December 24, 2002

Ohio State University
Winter 2003

University Honors Seminar H 596 (10856-5)
War, Violence, and Aggression

Tuesdays, 2:30-5:18 Honors House 201

John Mueller

Office hours
Monday, 3:30-4:45 Derby 2151
Wednesday, 11:00-12:15 Mershon Center 105A (Neil and 8th Avenue)

The course will consider applications, or apparent applications, of human aggression in a social context, particularly as seen in warfare and, to a lesser extent, in terrorism, crime, thuggery, blood feuds, and mass killing. It will focus particularly on the actual perpetrators of violence. It will also deal with contemporary war and terrorism and with the connections, if any, between war and crime and with changing patterns in war over history.

The course will be conducted as a seminar with much student participation. There will be some general readings, and each student will in addition present reports on two specific books and two or three specific articles or book chapters as assigned over the course of the quarter. Written summaries (no more than 2 single-spaced pages) of these assigned readings will be due by 4pm on the Monday before the class in which they will be discussed.

The grade will be based on these reports, on participation in the class discussion, on a short (4-6 page) paper turned in at mid-quarter, and on a longer (12-15 page) research paper turned in at the end. There will be no exams.

Required books:
Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression (Used as a basis for the mid-term paper) (several copies on reserve)
Benjamin Valentino, Final Solutions (Read for the session of February 4. This book will be published in 2004 by Cornell University Press; copies of the manuscript will be made available to the students in the seminar)
Mark Bowden, Black Hawk Down (Read for the session of February 18)

Films to be viewed:
"The Killing Fields" (1984) (for January 28)
"Black Hawk Down" (2002) (for February 18)
"Ambush in Mogadishu" (2001) (PBS) (for February 18)

Additional recommended lectures: During the course of the quarter, a few related lectures will be given, mostly at the Mershon Center (corner of Neil and 8th Avenue). Students in the seminar are invited, but not required, to attend these. Information about times and content will be given out in class.

January 7: Introduction.
January 14: Combat motivation in warfare.
January 21: Crime, thuggery, blood feuds, primitive warfare, terrorism.
January 28: Genocide and mass killing.
February 4: Discussion of Valentino's Final Solutions with Professor Valentino in attendance.
February 7 (Friday): Mid-term paper due. Using the discussion in Lorenz, On Aggression, as a basis, reflect on the role aggression does or does not appear to play in the kinds of violent activities undertaken by humans as discussed thus far in the class. 4-6 pages.
February 11: General discussion of aggression and of the conclusions in the mid-term papers.
February 18: Contemporary conflict: the case of Somalia, 1992-94.
February 25 and March 4: Contemporary warfare and terrorism.
March 11: Conclusions. Overall trends and patterns in warfare.
Date to be determined: Final paper due.

Books assigned for individual student reports will include, among others:

Keeley, War Before Civilization
Fussell, Wartime
Browning, Ordinary Men
Rieff, Slaughterhouse
Maass, Love Thy Neighbor
Prunier, The Rwanda Crisis
Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations
Keegan, The Face of Battle
Linderman, Embattled Courage
McPherson, For Cause and Comrades
Ellis, The Mask of Anarchy
Tilly, Collective Violence
Bourke, An Intimate History of Killing
Buford, Among the Thugs
Katz, The Seductions of Crime
Gourevitch, We Wish to Inform You
Dower, War without Mercy
Ehrenreich, Blood Rites
Judah, The Serbs
Berkeley, The Graves Are Not Yet Full
Kaldor, New and Old Wars
Hedges, War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
Reno, Warlord Politics and African States
Goldhagen, Hitler's Willing Executioners

Disability. Students with disabilities are responsible for making their needs known to the instructor, and seeking available assistance, in the first week of the quarter. Course materials are available in alternative formats upon request. For such materials please contact Mr. Wayne DeYoung, 2140 Derby Hall, 154 North Oval Mall, 292-2880.

Academic Honesty. All of the work you do in this course is expected to be your own. Absolutely no cheating or plagiarism (using someone else's words or ideas without proper citation) will be tolerated. Any cases of cheating or plagiarism will be reported to the university committee on academic misconduct and handled according to university policy.