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IN THIS SECTION
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COURSES
Past Courses - Spring 2007
Justice and Accountability in Times of War, Genocide, and Terrorism In the aftermath of World War II, an era of post-colonial conflicts, civil wars and “Cold War,” transformed our understanding of war as an armed contest between nations states, carried on principally through conventional military campaigns waged by national armies. At the same time, as international lawyers struggled to adapt the norms of the laws of war to the horrors of the Second World War (in the 1948 Genocide Convention and the 1949 Geneva Conventions) and to new forms of mass violence directed largely against civilian populations. By the 1990s, the international community had turned to mechanisms of international criminal justice to restore peace and order for the first time since the Tokyo and Nuremberg tribunals. Yet, at the dawn of the 21st Century many of these international norms, especially the Geneva Conventions, are now under threat as the United States and other nations embark on a “war against terrorism.” This upper division undergraduate course will use an interdisciplinary lens to examine these transformations and our understanding of the violence of modern conflicts and its affects on survivors and communities. The course will use a seminar format (enrollment limit of 20) to ensure full participation in discussions and ample opportunity to engage our guest speakers. Drawing upon a variety of texts, as well as the visual media of film, art, and photography, we will study the ways in which writers, historians, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, artists, journalists, jurists, and forensic scientists have contributed to our understanding of wartime atrocities and their affects on society. We will examine war crimes committed in modern conflicts, ranging from WWII in Asia and Europe to Vietnam, Cambodia, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and Iraq. We will discuss the ways in which different academic disciplines and professions have tried to explain and analyze the causes and nature of war crimes (including genocide and crimes against humanity); to document and focus the world’s attention upon them through a variety of methodologies and media; and to locate responsibility for their perpetration within the complex interplay of military, political, and cultural institutions. Health and Human Rights Assistant Professor Sheri Weiser, MD, MPH In recent years, health practitioners have increasingly recognized human rights as essential conditions for individual and community health. This course outlines conceptual linkages between health and human rights and provides students with practical knowledge and skills to prevent and alleviate human suffering caused by human rights violations. It also enables students to apply a rights–based approach in the development of health policies and practices. Using a health and human rights framework, we examine a wide range of issues that affect health and human dignity including armed conflict, war crimes, forced migration, torture and other forms of ill treatment, poverty, the economic policies and the practices of international financial institutions and multinational corporations, public health policies, environmental degradation, the “war on terror,” and the problem of US exceptionalism. The course also provides a critical analysis of the psychology of abuse and the relationship between bioethics and human rights. As we develop an understanding of the health consequences of unrealized social, economic and cultural rights and abuses of civil and political rights, we also identify effective prevention and accountability strategies to promote health and human dignity. We consider the role of health professionals and other health promoters in: documenting human rights violations, treating survivors of state-sponsored abuse, and addressing the specific human rights concerns of women, children, refugees, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable populations. The course is often instrumental in broadening students’ understandings of health and in transforming their health practices to include human rights and dignity.
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