New Lectures in History (300-0-28)
Topic
Comparative Genocide
Instructors
Stefan Cristian Ionescu
Meeting Info
Harris Hall L06: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM
Overview of class
Genocide, considered by some scholars "the crime of crimes", has received increased attention from diplomats, academics, and the general public since the end of World War II. It has been a major topic in international law, scholarly studies, and debates. The goal of this course is to give students the opportunity to gain wider theoretical and empirical knowledge about several genocides that took place in different parts of the world (North America, Africa, Europe, and Asia), focusing mostly on the twentieth century cases of the Herero Genocide, the Holocaust, and Cambodia. The course will also examine the precursors of twentieth century genocides, by briefly focusing on the destruction of Native Americans during the centuries of European colonization and the persecution of African Americans during the Jim Craw era, which remains some under-researched and much debated topics, with major implications for today's American society. For decades, the Holocaust and the terror of the Khmer Rouge regime (Cambodia) have represented examples of mass atrocity that affected millions of innocent civilians, with the aim of eliminating groups of people in whole or in part. The first genocide of the twentieth century, the destruction of the Herrero and Nama (in present-day Namibia) by the German Imperial Army is a lesser known case of genocide - it was almost forgotten until the boom in mass violence research in the 1990s - and yet crucially important to understand the ways in which the colonial driven destruction of indigenous people continued into the twentieth century and how it influenced the emergence of the Holocaust.
In order to provide in-depth explanations and increase knowledge about the character of genocide, one therefore needs to place specific events in their proper historical, cultural, social, political, ideological and other contexts. After completing the course students will acquire solid knowledge about several cases of genocide, with a particular focus on the colonization processes, the growth of nationalist, racist, fascist and communist ideologies during the twentieth century, and the contemporary debates on comparing genocides, prosecution, denial, and prevention.
Learning Objectives
Familiarize yourselves with the major concepts and the cases of genocide we examine in class. Read critically, understand and analyze works of history produced by scholars with different methodological and theoretical approaches to the comparative study of genocide. Acquire an understanding of the strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the historical craft. Improve your analytical, writing and communication skills through close readings of texts, class(online) discussions, writing papers. Learn to recognize historical arguments regarding controversial historical questions and to formulate and support an original historical argument using primary and secondary sources. Learn how to properly structure a thesis-driven paper, how to apply appropriate methods of citation, and how to use a clear writing style that conveys historical knowledge, ideas, and evidence in a mature, readily understood manner.
Evaluation Method
Canvas discussion posts; Final paper
Class Attributes
Historical Studies Distro Area