Perspectives on Peace: An Examination of Post-Conflict Societies

University of British Columbia

ASTU 400D 001

Perspectives on Peace: An Examination of Post-Conflict Societies

Winter 2010 (Term 1)

SDS Coordinators:

Amber Hill, 5^th Year Honours Biophysics

Julia Palmiano, 5^th Year International Relations & Political Science Double Major

Telephone: 778-227-6102/604-765-2561

Email: sds.postconflict@gmail.com

Course Website: https://blogs.ubc.ca/sdspostconflict/

Location: UBC Simon KY Lee Global Lounge and Resource Centre (2205 Lower Mall)

Course Description

This course is designed to focus on post-conflict societies in several regions around the world, namely Eastern Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central Eastern Europe.  Within these regions, we hope to examine various case studies that will act as a central point to further discussion.  These include the rehabilitation and reconstruction of societies after the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the civil war and human rights abuses by the LRA in Uganda, the Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 1970’s in Cambodia, the recently ended civil war in Sri Lanka, and the Yugoslav conflict of the 1990s.  There will be three main themes that will be discussed for each conflict.  These themes are international response, justice and reconciliation and health and development.  Under international response, sub-themes such as financial aid, the role of non-governmental organizations, the role of international organizations, and the role of national governments will be examined.  Justice and reconciliation embodies such topics as disarmament, demobilization and reintegration, and impunity, all at a community, national and international level.  Furthermore, under the theme of health and development, we will touch on the distribution of essential medicines, combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases spread by conflict, maternal health and nutrition, psychological disorders, and the reconstruction of infrastructure and the economy.

Course Objectives – first class

Course Requirements and Evaluation

Students are responsible for materials covered in the required readings, lectures, guest speaker presentations, and discussion sessions.

Course Assignments, Due Dates, and Grading

Participation (ongoing)       30%

Presentation (Assigned Dates)    15%

News Article Reviews (September28, November 23)       10%

Paper proposal (October 26)    5%

Final Paper (December 3)       40%

Participation (30%)

In a seminar, participation is a top priority. Each individual’s participation grade will be peer-evaluated, with the final grade approved by the faculty sponsor. The participation grade breakdown is as follows: 25% will be allotted for attendance and in-class participation. The participants will evaluate everyone in the class once per month, according to the attached grading rubric. The coordinators will also evaluate everyone in the course each week with the same rubric. These components will be weighted equally and should result in an accurate depiction of each individual’s engagement in the class. The remaining 5% will be for contribution to the class blog in the form of entries, comments, and links and will be evaluated by the coordinators.

Presentation (15%)

At selected seminars, participants in groups of 3 (and one group of 2) will be in charge of presenting the week’s readings and initiating discussion.  This presentation will be 20 minutes in length and should go beyond merely summarizing the fundamental themes and arguments of the articles. After presenting the key themes, participants should analyze the strengths and weaknesses in the readings and present a personal argument, points of interest, original ideas and commentaries.

Afterwards, each group will lead a discussion based on the presentation and will be allotted approximately an hour (until the break). Creativity is encouraged in these discussions and can include debates, simulations, and other innovative forms of discussion.

The goal of these presentations is to foster engaging, informative, and interesting discussions and give everyone a chance to take ownership of the course. The presentations will be peer-evaluated according to the attached presentation-grading rubric.

Participants should choose a topic and group partners by the end of the second class (September 21).

Dates for Presentations:

• October 12
• October 19
• October 26
• November 9
• November 16

News Article Review, 750 words (10%; 2 reviews at 5% each)

The goal of these reviews is to take the participant’s mindset past academic articles and into current issues regarding the case study countries. Participants should choose 2 relevant, recent news articles from within the last 2 years and from a reputable news source. These reviews will be peer-evaluated: names will be taken off of these analyses and handed out to others in the class for evaluation out of 15 points.

