Teaching
The Scientific Study of Civil Wars
Fall 2023, University of Arizona
Description
What conditions are sufficiently ’dire or inspiring’ to make someone take up arms and risk his (or her) life as part of a rebel group? By the end of this advanced undergraduate- level course, you will be able to answer this question just like the leading academic minds in the field of international relations. This class will provide you with extensive exposure to the quantitative study of civil wars around the world. We will start off by determining what constitutes a civil war and how this form of conflict is different from (or comprises) events such as international war, protests, riots, coups, genocide, and terrorism. We will then examine what factors that influence the onset, duration, termination, and recurrence of civil wars. Also, we will discuss some international dimensions of civil wars: the spread of conflicts across borders, refugee flows, and interventions.
While this course is focused on large-N cross-national quantitative studies of civil wars, we will frequently discuss real-world examples of civil wars, and you will be expected to write about a civil war that is of interest to you (more on this later in the syllabus).
Course Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes
Compare and contrast the validity of general theories and key findings to specific cases of civil wars.
Learn to critique existing literature and posit own opinions and theories based in personal and course knowledge.
Present and discuss readings, opinions, and reactions to literature in small- and large- group settings.
Apply information from course readings to self-chosen civil war and responsibly make connections between general theories and the chosen civil war.
Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of others’ viewpoints and interpretations of course readings on civil wars.
Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Spring 2023, University of Arizona
Description
This course addresses the political causes and consequences of the use of terrorist violence as well as the variety of methods employed by the state in response to this violence.
We’ll begin the course by looking at concepts and other important background information. As will become readily apparent, terrorism is almost impossible to define, which complicates our understanding of this phenomenon as well as efforts to combat it. We will then look at the reasons why terrorism occurs, both the motivations for attack as well as the permissive conditions that allow them to do so. This will lead us into a discussion about the organizational and operational elements of terror groups: how they are structured, what strategies are used, and so forth. This discussion about why terrorism occurs and how groups operate lead us to the final question, which is how we can effectively respond to and prevent terror attacks. We will look at counterterrorism, focusing on the responses that states have used when dealing with terrorism.
Course Objectives and Expected Learning Outcomes
Introduce the concept of terrorism as well as theories and frameworks to understand why terrorism occurs, the strategies of terrorism, models of counterterrorism, and counterterrorism strategies applied both at home and abroad.
Provide tools to apply these concepts, frameworks, and theories to understand why terrorism occurs as well as the tools that can be used to analyze the relative merits of varied counterterrorism strategies.
Describe organizational elements of terror groups, including how terror groups are organized, their financing and recruitment strategies, and their choice of tactic and weapons.
Name and describe the different strategies of terrorism; discuss how these strategies are designed to work; and analyze attacks to determine what strategy was being used.
Describe the four models of counterterrorism, including their potential benefits and pitfalls, and discuss how these models attempt to bring terror groups to an end.