Certificate in the Study of State Violence (War, Atrocity, and Genocide) - War and Genocide in the Twentieth Century

HIST 4805  War and Genocide in the Twentieth Century

Prerequisites:

Restricted to students in an Honours program with 84 credits completed.

Hours:

Three hours of seminar per week.

Credits:

6

Description:

This course examines the connection between war and genocide in the twentieth century. The course begins with an examination of the crime of genocide as it was defined by the United Nations in 1948. The definition is used as a demarcation point to further examine the question ""what is genocide and how and why does it occur."" The Nazi 'Final Solution' may be used as the major example of genocide in the twentieth century in order to better understand the crime as it was originally defined. Selected topics will be examined from a variety of perspectives in order to understand modern genocide. The objective of this course is to offer students a critical understanding of the brutalizing effects of modern war and its links to state sponsored genocide in the years leading up to and including WWII. This is a reading intensive course.