This section presents the readings for the course, along with the assignments and presentation sessions.
Required Texts
Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families. 1st ed. New York, NY: Macmillan, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998. ISBN: 9780374286972.
Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles. New York NY: Scribner, 2003. ISBN: 9780743235358.
Sifry, Micah, and Christopher Cerf, eds. The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003. ISBN: 9780743253475.
Rampton, Sheldon, and John Stauber. Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq. New York, NY: Tarcher/Penguin, 2003. ISBN: 9781585422760.
Most of the readings for the class are available on the MIT server. In addition, students are required to read two books, which will be made available.
Readings by Session
| LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction | |
| Part 1: Theoretical Perspectives | ||
| 2 | Is War “Natural”? |
Freud, Sigmund. “Why War?” In Aggression, Hostility and Violence: Nature or Nurture? Edited by Terry Maple and Douglas Matheson. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1972, pp. 16-27. ISBN: 9780030853067. Mead, Margaret. “Warfare is Only an Invention - Not a Biological Necessity.” In Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies. Edited by David P. Barash. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 19-22. ISBN: 9780195123869. James, William. “The Moral Equivalent of War.” In Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies. Edited by David P. Barash. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 65-69. ISBN: 9780195123869. Hedges, Chris. “Introduction.” In War is a Force That Gives us Meaning. New York, NY: Public Affairs Book, 2002, pp. 1-17. ISBN: 9781586480493. |
| 3 | War and Sociobiology |
Chagnon, Napoleon. “Life Histories, Blood Revenge, and Warfare in a Tribal Population.” Science 239, no. 4843 (February 26, 1988): 985-992. Ferguson, Brian. “A Savage Encounter: Western Contact and the Yanomami War Complex.” In War in the Tribal Zone. Edited by Brian Ferguson and Neil Whitehead. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press, 2000, pp. 199-227. ISBN: 9780933452800. Film: Gardner, Robert. Dead Birds, 1965. Asch, Timothy and Napoleon Chagnon. The Ax Fight, 1975. |
| 4 | Experiences of War and Violence I |
Rosaldo, Renato. “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage,” and “An Oblique Account of Warfare.” In Culture and Truth: The Remaking of Social Analysis. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1989, pp. 1-21 and 62-67. ISBN: 9780807046081. Keegan, John. “Agincourt, October 25th, 1415.” Chapter 2 in The Face of Battle. New York, NY: Viking, 1976, pp. 79-116. ISBN: 9780670304325. Ellis, John. “Battle: The Reality.” In Eye-Deep in Hell: Trench Warfare in World War II. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989, pp. 89-104. ISBN: 9780801839474. Film: Branagh, Kenneth. Henry V, 1989, excerpt. Weir, Peter. Gallipoli, 1981, excerpt. |
| 5 | Experiences of War and Violence II |
Rubin, Elizabeth. “Down the Dark Hole of Chechnya.” New York Times Magazine, July 8, 2001. Ignatieff, Michael. “Virtual War.” In Virtual War: Kosovo and Beyond. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2000, pp. 161-215. ISBN: 9780805064902. Hassan, Nasra. “An Arsenal of Believers.” New Yorker, November 19, 2001, 36-41. Film: The Triumph of Evil, PBS Frontline documentary. |
| 6-8 | Civil War and Genocide in Rwanda | Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st ed edition, 1998. ISBN: 9780374286972. |
| 9 | Darfur |
Power, Samantha. “[Dying in Darfur](http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/08/30/040830fa_fact1 Leaning, Jennifer. “Diagnosing Genocide - The Case of Darfur.” New England Journal of Medicine 351, no. 8 (August 19, 2004): 735-738. Ryle, John. “Disaster in Darfur.” New York Review of Books 51, no. 13 (August 12, 2004). The following link lists all articles by Nicholas D. Kristof, an Op-Ed columnist for the The New York Times. Search for “Darfur” and browse his articles. Moeller, Susan. “Compassion Fatigue.” Media Studies Journal (Summer 2001): 108-112. |
