PWAD 680: Research Seminar in Peace, War, and Defense Specific Topic: War, Crimes against Humanity, and Justice Credits: 3 Term: Fall 2018 Days/Times: M 3:35 - 6:05 p.m. (Phillips 301) Instructor: Dr. Joseph A. Ross Office: Hamilton 402 Office Hours: M 1:00-3:00 p.m. Phone: (919) 962-3093 Email: drjaross@email.unc.edu Web: http://sakai.unc.edu Target Audience: PWAD 680 is an undergraduate research seminar intended to provide an intensive research and writing experience for juniors and seniors in the major (fulfilling CI and EE); it also will fulfill a pre-requisite requirement to apply for the PWAD Honors Thesis program. I. Course Description This course examines the devastation of war and conflict throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; war crimes, genocide, and other atrocities; the creation of the term "Crimes against Humanity" in international law; and the various attempts to use legal trials to bring about peace and justice in a chaotic world. We will explore the challenges of international institutions and international laws in maintaining peace in a world of nation-states and national sovereignty. Topics will include a brief overview of industrialization, nationalism, and imperialism in the nineteenth century; atrocities committed during World War I and World War II and attempts to use legal trials to bring about justice (e.g., the Leipzig Trials, the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, the Tokyo Trial); the growth of human rights and humanitarian intervention; the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002 and its attempts to deter crimes against humanity, even while lacking support from the United States; and America's complicated attitudes toward acts of genocide throughout the twentieth century. In addition to learning content on war crimes, trials, and international law, students will practice researching and writing a significant paper on a topic related to the subject matter of the course. Students will work closely with the instructor to choose a topic, conduct research, write about its significance, and present their findings to the rest of the class. II. Learning Goals (LGs) Students who spend sufficient time outside of class completing all reading and writing assignments, who actively engage in the material, and are thinking about and reflecting on the material will be able to fulfill the following: 1. Explain the broad history of war crimes -- and subsequent trials -- over the past 200 years, with an emphasis on the impact of modernity (i.e., industrialization, nationalism, total war) on the development of international law, international institutions, and international trials-including the relative successes and failures of such legal proceedings 2. Identify key terms, concepts, people, and events in the development of international human rights law and war crimes trials 3. Analyze different scholarly approaches to the study of war crimes, genocide, international law, and human rights 4. Draft, revise, produce, and present a 20-page research paper on a topic related to war crimes and global justice III. Required Materials 1. Bass, Gary Jonathan. Stay the Hand of Vengeance: The Politics of War Crimes Tribunals. Princeton University Press, 2000.
2 2. Crowe, David. War Crimes, Genocide, and Justice: