Religious Ethnic Conflicts

Ethnic/Religion Conflict Mini-Project

Ethnicity and religion stir human emotions that, under certain circumstances, can erupt into public display, civil disturbances, even open political conflict.

Your mission is to investigate the cause, nature, and extent of tension in a conflict of your choice and to make a poster or Google presentation that you will share with the class. You will be in charge of educating your classmates about your conflict and its impacts.

Include information about the following:

● Causes - where, when, why, who, because of….

● Number of people directly affected, and how they were affected (i.e. tension, discrimination, open violence, ethnic cleansing, genocide)

● Major events that took place during this conflict - major fights, major debates, etc.

● Long term effects of the conflict (both internally and internationally) - what is it like NOW?

● An acceptable solution to the conflict (acceptable to both sides) and explain why you think this would work. (PERSONAL OPINION ABOUT WHAT WOULD WORK)

● Your analysis on which group has the stronger claim (which group is “right”?) This is subjective, and there is no “right” answer. Be sure to explain why you think so.

● Any relevant maps, images, or graphics that relate to this conflict and your information

Choose one of the following religious/ethnic conflicts to study.

What you need to do:

1) With your partner(s), research your conflict/record findings/keep track of your sources

2) Cite your sources

3) Create your Google presentation or poster. 5 slide is the MINIMUM.

4) Prepare to brief your classmates. Your classmates should come away from your presentation with a solid understanding of the conflict, why it is/was happening, and where it is/was taking place.

Some useful websites for researching your conflict:

● http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home: Branch of the UN that deals with refugees and human rights.

● http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/index.php: Human Security report gateway. Excellent resource.

● Initiative on Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity (INCORE): This organization sponsor research that deals with conflict resolution, especially that of ethnic conflict.

● European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI): A non-partisan, bi-national institution that attempts to facilitate peaceful relations between ethnic groups.

● Ethnic Conflict Research Digest: This site "publishes peer reviews of recently published books, journal articles and research papers on the dynamics and management of ethnic conflict."

● Human Rights Watch: An organization dedicated to the documentation and elimination of human rights violations around the world.

● http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/islam/countries/bl_SudanRegionalism.htm: This site contains information about ethnic conflict in Sudan, in addition to historical background.

● Ethnic Conflict, Migration, and Nationalism: This site contains a number of links where visitors can gather more information. Great comprehensive resource!

● Ethnic Conflict: This is a collection of writings that deal with ethnic conflict.

● World’s Apart: The Roots of Ethnic Conflict: http://www.britannica.com/worldsapart/

● Ethnic Conflict in the Former Soviet Union: http://cisac.stanford.edu/research/ethnic_conflict_in_the_former_soviet_union/

● http://www.washingtonpost.com [click on “world” in the news bar. When asked to register it is free!]

● www.nytimes.com [click on “world” and then use the site search engine. If asked to register it is free!]

● http://www.cnn.com [use the site search engine]

● http://www.bbc.co.uk [use the site search engine]

● http://www.state.gov/countries [click on Background Notes; Country Reports]

● http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp Newspapers from around the world. Pretty cool! Click on the Regions drop down menu. Some foreign papers are printed in English. You have to check them out to see which ones you can read.

● The map collection at the University of Texas Perry Castañeda Library is a great place to start a search for maps: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps

IMPORTANT - If you decide to “Google” this assignment make sure you critically evaluate the variety of resources that may turn up in an open search! There are many online sources about ethnic conflict that are EXTREMELY biased.

Make sure you cite your sources! All information used from the Internet and other sources MUST be properly cited. See me if you do not know proper MLA citation style. Any assignments with plagiarized material will receive no credit.