This course is aimed at graduate students in Political Science, but students in other related fields are very welcome. In this class, students will study the causes of civil war; consider conflict processes such as violence, governance, and armed group fragmentation; and examine how armed actors make and keep peace. Throughout this course, we will examine explanations for a variety of phenomena from three levels: the micro-level (e.g. the individual), the meso-level (e.g. the armed group), and the macro-level (e.g. the country).
This is a discussion-based course, meaning that students will be expected to critically but respectfully evaluate arguments presented by authors, peers, and the professor. The course is also designed to help build students’ skills as researchers and political scientists; students will conduct reviews of published papers, and they will put together a research proposal at the end of the semester.