mapheader

2012 Courses

History

HIEA 3141: Political and Social Thought in Modern China [3]

Bradly Reed, Associate Professor

At the beginning of the 20th century, with the 2,000 year old imperial system of government collapsing around them, Chinese intellectuals and political actors began searching for an ideology that would explain the reasons for the country’s dire circumstances while at the same time offering solutions and a means of transforming an ancient empire into a modern nation. Socialism, syndicalism, communism, liberal democracy, anarchism, and refurbished Confucianism all had their own vocal adherents who participated in an ongoing debate amidst continuing social crises including poverty, civil war, and foreign invasion. At the end of the 20th century, China’s intellectuals and political actors found themselves in much the same situation. Under the influence of capitalist economic reforms, forty years of socialist certitude had given way to questions over the direction in which the country was headed, the relation between state and society, the problems of human rights and free expression, the meaning of globalization, and how China might find its own unique path amidst an overwhelming Western influence. This course will explore these issues by considering intellectual and political debates and conflicts within their historical and cultural contexts. This course will combine lectures, readings of both secondary and primary material, films, and class presentations and discussions. Course grades will be based on participation in discussions, a mid-term exam, and a final 10-12 page paper on a topic of the student’s choosing.

HIST 4591: Genocide, Justice, and the Law [3]

Jeffrey Rossman, Associate Professor

The twentieth century was characterized by repeated episodes of one-sided, state-sponsored mass killing. When such killing targets racial, ethnic, religious, or national groups, it is know under international law as genocide. In this intensive reading and discussion course, we will explore efforts by individual nations and the international community to bring the perpetrators of genocide to justice. Topics to be covered include: the Ottoman Courts-Martial that followed the Armenian genocide; the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials that followed the Second World War; the adoption of the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948; the Eichmann trial of 1961-62; the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials of 1963-65; and efforts during the past two decades by international courts to prosecute perpetrators of the Yugoslavian, Rwandan, and Cambodian, genocide. The course will explore the legal aspects of genocide prosecution as well as broader historical issues such as the causes of genocides, individual vs. collective responsibility, and what role courts and other institutions have played, post-genocide, in the process of reconciliation and nation-building