General provisions

Hugo Valentin-centrum, Uppsala University, is responsible for the course.

Entry requirements

120 credits including 90 credits in a subject in the humanities or the social sciences. Proficiency in English equivalent to the Swedish upper secondary course English 6.

Learning outcomes

A student who successfully completes the course will be able to 

• problematise and discuss the extent and diversity of genocides and mass political violence
• describe and critically analyse how different processes of change have influenced the character of mass violence from Antiquity to modern times
• describe and critically analyse the state of research in the field from a comparative perspective
• study various forms of mass killing and their specific historical, political, social and cultural aspects
• independently and reflectively compare different forms of mass violence using structured comparative analysis
• understand and apply key theoretical and other concepts and terms relevant to the study of genocides and other mass killings

Content

The Holocaust, the genocides in Armenia and Rwanda, the terror in the Soviet Union, and the "ethnic cleansing" in former Yugoslavia have come to represent the suffering that has befallen millions of innocent civilians throughout history. The fact that the worst outbreaks of genocides and other forms of mass killing have occurred outside the context of  military conflict between victims and perpetrators means that conventional conflict theories cannot explain this type of extreme behaviour. To better understand the nature of genocides and extreme violence, explanatory models that relate specific events to their historical, cultural, social, political, ideological and other contexts must be applied. Upon completing the course, the student will have a more profound knowledge of some of the most significant cases of genocide and mass killings throughout history, with a particular focus on the colonisation processes of the nineteenth century, the emergence of nationalistic, fascist and communist ideologies in the early twentienth century, and the two World Wars.

Other themes addressed are the effects of decolonisation on the character of violence related to post-colonial state and nation-building processes and how democratisation processes following the fall of communism, under certain circumstances, could result in conflicts involving mass violence and expulsion.

During the course, students will also discuss key concepts and theoretical arguments and achieve critical skills in comparative methodology.

Thereby, they will acquire essential knowledge on issues of central importance for understanding the character and effects of violence.

Instruction

The teaching consists of seminars.

Assessment

Assessments will be based upon written and oral assignments. Students who have missed a small number of mandatory assignments may complete them by the end of the semester at the latest. If there are special reasons for doing so, an examiner may decide to make an exception from the method of assessment indicated and allow a student to be assessed by another method. An example of special reasons might be a certificate regarding special pedagogical support from the University's disability coordinator.