The reviews should follow these 3 levels of analysis:

• What? (5 points) – Summary of news article
• So What? (5 points) – Significance and relevance of news article to course material (what’s working and what’s not)
• Now What? (5 points) – Recommendations for possible solutions for relevant actors

Due dates: September 28, November 23

Proposal (5%), between half a page and 1 page

Each student will submit a final paper proposal to the coordinators by the assigned due date. This will provide an opportunity for students to discuss their topics with the coordinators and start thinking about approaches to writing the final paper. This piece will be graded by PASS/FAIL for completion by the coordinators.

Due date: October 26

Final paper (40%), 8 – 10 pages

The faculty sponsor will assess the final paper. Participants should choose a specific topic that relates to one of the three themes mentioned in the class (International Response, Justice and Reconciliation, Health and Development) in the context of one of the discussed country case studies. Topics will be approved by the coordinators through the aforementioned proposal.

The paper should include the following:

• A summary of the current situation in the chosen post-conflict society
• Reflection on the country’s progress, if any, that has been made
• An analysis on what is working and what is not working
• Further recommendations for specific, relevant actors (international, national, regional etc.)

Due Date: December 3

Tips for News Article Reviews and Final Papers

• Is the thesis sophisticated and clearly articulated?
• Is the personal argument defended throughout the essay?
• Clarity, Organization, Structure (good outline, good transitions)
• Integration of class material (and outside material if desired) to back up the argument

Policy on Late Assignments

Without a medical note from a doctor or evidence of a serious personal emergency, there will be a 2% automatic grade penalty per day for late papers. Hand late papers in directly to the coordinators in person or via email or make other arrangements. Papers will be dated from when the coordinators receive them or pick them up.

Plagiarism

Please familiarize yourself with the political science departmental policy on plagiarism. As with any course, it will not be taken lightly; any piece of work suspect of plagiarism will be taken to the faculty sponsor and addressed accordingly. All your work should be original in conception and phrasing. Please source appropriately and include online resources. Work that is evaluated in this course must not be, or have been, submitted in other courses.

Citations and Paper Formats

We are happy to accept APA and MLA citation styles. You can find an online resource guide at (http://www.library.ubc.ca/chapmanlearningcommons/citation.html). Another more detailed reference is the well-known Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press). Furthermore, in addition to individual citations, you should include a “Works Cited” page at the end of your essay. If you have any questions about styles of reference, feel free to ask the coordinators.

Weekly Schedule of Topics & Readings

Week 1, September 14: Introduction

Course Welcome: Dr. Judy Mclean

Faculty Sponsor & Adjunct Professor, Food Nutrition & Health

Medeloff, David. “Trauma and Vengeance: Assessing the Psychological and Emotional Effects of Post-Conflict Justice.” Human Rights Quarterly, Vol.31, No.3, (August 2009)

pp. 592-623.

http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/journals/human_rights_quarterly/v031/31.3.mendeloff.html

Knight, Mark and Ozerdem, Alpaslan. “Guns, Camps and Cash: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reinsertion of Former Combatants in Transitions from War to Peace.” Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit, Department of Politics, University of York. Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 41, No. 4 (July 2004), pp. 499-516.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/4149686.pdf?acceptTC=true

Collier, Paul. Hoeffler, Anke. Söderbom, Måns. “Post-Conflict Risks.” Journal of Peace Research, Vol.45, No.4, (July 2009,) pp. 461 – 478.

http://jpr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/45/4/461.full.pdf+html

Week 2, September 21: Rwanda

Guest Speaker: Dr. Judy Mclean

Faculty Sponsor & Adjunct Professor, Food Nutrition & Health

Zraly M., Rubin-Smith J., Betancourt T.  “Primary Mental Health Care for Survivors of Collective Sexual Violence in Rwanda.”  Global Public Health.  (July 2010), pp 1-14.