| 10 | Reconciliation After War? |
Ignatieff, Michael. “The Nightmare From Which We Are Trying to Awake.” In The Warrior’s Honor: Ethnic War and the Modern Conscience. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 1998, pp. 164-190. ISBN: 9780805055184. Krog, Antjie. Country of My Skull. Johannesburg, South Africa: Random House, 1998, pp. vi-viii, 23-25, 36, 82-100, and 109-114. ISBN: 9780958419512. Film: Moyers, Bill. Facing the Truth With Bill Moyers, 1999, excerpts. |
| Part II: America at War | ||
| 11 | Vietnam I |
Ellsberg, Daniel. Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. New York, NY: Viking, 2002, pp. vii-x, 7-20, 37-53, 65-73, 81-83, 88-97, 109-132, 141-147, 155-156, and 199-214. ISBN: 9780670030309. Optional Film: Morris, Errol. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, 2003, excerpts. |
| 12 | After Vietnam |
Broyles, William. “Why Men Love War.” Esquire, November 1984, 55-65. Gibson, James William. Warrior Dreams: Violence and Manhood in Post Vietnam America. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, 1994, introduction, chapters 1, and 2. ISBN: 9780809015788. Rangel, Charles. “Bring Back the Draft.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 434-435. ISBN: 9780743253475. Optional |
| 13-14 | The First Gulf War |
Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles. New York, NY: Scribner, 2003. ISBN: 9780743235358. Film: Kotcheff, Ted. Rambo: First Blood, 1982, excerpts. |
| 15 | Media and the First Gulf War |
Sloyan, Patrick. “The Real War.” Media Studies Journal (Summer 2001): 58-63 MacArthur, John. “Operation Desert Muzzle.” Chapter 5 in Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004, pp. 146-198. ISBN: 9780520242319. Mermin, Jonathan. “Introduction.” In Debating War and Peace: Media Coverage of U.S. Intervention in the Post-Vietnam Era. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999, pp. 3-16. ISBN: 9780691005348. |
| 16 | September 11 |
Friedman, Jonathan. “Impaired Empire.” Anthropological Quarterly (Winter 2001): 95-104. Rabinow, Paul. “St. Francis at Ground Zero.” Anthropological Quarterly (Winter 2001): 113-116. Wikan, Unni. “My Son - a Terrorist? (He was Such a Gentle Boy).” Anthropological Quarterly (Winter 2001): 117-128. Arextaga, Begona. “Terror as Thrill: First Thoughts on the ‘War on Terrorism’.” Anthropological Quarterly (Winter 2001): 139-150. Gusterson, Hugh. “The McNamara Complex.” Anthropological Quarterly (Winter 2001): 171-177. Film: Greenwald, Robert. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, 2004. |
| 17 | For and Against Invading Iraq I |
Knightley, Philip. “Imperial Legacy.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 5-17. ISBN: 9780743253475. Makiyah, Kanan. “How Saddam Held onto Power.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 114-125. ISBN: 9780743253475. Butler, Richard. “The Inspections and the U.N.: The Blackest of Comedies.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 174-185. ISBN: 9780743253475. Wright, Susan. “The hijacking of UNSCOM.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 186-190. ISBN: 9780743253475. Schell, Jonathan. “Pre-emptive Defeat, or How Not to Fight Proliferation.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 506-526. ISBN: 9780743253475. Project for the New American Century. “An Open Letter to President Clinton.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 199-201. ISBN: 9780743253475. Kagan, Robert, and William Kristol. “What to do About Iraq.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 243-249. ISBN: 9780743253475. |
| 18 | For and Against Invading Iraq II |
