General provisions

The Hugo Valentin Centre, Uppsala University, is responsible for the course. The course was approved by the board of Hugo Valentin Centre 2010-10-12.

Entry requirements

General entrance requirements for Master courses or Master programmes or B.A. in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences. General entrance requirements for Master courses or Master programmes or B.A. in the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Proofs of skills in English to a level corresponding to English B in the Swedish secondary school. This is normally tested by means of an internationally recognised test with of the following minimum scores:

IELTS: an overall mark of 6.5 points, and no section below 5.5)

TOEFL: Paper-based: score of 4.5 (scale 1-6) in written test and a total score of 575. Internet-based: Score of 20 (scale 0-30) in written test and a total score of 90.

Cambridge: CAE, CPE.

Learning outcomes

The course addresses sociological and social psychological theories of violence, focusing on the dynamics of group behaviour and social factors influencing acts of violence. It deals with the intermediate level in genocidal situations, but also with "spontaneous" and organised violence in various contexts: deadly riots, pogroms, and massacres, occurring independently or during civil war and regular warfare. The goal is to identify mechanisms of violence, using a comprehensive approach based on classical and recent discussions on the character and progression of collective violence, as understood by different theoretical perspectives, and taking into account general theories on social identity, cognitive processes, and mobilisation.

Learning Outcome

After the completed course the student will be able to:

- Describe general sociological and social psychological theories on the cognitive and structural properties of social identity, the social psychological mechanisms involved in intergroup distance and hostility towards out-groups, as well as the social and cultural factors at work during social mobilisation.

- Describe major social theories of violence and their relation to fundamental theoretical perspectives in the social sciences.

- Discuss similarities and differences between various types of collective violence such as ethnic wars, regular warfare, massacres, and genocidal campaigns.

- Use these basic instruments for independent reflection on instances of mass violence.

Content

The course will consist of lectures and seminars. Seminar discussions will be based on mandatory literature and students' own reflections.

Instruction

Study of literature, active participation in seminars, as well as oral and written assignments.

Assessment

Examination will include active participation in all seminars and written examination. Grades will be given in accordance with the Swedish grading system: Väl Godkänd (VG), Godkänd (G), Underkänd (U).