This class seeks to guide students in researching, organizing, writing, reviewing and rewriting an original research paper of publishable quality and length (approximately 25 pages long). Students will be encouraged to individually explore any issue relating to religion and conflict, broadly defined. They will also be expected to closely follow strict guidelines in terms of structure and formatting.
The secondary goal of this class is to discuss the relationship between religion and conflict. Lectures dedicated to the craft of research and writing will be interspersed with lectures about theoretical and empirical issues relating to religion and conflict worldwide. We will discuss theories in the social sciences, from psychology and sociology to anthropology and political science, that explore the intersection of religion and domestic or international conflict. We will examine explanations for fundamentalism and extremism; the role of religion in driving global, international and ethnic conflict; religion and martyrdom; religion in the military; the relationship between religion and science; the Just War tradition; and the contribution of religion to conflict resolution.
The Junior Seminars are intense writing seminars which focus on the research area of the faculty member teaching the course. The seminars will provide an opportunity for students to have direct intellectual interactions with faculty members while also giving the students an understanding for faculty research.
Junior seminars fulfill upper division requirements for the major.
Subfield:International Relations
NOTE: Students who took PS 123H "Topics in International Relations: Religion and Conflict" with Professor Hassner cannot take this course due to the substantial similarity in course content.
Political Science Majors of Junior and Senior status (must be 3rd or 4th year students with at least 60 units completed) with a minimum overall UC GPA of 3.3. Priority may be given to students who have not yet taken a junior seminar.
Interested students should submit a 300-word proposal for a research topic related to religion and conflict that they would like to investigate over the course of the semester. The proposal should not include sources or references. It should list a clear puzzle and one or more hypotheses. Please send the proposal, and only the proposal, via email to Prof. Hassner at hassner@berkeley.edu no later than October 31. Please use "Religion and Conflict Research Proposal" as the subject of your email. Decisions will be made before the end of Phase 1.