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/396212_917248827_924717123.pd

Zraly M., Nyirazinyoye L.  “Don’t Let the Suffering Make you Fade Away: An Ethnographic Study of Resilience among Survivors of Genocide-Rape in Southern Rwanda.” Social Science and Medicine, Vol. 70, Issue 10, (May 2010) pp 1656-1664.  http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VBF-4YCFGFV-16&_user=1022551&_coverDate=05/31/2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050484&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1022551&md5=aabdb925d05cb4ab6d67e27c4693d49c

Rwanda Demographic Health Survey http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs/pub_details.cfm?ID=594 (skim Chapter 11 – 16)

Recommended material (background readings, important news articles, videos):

Newbury, C. “Background to genocide: Rwanda.“ Issue: A Journal of Opinion, Vol. 23, No.2 (1995), pp. 12-17. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/1166500.pdf?acceptTC=true

Week 3, September 28: Rwanda

Guest speaker: Gentille Umubyeyi & John Rubayi

Rwandan Community of BC

Uvin, Peter. “Difficult Choices in the New Post-Conflict Agenda: The International Community in Rwanda after the Genocide.”  Third World Quarterly. Vol. 22, No. 2 (April 2001), pp 177-189.  http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/3993405.pdf

Buckely-Zistel, Susanne. “Remembering to Forget: Chosen Amnesia as a Strategy for Local Coexistence in Post-Genocide Rwanda.”  Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. Vol. 76, (May 2006), pp 131-150.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/40027106.pdf

Rettig, Max. “Gacaca: Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation in Post-conflict Rwanda?” African Studies Review. Vol. 51, No. 3, (Dec 2008),pp 25-50.  http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/journals/african_studies_review/v051/51.3.rettig.html

Week 4, October 5: Uganda

Guest speaker: Erin Baines

Assistant Professor, Liu Institute for Global Issues & Research Director for the Justice and Reconciliation Project

JRP Articles (http://justiceandreconciliation.com/#/publications/4540226079) (skim)

• Northern Uganda: Human Security Update.  Pursuing Peace and Justice: International and Local Initiatives
• Pursuing Justice for Women and Children in Northern Uganda
• Victim’s Voices

McKay, Susan.  “Reconstructing Fragile Lives: Girls’ Social Reintegration in Northern Uganda and Sierra Leone. “ Gender and Development. Vol. 12, No. 3, (Nov 2004), pp 19-30.  http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/4030652.pdf

Baines, E.  “The Haunting of Alice: Local Approaches to Justice and Reconciliation in Northern Uganda.”  International Journal of Transitional Justice. Vol. 1, Issue 1, (Mar 2007) pp 91-114. http://ijtj.oxfordjournals.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/vol1/issue1/index.dtl

Week 5, October 12: Uganda

Owen, Stephen.  “War Affected Children in Northern Uganda: Assessment of Canadian Programming Opportunities.”  (photocopies)

Akhavan, Payam.  “The Lord’s Resistance Army Case: Uganda’s Submission of the First State Referral to the International Criminal Court.”  The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 99, No. 2 (April 2005), pp 403-421.  http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/1562505.pdf

Recommended material (background readings, important news articles, videos):

History of JRP (DDR): http://www.ligi.ubc.ca/sites/liu/files/Publications/JRP/FN6_JRP_QPSW.pdf

ICTJ in Uganda: http://www.ictj.org/en/where/region1/629.html

Week 6, October 19: Sri Lanka

International Crisis Group Report: War Crimes in Sri Lanka. Asia Report No. 191, May 2010.

http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/191-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka.aspx

Human Rights Watch Report: Legal Limbo: The Uncertain Fate of Detained LTTE Suspects in Sri Lanka. Feb 2010. http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2010/02/02/legal-limbo-0

Misra, Amalendu. Rain on a Parched Land: Reconstructing a post-conflict Sri Lanka. International Peacekeeping. Summer 2004, Vol. 11 Issue 2, pp 271-288.