Hitchens, Christopher. “Why I am For Regime Change.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 440-444. ISBN: 9780743253475. Jones, Terry. “I’m Losing Patience with my Neighbors, Mr. Bush.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 453-4. ISBN: 9780743253475. Assorted Congressmen. “Of Pre-emption and Appeasement: Box-Cutters and Liquid Gold: Excerpts From the October 10, 2002 Congressional Debate.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 359-366. ISBN: 9780743253475. Byrd, Senator Robert. “No Place for Kings in America.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 375-377. ISBN: 9780743253475. Sifry, Micah. “The Second Superpower.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 486-489. ISBN: 9780743253475. Renner, Michael. “Post-Saddam Iraq: Linchpin of a New Oil Order.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 580-587. ISBN: 9780743253475. Coulter, Ann. “Why We Hate Them.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 333-335. ISBN: 9780743253475. Lemann, Nicholas. “The Next World Order.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 253-265. ISBN: 9780743253475. Krauthammer, Charles. “The Unipolar Moment Revisited: America, the Benevolent Empire.” In The Iraq War Reader: History, Documents, Opinions. Edited by Micah Sifry and Christopher Cerf. New York, NY: Touchstone Books, 2003, pp. 593-607. ISBN: 9780743253475. |
| 19 | Manufacturing Consent for War |
Rampton, Sheldon, and John Stauber. Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush’s War on Iraq. New York, NY: Tarcher/Penguin, 2003, chapters 2, 3, 6, and 7. ISBN: 9781585422760. Film: Achbar, Mark and Peter Wintonick. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, 1992, excerpts. |
| 20 | Media and the War on Terror |
Magder, Ted. “Watching What We Say: Global Communication in a Time of Fear.” In War and the Media: reporting conflict 24/7. Edited by Daya Kishan Thussu and Des Freedman. London, UK: Sage 2003, pp. 28-44. ISBN: 9780761943136. Webster, Frank. “Information Warfare in an Age of Globalization.” In War and the Media: reporting conflict 24/7. Edited by Daya Kishan Thussu and Des Freedman. London, UK: Sage 2003, pp. 57-69. ISBN: 9780761943136. Thussu, Daya Kishan. “Live TV and Bloodless Deaths: War, Infotainment, and 24/7 News.” In War and the Media: reporting conflict 24/7. Edited by Daya Kishan Thussu and Des Freedman. London, UK: Sage 2003, pp. 117-132. ISBN: 9780761943136. Williams, Bruce. “The New Media Environment, Internet Chatrooms, and Public Discourse after 9/11.” In War and the Media: reporting conflict 24/7. Edited by Daya Kishan Thussu and Des Freedman. London, UK: Sage 2003, pp. 176-189. ISBN: 9780761943136. McChesney, Robert. “September 11 and the Structural Limitations of US Journalism.” In Journalism After September 11. Edited by Barbie Zelizer and Stuart Allen. New York, NY: Routledge, 2002, pp. 91-100. ISBN: 9780415288002. |
| 21 | Behind Enemy Lines |
Garrels, Anne. Naked in Baghdad: The Iraq War as Seen by NPR’s Correspondent. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003, pp. 113-115; 119-120, 122-127, 128-131, 149-152, 154-157, 168-170, 176-182, and 185-190. ISBN: 9780374529031. Manyon, Julian. “Worse Than Vietnam.” The Spectator, May 8, 2004, 14-15. Graham, Patrick. “Beyond Falluhah: A Year With the Iraqi Resistance.” Harpers, June 2004, 37-48. Baum, Dan. “The Price of Valor.” The New Yorker, July 12/19, 2004, 44-52. Corbett, Sara. “Coming Home: The Permanent Scars of Iraq.” New York Times Magazine, February 15, 2004, 34-66. Film: Olds, Ian, and Garrett Scott. Occupation: Dreamland, 2005. |
| 22 | Abu Ghraib |
Hersh, Seymour. “Torture at Abu Ghraib.” The New Yorker, May 10, 2004. ———. “The Gray Zone: How a Secret Pentagon Program Came to Abu Ghraib.” The New Yorker, May 24, 2004. Barry, John, et al. “The Roots of Torture.” Newsweek, May 24, 2004. Blanche, Ed. “The Secret Gulags.” Middle East, July 2004. Sontag, Susan. “Regarding the Torture of Others.” New York Times Magazine, May 23, 2004. Lifton, Robert Jay. “Conditions of Atrocity.” The Nation (May 31, 2004). ———. “Doctors and Torture.” New England Journal of Medicine (July 29, 2004). Zizek, Zlavoj. “What Rumsfeld Doesn’t Know That He Knows About Abu Ghraib.” In These Times, June 21, 2004. Moore, Patrick. “Weapons of Mass Homophobia.” The Advocate, June 8, 2004. Zimbardo, Philip. “Stanford Prison Experiment.” View slideshow. |
| 23 | Class Presentations | |
| 24 | Class Presentations (cont.) | |
