The Politics of Violence

FaculteitFaculty of Humanities

NiveauBachelor

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

Learning outcomes - after completing the course, students will have:

knowledge and understanding of basic historical developments related to the course topic;
knowledge of several analytical tools to disaggregate and analyze episodes of collective political violence;
familiarity with the diverse ways in which historical knowledge of the course topic can be relevant to job market prospects;
a skill set enabling thinking, writing and speaking at an academic level and in line with academic standards of conduct ('academic integrity').

Learning objectives and skills - after completing the course, students will be able to:

explore broad historical or historiographical topics, based on literature and evidence;
critically evaluate different interpretations and formulate their own viewpoint;
collaborate with fellow students on a group presentation;
connect historical, sociological and anthropological knowledge of the course topic to modern-day social and political issues;
work in accordance with academic standards.

This course has two graded assignments. One is a group presentation, graded pass/fail and passing that component enables the students to advance to the final essay. The final essay is graded with a numerical grade, and changes have been introduced in order to make it more resistant to LLM-enabled cheating. If there is any doubt about authorship, the student will be invited for an oral examination, to complement the written essay.

Content

This is the first course of the Specialization Conflict, violence and security (Track International Relations).
Both lectures and seminars are taught in English.

For LAS and TCS students who want to follow this course, here is more information: https://tcs.sites.uu.nl

This course examines some of the main concepts in the study of political violence, at the introductory level, alongside a few case studies. In the very basic sense, this course brings together research and scholarship in history, international relations and international law, while occasionally drawing on other disciplines in the social sciences (such as sociology). We will examine forms and developments of political violence and offer an overview of some of the most important ideas and debates on the subject. We will also try to analyze unique dynamics of different kinds of violence, and the forces driving them forward.

The objective of the course is to develop knowledge and understanding of various forms and aspects of political violence and to provide students with some tools to disaggregate and analyze phenomena such as inter-state and civil wars, genocide, and mass violence. Using different case studies, we will try to understand how states and societies engage in violence, how violence transforms them, and what attempts are made by states and international institutions to rein in or regulate violence.

Additional information

Course 1 in the Specialization Conflict, violence and security.
Often, the specialization students benefit from other events such as special lectures or field trips that are complementary to the teaching of this and related courses.

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