493: Conflict, Peace, and Politics of Alliances in Modern Europe (1789-1945)
Semester: Spring
Offered: 2024
The course is designed to develop an understanding of European conflict and peace history, from the French Revolution to the aftermath of World War II. The course will emphasize how modern Europe emerged from war, and civil conflicts and engaged throughout in politics of alliances against each other. The course emphasizes on how the interests of various states clash with each other result World Wars on the European continent. The course covers major events in Modern European History through a lens of the complex interrelation and politics of alignment and how these alignments led to war and peace. Without this knowledge, the students all lack the context for understanding the historical trends of conflict, the development of contemporary institutions such as the UN, the role of conflict and the continuity of ongoing upheaval and alliances in European Politics.
The course is designed to introduce participants to qualitative conflict methodology. Students will be introduced to the various approaches, theoretical understanding, philosophical debates, and the ethics that guide the research process. The emphasis is on providing theoretical knowledge of the research process and in preparing participants to conduct their own basic research projects. Then we move from the conceptual to the applied, such as data collection tools, data analysis, ethics of research, validity of research, and references.