Instructor

Nation and State

The state and nation shape everything from our daily lives to global politics. Both historically and presently, notions of citizenship, economic interactions, conflict management, justice, and the use of violence are structured by states and nations. In this course, we will investigate a set of interrelated themes including nationalism, identity, and state-building as we make our way through a multi-disciplinary array of texts. Independent essays will ask students to consider how narratives in films and human relationships with geography produce, reflect, and challenge ideas discussed in class. A research proposal sequence will provide space for students to explore course themes in a context that they find compelling, while workshops and draft revisions along the way will contribute to a dynamic writing experience. 

Syllabus available.

This course investigates questions of social and political identity: How are such identities formed? What forces shape existing identities? What role does identity play in social and political processes? Critical to our study will be the narratives that shape and reflect contestation over group identities. We will examine the roles of identity and narratives in collective action, ethnic conflict, nation-building, and mass violence. Notions of dynamism and change will also feature in the attention lent to the politics of memory. We will explore how memory changes over time, possibly indicating the revision of group boundaries or a new understanding of one’s group identity. Writing assignments will be structured around a research proposal broken into several components, providing individuals an opportunity to pursue their research interests.

Syllabus available.

Genocide and Mass Atrocity

Genocide is an experience. To victims directly targeted by genocidaires, it is a horror. To disconnected observers, it challenges understandings of reality. To those who survive, it haunts. This course critically examines genocide by asking: How do humans directly experience genocide? How do uninvolved humans react to genocide? How do humans remember genocide? Students will read memoirs (My Stolen Rwanda), contemporary political messages (Pol Pot’s Little Red Book), and articles; watch news clips; and immerse themselves in movies (Hotel Rwanda; Sometimes in April) and documentaries (Enemies of the People). Resources from Cornell’s Visual History Archive and studies of post-conflict societies will inform understandings of the legacies of genocide today. Students will engage with different writing styles, from drafting museum content to developing a research proposal.

Syllabus available.

African Politics

With Nic van de Walle