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/488115_917248827_713949730.pdf

Höglund K, I Svensson. “The Peace Process in Sri Lanka.” Civil Wars Vol. 5, No.4, (2003) pp. 103-118.

http://pdfserve.informaworld.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/105615_917248827_782225160.pdf

Week 7, October 26:  Sri Lanka

Rajasingham-Senanayake, Darini. “Between Reality and Representation: Women’s Agency in War and Post-Conflict Sri Lanka.” Cultural Dynamics. Vol. 16, Issue 2/3, (Oct 2004), pp141-168.

http://cdy.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/16/2-3/141.full.pdf+html

Orjuela, Camilla. “Building Peace in Sri Lanka: A Role for Civil Society?” Journal of Peace Research. Vol. 40, No. 2, (March 2003), pp 195-212.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/3648411.pdf?acceptTC=true

Killick N, VS Srikantha, Gündüz C. 2005. “The role of local business in peacebuilding.” London, UK: Berghof Research Centre for Constructive Conflict Management.

http://www.berghof-handbook.net/documents/publications/killick_etal_handbook.pdf

Recommended Material:

BBC History of Conflict: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8055578.stm

LTTE Website: http://ltteir.org/

Tamil Refugees Freed: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/10/2009102365922657637.html

Tamil Boat Arrivals BC 2010 http://www.nationalpost.com/news/Canada+influx+Tamil+refugees+expert/3381657/story.html

Tamil Diaspora Canada http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/are-the-tamil-tigers-being-declawed-in-toronto/article969489/

Week 8, November 2: Bosnia

Guest speaker: Alex Budden

Consul General, United Kingdom

Meernik, James. “Justice and Peace? How the International Criminal Tribunal Affects Societal Peace in Bosnia.” Journal of Peace Research Vol. 42, No. 3 (May, 2005), pp. 271-289

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042301

Wippman, David. “The Costs of International Justice.” The American Journal of International Law, Vol. 100, No. 4 (Oct., 2006), pp. 861-881

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4126321

Cox, Marcus. “State Building and Post-Conflict Reconstruction: Lessons from Bosnia.” The Rehabilitation of War-Torn Societies. Centre for Applied Studies in International Negotiations. Jan 2001.

http://www.reliefweb.int/library/documents/2001/bih_casin_31jan.pdf

Week 9: November 9: Bosnia

Collier, Paul and Hoeffler, Anke. “Aid, Policy and Growth in Post-Conflict Countries.” World Bank Working Paper, Feb 2002.

http://www.csae.ox.ac.uk/conferences/2002-UPaGiSSA/papers/Hoeffler-csae2002.pdf

Ohanyan, A. “Post–Conflict Global Governance: The Case of Microfinance Enterprise Networks in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” International Studies Perspectives. Vol. 3 Issue 4,(Nov 2002), pp 396-416. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=9&sid=23cfb81d-3ee1-4d22-a3de-729fc7c1bf6e%40sessionmgr13

Recommended material (background readings, important news articles, videos)

Carpenter, R. Charli.  “Recognizing Gender Based Violence Against Men and Boys in

Conflict Situations.”  Security Dialogue. Vol. 37, No.1, (2006), pp. 83-103.

http://sdi.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/content/37/1/83.full.pdf+html

Bonsor, Nicholas. “Post-Conflict Peace-Making From Bosnia to Iraq: Lessons Which Should Be Learnt.” Contemporary Review; Vol. 284 Issue 1658, (March 2004), pp 129-138.

http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=9&sid=33b92bff-1163-4992-996e-fa5f171880a0%40sessionmgr14

Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace, Photo Essay available at http://www.bosniaaftermath.com/index2.html.

Week 10: November 16: Cambodia

Lanjouw, S., Macrae, J., Zwi A. “Rehabilitating health services in Cambodia: the challenge of coordination in chronic political emergencies.” Health Policy Plan. Vol. 14, Issue 3, (Sept 1999), pp 229-242. http://heapol.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/14/3/229

Boutros-Ghali, B.  “The Land Mine Crisis: A Humanitarian Disaster”. Foreign Affairs. Vol. 73, No. 5 (Sept 1994), pp. 8-13. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/20046826.pdf?acceptTC=true

Week 11: November 23: Cambodia

Guest Speaker: Judy Mclean                                                                                       Faculty Sponsor & Adjunct Professor, Food Nutrition & Health

Hughes, C., Pupavac, V. “Framing Post-Conflict Societies: International Pathologisation of Cambodia and the Post-Yugoslav States.” Third World Quarterly. Vol. 26, No. 6, (2005), pp 873-889. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/4017815.pdf

