Assignments
For March 11: Please read this op-ed
piece that I wrote about the U.S.'s use of victimhood, and this response
from a concerned citizen.
Here is the paper assignment for the semester:
This assignment is an opportunity for you to apply what we are learning
in this course to understanding how individuals engage in a particular conflict,
somewhere in the world. In this assignment you will 1) choose a nationalist
or ethnic conflict occurring somewhere in the world, 2) choose one of the
topics listed below as a focus for the paper, 3) find some writing done by
people engaged in the conflict, and 4) analyze that writing in terms of the
psychological understanding we are developing in this course.
The four “focus topics” for the paper are the following:
1. National Narratives: Every national group has
stories about itself that are taught in schools, passed down in families,
or enshrined in music or other art works. Typically such stories concern
the group’s origin, past heroic events, or deep tragedies, and they may or
may not actually correspond to what “really” happened (which may itself depends
on who is telling the story!). If you choose this topic, you will find
the most prominent stories that members of a particular group tell about
themselves and describe what psychological function those stories might serve
now or have served in the past for the people you are discussing.
2. Enemies: As we have seen in the reading by Sam
Keen, there can be similarities in the ways that groups conceive of and portray
their enemies. If you choose this topic, you would examine a group’s
enemies and analyze what features those enemies may or may not have in common.
As you do so, you would then indicate what that might say about the psychological
or political needs of the people you are studying.
3. Victimhood: As I will argue in class, feeling victimized
is one of the most powerful motivators in nationalist conflict. If
someone has done something unjust to me, I may suffer, but I also get the
very powerful feeling of being righteously angry, justified in seeking justice
or revenge and perhaps even morally superior to the victimizer. Being
a victim is so powerful that it can be a difficult role to give up.
If you choose this topic, you will choose a national group and demonstrate
in what ways they do or do not identify themselves as victims. Along
the way you should describe which of their actions they believe are now justified
because of their victimhood and what they would lose if they were to give
up their victim status.
4. The Role of Individuals: Even though groups
are very important, it is clear that individuals can have significant influence
on the course of ethnic or nationalist conflict. Some individuals identify
so closely with their nations or states that they become leaders, spokespeople,
activists, or terrorists/freedom fighters (depending on your perspective),
and sometimes they can rally their followers to victory or spur an opposing
group into action. If you choose this topic, you will identify an individual
who has essentially made identifying with an ethnic group or country the
focus of her or his life and career. You would then discuss what about their
lives might have led to this life path and why they were followed (or listened
to, or respected) by their people.
The process for the assignment is the following: On March 25 you will
turn in a one- to two-page proposal that describes your plan for the paper.
You should be as detailed as possible about what conflict you are choosing
and exactly how you are going to go about writing the paper, because the
more specific you are here, the more help I can give you in shaping your
work. Plan also to give a very brief (one-minute) presentation about
the paper proposal in class that day. Then on April 6, you will bring
three copies of the first draft of the paper to class. Two of your
classmates and I will read the paper and give you written feedback on it
on April 8. You will then revise the paper and turn the final version
in on April 20. The paper is worth 100 points.
I will be happy to talk with you at any point about the paper and your progress
on it at any point. I look forward to seeing what you create!