, Genocide. A Reader (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
Recommended readings:
Adam Jones, Genocide. A Comprehensive Introduction, Third Edition (London: Routledge, 2017).
Scott Straus, Fundamentals of Genocide and Mass Atrocity Prevention (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2016), https://goo.gl/A4g2W2
Registration
This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Curriculum Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Thijs Bouwknegt (NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies)
t.bouwknegt@niod.knaw.nl