ANTHR 6552 - Genocide Today

(crosslisted) ASIAN 6665

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

Co-meets with ASIAN 3365/ANTHR 3552.

M. Fiskesjö.

This course offers two things: an introduction to the global issue of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities, and an in-depth look at two ongoing genocides in Asia: in China, and in Burma-Myanmar. First, we will study how genocide works: its prerequisites, its warning signs, and how it is carried out. We also review the creation of the term genocide as a new crime in international law after WWII, the UN Genocide Convention and the checkered history of failing to prevent genocides, as in Cambodia, Rwanda, etc., but also some successes. Then, we focus on the new ongoing 21st century genocides under way in Xinjiang, China, and in Burma, analyzing the background, the events, the actors involved, and the key role of media and propaganda. (SC)