Verhoeve, S.  “Peace-Teaching: Evaluation the Role of Education in Post-Conflict Cambodia.”  Undercurrent. Vol. 5, Issue 3, (Sept 2008), pp 45-52. http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_67/5139000/5139259/2/print/UC5iii.pdf#page=45 (you have to scroll down to the article)

Zimmer, Z., Knodel J., Kim, K., Puch, S. “The Impact of past Conflicts and Social Disruption on the Elderly in Cambodia.”  Population and Developmental Review. Vol. 32, No. 2, (June 2006), pp 333-360. http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/20058878.pdf

Recommended Material:

Neupert, R., Prum, V.  “Cambodia: Reconstructing the Demographic Stab of the Past and Forecasting the Demographic Scar of the Future.” European Journal of Population. Vol. 21, (2005),pp 217-246.

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/stable/pdfplus/20164303.pdf

McGrew, L., Frieson, K., Chan, S. “Good Governance from the Ground Up: Women’s Roles in Post-Conflict Cambodia.” Women Waging Peace Policy Commission. (March 2004). http://www.iiav.nl/epublications/2004/GoodGovernancefromtheGroundUp.pdf

Peou, S.  “International Assistance for Institution Building in Post-Conflict Cambodia”.  Democratic Transition in Post-Conflict Societies Project. (May 2004). http://www.clingendael.nl/publications/2004/20040500_cru_working_paper_26.pdf

Week 12, November 30: Conclusion

Guest speaker: Honourable Stephen Owen

QC, VP External, Legal, and Community Affairs of UBC

History and Background of Conflicts

This course is unique in the sense that the course material and subject matter begin from when the conflict ends. We acknowledge that participants have varying amounts of knowledge and experience of the case study countries and, therefore, we have provided some background material on the conflicts themselves.

International Crisis Group http://www.bosniaaftermath.com/index2.html

CIA The World Fact-book https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/

Amnesty International http://www.amnesty.org/

BBC Country Profile http://www.bbc.co.uk

United Nations Documents (Resolutions, Primary Documents) http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx

Student Directed Seminars:

This page has been inserted into the course syllabus (outline) at the request of the advisory committee that oversees the program for Student Directed Seminars.

The program of Student Directed Seminars is intended to provide senior undergraduate students with added opportunities to learn in small, collaborative, group-oriented experiences. It is also the program’s goal to ensure participants, as members of a self-directed group, have a high degree of control over their own learning experience. The UBC program is modeled on an established student-directed seminar program at the University of California at Berkeley.

The program works as follows. A student (or group of students) in their third or fourth year of undergraduate study, proposes a course not currently offered at UBC. Proposals go to an Advisory Committee for review and if the proposal looks feasible, the committee encourages further development. The student proceeds to develop a course outline under the guidance of their faculty sponsor (or in some cases, multiple faculty sponsors). Student coordinators also have the benefit of a preparation workshop conducted by the UBC Centre for Teaching and Academic Growth.  The Student Directed Seminar Advisory Committee considers course outlines for final approval. If approved, the student-initiated course is advertised to the general student body.

All upper-level students are eligible to participate and applicants are usually subject to a selection process. Normally the minimum enrollment for each class is eight, the maximum fifteen.  Students are only eligible to receive credit for one seminar as a participant and one seminar as a coordinator.

The Student Coordinator is not an instructor. The coordinator’s role is that of a facilitator. S/he is responsible for organizing the learning resources, such as guest lectures, reading materials, and films to be used in the class.  The Student Coordinator also sets the parameters of course content, structure, and evaluation procedures in conjunction with a Faculty Sponsor. The participants have an important role in refining the details of all of these elements during the first classes of the term.

The entire class is responsible to one another for ensuring that the learning experience has a quality and richness that benefits everyone.  Ultimately the faculty sponsor is responsible for the grades that are submitted for this course.

This course is subject to the normal rules and regulations, as appropriate, which apply to all UBC courses.  More details are available at the following URL: http://learningcommons.ubc.ca/?page_id=792

Please contact Margot Bell, margot.bell@ubc.ca , phone: 604-822-9818 if you have any questions.

Revised August 2010