HON 3260: The Ethics of Violence
Fall 2014
Dr. Nadia Latif
Email: nlatif@gsu.edu
Office: 34 Peachtree 11th floor #1146
Office Hours: T/Th: 1-2, W: 11:30-12:30
Research Librarian: Brian Kooy
Email address: bkooy@gsu.edu
Course Description
What are the political, economic, and social circumstances under which the use of
violence appears ethical? In what ways have different representational forms been
used to present violence as ethical? Is the representational possibility of certain
forms greater than that of others in their ability to portray violence as an ethical
imperative? In this course we will explore these questions with a particular focus on
the historical processes of colonialism, imperialism, slavery, and nationalism. Our
case studies will include: Algeria, Israel/Palestine, and the United States. We will
look at the ways in which the routine violence of impoverishment, sexism, and
racism are intertwined with the ‘extra-ordinary’ violence of war, counterinsurgency,
torture, and genocide. Course materials will include: scholarly monographs from
anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, political science, and media studies;
works of fiction; film; visual art; and music.
Course Objectives:
In this course students will learn to question the ethical consequences of ignoring
the interconnections between routine and extra-ordinary violence. They will also
learn to recognise and interrogate the narratives deployed by religious and political
authorities to legitimize their own use of violence as ethical, while delegitimizing
violent resistance to their projects as irrational and unlawful.
Course requirements: Students are responsible for all material presented in the
class, as well as reading assignments.
Grades will be determined as follows:
1. Attendance and Participation: 20 points
2. Short in class writing exercises: 20 points
3. Annotated bibliography: 20 points
4. 5-7 pg. research proposal: 40 points
The course uses a “+” and “-“ grading system as follows : A+ 98-100; A 94-97; A- 9093; B+ 87-89; B 84-86; B- 80-83; C+ 77-79; C 74-76; C- 70-73; D 60-69; F 0-59.
1
Attendance and Makeup Policies:
Absences may only be excused in the case of serious illness, death in the family,
religious observance, or legal obligation. Written documentation must be provided
in each case in order for the absence to be excused.
Coming to class more than 10 minutes late, leaving before the end of class, talking
outside of class discussion, using electronic devices for non-class related activities
will result in your being assigned an un-excused absence for that class.
5 or more absences will result in a 0 for the attendance component of the final
grade.
Extensions will only be permitted in the case of serious illness (doctor’s note
required) or death in the family. Students must request the extension as soon as
they know they will need it.
Class participation:
Each student will be required to prepare a question for class discussion from the
readings in addition to identifying a passage from the readings for class discussion.
Each class, the instructor will randomly select several students. Some will read out
their question. Others will read out their passage. Absence or lack of preparation on
the day it is a given student’s turn will result in lowering their participation grade by
half. Two such absences will result in a 0 for the class participation component of
the final grade.
Writing Folder
All students will maintain a writing folder over the course of the semester. A
complete portfolio will contain all ungraded, in-class writing assignments, as well as
the annotated bibliography and the research proposal.
Required Books
Malek Alloula. 1986. Colonial Harem. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press).
General Paul Aussaresses. 2004. The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and
Counterterrorism in Algeria 1955-1957 (New York: Enigma Books).
Benjamin Claude Brower. 2011. A Desert Named Peace: The Violence of France's
Empire in the Algerian Sahara, 1844-1902 (New York: Columbia University Press).
2
Assia Djebar. 2005. Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War (New
York: The Feminist Press at CUNY).
Saidiya V. Hartman. 1997. Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in
Nineteenth-Century America (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Lesley Gill, The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence in the
Americas (Durham: Duke University Press, 2004)
Mahmood Mamdani, When Victims Become Killers (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 2001)
Toni Morrison, Beloved (New York: Vintage, 1987)
Joe Sacco. 2001. Palestine (Seattle: Fantagraphics)
Laura Wexler. 2000. Tender Violence: Domestic Visions in an Age of U.S. Imperialism
(Durham: The University of North Carolina Press).
Required articles will be made available at the end of the week before they are due.
Class Schedule
The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course. Deviations may be
necessary
August 27
Introduction to course
Slavery
September 3
_Aristotle Politics Book I.
_The Epistle of Paul to Philemon
_James H. Sweet 1997. “The Iberian Roots of American Racist Thought” The William
and Mary Quarterly 54(1):143-166
September 10
Saidiya V. Hartman. 1997. Scenes of Subjection: Terror, Slavery, and Self-Making in
Nineteenth-Century America (Oxford: Oxford University Press) Ch. 1, 3, 6.
September 17
Toni Morrison. 1987. Beloved (New York: Vintage)
3
Colonialism
September 24
Benjamin Claude Brower. 2011. A Desert Named Peace: The Violence of France's
Empire in the Algerian Sahara, 1844-1902 (New York: Columbia University Press).
Introduction, Ch. 1, 3, 6, 8, 11.
October 1
Research question due
Malek Alloula. 1986. Colonial Harem. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press).
October 8
_General Paul Aussaresses. 2004. The Battle of the Casbah: Terrorism and
Counterterrorism in Algeria 1955-1957 (New York: Enigma Books).
_Frantz Fanon. 1963. “On Violence” in The Wretched of the Earth (New York: Grove
Press).
October 15
Screening and discussion of “Battle of Algiers” (Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966).
October 22
Assia Djebar. 2005. Children of the New World: A Novel of the Algerian War (New
York: The Feminist Press at CUNY).
Imperialism
October 29
Laura Wexler. 2000. Tender Violence: Domestic Visions in an Age of U.S. Imperialism
(Durham: The University of North Carolina Press). Ch.2, 3, 5, 6
November 5
Annotated Bibliography due
Lesley Gill. 2004 The School of the Americas: Military Training and Political Violence
in the Americas (Durham: Duke University Press) Ch. 1, 2, 4, 5, 6.
November 12
_Jason Dittmer. 2005. “Captain America's Empire: Reflections on Identity, Popular
Culture, and Post-9/11 Geopolitics.” Annals of the Association of American
Geographers, 95(3):626-643.
_Screening and discussion of “Star Trek” (J.J. Abrams, 2009).
Nationalism
November 19
Joe Sacco. 2001. Palestine (Seattle: Fantagraphics)
4
November 24-28: Thanksgiving Break
December 3
Screening and discussion of “Paradise Now” (Hany Abu-Assad, 2005).
December 8
Research proposal and writing folder due
Additional Guidelines
Students who wish to request accommodation for a disability may do so by
registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be
accommodated upon issuance by the Office of Disability Services of a signed
Accommodation Plan and are responsible for providing a copy of that plan to
instructors of all classes in which accommodations are sought.
While the penalty for academic dishonesty is a matter of the instructor's discretion
in the Department of Religious Studies, the customary penalty for a violation of the
academic dishonesty rules is an "F" in the course. Refer to the University Policy on
Academic Honesty: http://www2.gsu.edu/~wwwfhb/sec400.html#409.
Your constructive assessment of this course plays an indispensable role in shaping
education at Georgia State. Upon completing the course, please take time to fill out
the online course evaluation.
5