POL36090 Ethnic Conflict

Academic Year 2021/2022

One of the most serious security threats to international order today is ethnic conflict. As ethnic conflicts unfold, the international community faces the challenge of understanding the multiple causes of violence and developing strategies for conflict resolution.
In this seminar class, we will examine: the theoretical foundations of nationalism and ethnicity; theories about causes and consequences of ethnic conflicts; and a variety of strategies that are employed to contain these conflicts.

The course material will provide a knowledge base that will help students develop the skills to think critically about ethnic conflict. Using an interdisciplinary and comparative approach, we will explore the currently rapid and significant changes taking place in the world political map in terms of ethnic conflict, and we will assess different ethnic conflicts that have taken place since the end of the Cold War, learning from the successes and failures of their prevention and settlement.
We will also discuss Self-determination (SD) disputes – as a specific form of ethnic conflict – and academic work seeking to explain variation in governments’ responses to SD movements. This seminar will also build a framework for understanding and analyzing escalation of violence and conflict dynamics. We will explore these dynamics in a range of case studies to develop a deeper understanding of (complex) conflict processes and how different kinds of social, economic, and political conditions contribute to – or potentially inhibit – escalation of violence and conflict onset. We will also consider the role of history, culture, inequality, religion, fear and insecurity in ethnic conflicts, and we will discuss the relevance of geography, environmental issues and resource competition.
We will conclude by examining what can be done to predict, and ideally prevent ethnic conflicts, and we will evaluate the costs and benefits associated with different conflict management strategies for facilitating the peaceful resolution of such conflicts.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

All of you are capable of doing well in this course! Let be guided by the ones I call ‘The Five Friends’: curiosity, commitment, responsibility, seriousness, and enthusiasm. By the end of this course, you can expect to accomplish the following learning outcomes:
- to define, understand, and use concepts and terms relevant to the study of ethnic conflict
- to apply and critique major theses relevant to analyzing ethnic conflict onset
- to apply and critique major theories on escalation of violence and (ethnic-) conflict dynamics
- to apply a body of factual and theoretical knowledge about conflict resolution to analyze and critically thinking about conflict management strategies relevant to resolution of ethnic conflict
- to recognize and formulate testable hypotheses relevant to the study of ethnic conflict
- to develop foresight for situations where outbreak of ethnic violence is likely

Indicative Module Content:

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

226
Total

250
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Seminar-class style; Active participation and discussion; In class presentation 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: Final Paper Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

30
Assignment: Response Papers Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

20
Continuous Assessment: Oral Defense/Discussion Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

15
Presentation: Oral Presentation Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

25
Attendance: Active Participation Throughout the Trimester n/a Graded No

10

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Participation during the class is highly encouraged. The aim of contributing in the class is to have stimulating intellectual discussion and create productive dialogue among class members. Your class participation will be evaluated on the quality of your contribution to the class, not necessary on the quantity. During the first half of the seminar, each of you will be required to write two short response papers. Feedback will be individually provided the following week. Readings oral defense (no more than 10 minutes): Each week one or two students will be required to take responsibility for synthesizing one or more of the class readings by highlighting the key issues, concepts and debates. This oral defense/discussion must be accompanied by 1-2-page (in bullet points) component that identifies the major substantive issues and poses questions (or discussion points) for class discussion. Feedback will be individually provided at the end of the the following class. During the second half of the seminar, you will be required to prepare an oral presentation (12-15 minutes) describing what will be the argument of your final paper. Feedback will be provided individually and sufficiently in advance for the elaboration of the final paper. Final paper: Feedback will be individually provided (indicatively) 20-30 days post-assessment.