Has the "war on terror" affected your life?
In the absence of military conscription, do operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, or Guantanamo influence everyday life within our country? Are there connections between genocide and gang membership, or between war and particular modes of labor and production, or between military bases and sexual violence? What are the lived experiences, cultures, and historical contexts of war?
"War: Critical Perspectives" contrasts the study of war as an instrument of statecraft and a means of destruction dominant among international relations scholars with a modern, analytically rich, consideration of war as a mode of production, contestation, and transformation of nations in ways that are deeply racial and gendered. Rather than strategies and armaments, "War" considers displacement, migration, refugee experiences, nation building, changing labor regimes, production practices, and rights regimes.
This course is particularly recommended for students who intend to pursuing majors or minors in sociology, women's and gender studies, criminal justice, geography, history, journalism and media studies, Middle Eastern studies, political science/international relations, psychology, and social justice. This course carries credit toward the major and minor in sociology and women's and gender studies. War: Critical Perspectives can be used to meet the Core Curriculum goals in 21st Century Challenges [21C] and Social Analysis [SCL].