Essay instructions
- Write a brief essay for each of the five questions provided below.
- Length of each short essay: ~2 double-spaced pages; 12-font, 1-inch margins.
- Use the sources but Do not quote from the readings.
- All five short essays should be submitted as one document.
- Provide a full bibliography at the end of document. Cite where appropriate. Use as many sources as many sources as you need for each question, at least one must be used. Not all sources attached have to be used I attached so extra just incase you need them. Sources can be reused.
Grading criteria: demonstrated comprehension of course material; organization; writing
- Deductions for failure to reference to course readings, poor grammar, lack of clarity and/or coherence, failure to cite appropriately, lack of bibliography.
Questions
- Discuss three areas of disagreement in competing definitions of “genocide.” What are the different perspectives on these?
- Summarize and compare any two of the three narratives employed to instigate violence against groups of “Others”: Cambodia, Sri Lanka/Myanmar, Norway. Discuss the elements that these narratives have in common.
- Mamdani argues that genocide is more likely when groups conceive of themselves and the “Other” as different races, rather than as different ethnic groups. Discuss how he distinguishes between “race” and “ethnic groups,” and explain his argument about the link between genocide and conceptions of racial difference.
- What makes an act a “terrorist act”—that is, what are the defining characteristics—versus other types of violent act (such as “hate crime”)? Explain how the crime committed by Anders Breivik might be construed as a terrorist act.
- Discuss with reference to any of the readings from this course: is political violence rational? (Rational = with purpose, chosen in order to achieve specific ends)
