CONF 803: MACRO THEORIES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Professor Ho-Won Jeong
George Mason University
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
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Course Syllabus

Course Outline

This course will help students understand the nature of social conflict and conditions for its resolution. The dynamics of conflict are examined in terms of their relationship to patterns of social change. The course offers a review and critique of various approaches to conflict analysis and resolution. Topics to be discussed include power relations, social psychology, institutional structures, social systems, gender and politics, cultural interpretations of violence and its alternatives, identity and ethnicity, etc. The class will be based on the conceptualization of specific terms, application of theories to specific cases and discussion of theoretical issues from comparative perspectives. Class discussion and lectures are geared toward developing the critical skills necessary to examine the strengths and weaknesses of theories. Students will be asked to explore their own theoretical framework for looking at conflict.

Requirements

There will be one mid-term essay and final exam as well as a research paper. Reading course materials before each class session is essential for participation in discussion. Class oral presentations include reviews of some of the course materials.

The term paper (12 pages, single spaced) requires research on specific theoretical themes, including but not limited to identity, power, gender, etc. The range of topics to be chosen will be given out before one third of the way through the semester. The final exam will be conducted in a take home format.

Grading

The research paper contributes to 45 percent of the course grade. The final exam essay will count for 35 percent of the final grade. The late submission of a paper will be subject to a penalty (5-20 percent of the grade depending on how late it is). 10 percent of the grade comes from the mid-term essay. Two class presentations based on the summaries of reading materials constitute 10 percent of the grade. Incomplete grades will not be permitted without personal illness.

Reading Assignments

Jeong, Ho-Won, ed., Conflict Resolution: Dynamics, Process and Structure, Ashgate, 1999

Lukes, Steven, ed., Power, New York University Press, New York, 1986

Foucault, M., Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prison (tran. by A. Sheridan, Penguine, London, 1977

Ashmore, Richard, et al., eds., Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict and Conflict Resolution, Oxford University Press, 2001

Simon, Roger, Gramsci's Political Thought: An Introduction, London: Lawrence & Wishart, 1991

Peace and Conflict Studies, Vol. 6, No. 1, Special Issue 'In Memory of James Laue', 1999

International Journal of Peace Studies, a Special Theme issue in honor of John W. Burton (guest edited by Christopher Mitchell), vol. 2, no. 1, June 2001.