This course introduces students to modern, social scientific approaches to the study of political violence. We will focus on several key questions: What are the causes of political violence? How is violence used? Who participates in political violence? What do we know about how to counter the use of violence? How are rebel groups organized? And what are the consequences of violence for society?
The course addresses these questions by presenting students with the best, cutting edge
research on political violence in the social sciences. The goal of doing so is three-fold. First, I hope that students will come away from the course with a better sense of the social mechanisms underlying these critical phenomena and a more nuanced understanding of the policy challenges that political violence poses. Second, I hope students will develop an appreciation for how difficult these questions are to answer
credibly. Finally, and most importantly, the course is designed to help students think critically about the literature, so that they can engage the relevant policy debates in a serious-minded and informed way.
