Syllabus - Transitional Justice

This document discusses the concept of transitional justice, which examines how societies address large-scale human rights abuses and atrocities after periods of conflict or repressive rule. It explores ideas around conflict, human rights, justice, and reconciliation. The course will examine real-world cases of injustice and conflicts and how different societies have sought justice, truth, and reconciliation, including through international institutions. Students will analyze theories of transitional justice and case studies to understand how communities can move forward after suffering.

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Syllabus - Transitional Justice

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radams

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TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE: WHAT IS IT?

“For those who have suffered as a result of conflict”

Many of the world’s belief systems – secular or sacred – have

an idea of our world as being a wounded place. Be it the
Jewish idea of “tikkun olam” or the Buddhist notion of the
world as a place of suffering, mankind seems to always
recognize the world as a place of imperfection. As we study
history, while we are continually amazed by the wonderful
progress humanity as made over the centuries, we are
sometimes likewise appalled by demonstrations of cruelty by
people towards their fellow human beings (and, one can
argue, towards other species with whom we share the plant
and, perhaps, the Earth itself).

In both mainstream Global History and the Honors section, e

have researched several instances where people were
subjected to extremely harsh treatment by their “enemy”. This
is a pattern that recurs throughout history – as we have
already seen and will continue to see. The point of this course
is to develop the factual knowledge of these situations, to be
able to think of creative ways to confront displays of injustice,
and to develop the compassion for our fellow human beings
that makes us the best inhabitants of our planet that we can
be.
It is one thing to be knowledgeable about these situations. It is
another thing to think about what are the possible “next steps”
when these terrible tragedies occur. Is revenge ever a
justifiable response when suffering has occurred? Should we
just mourn for the dead and injured and live with these
memories? How do we seek “justice” – and how can we even
find a pathway to justice in the face of great suffering?

These are the important questions we will think about for the
rest of the year here in this course – and likely for the rest of
our lives as citizens of our nation and of the planet.

In order to understand this mystifying dynamic of history, we

will look at ideas and theories of international and transitional
justice, of how human rights came to be recognized as a
fundamental right of all people, how international institutions
have been created to enforce these rights, and at a variety of
case studies that illustrate the problems of living justly in an
unjust world.

Ideas and Theories:

What is conflict?
How do we define Human Rights?
What is justice?
What is reconciliation?
Then we will also marry these concepts to real world displays
of justice – or the lack thereof – as we look at situations of
armed conflict that have occurred in modern history.

Case studies:
The Taino People and Their Encounters with Europeans

Belgium, King Leopold, and the Congo: Exploitation for Profit

Terror as a Tool: The French Revolution’s Reign of Terror and

the Cambodian Khmer Rouge

Can Justice Heal?: The Holocaust and the Nuremberg Trials

Truth and Reconciliation: South Africa and the End of

Apartheid

The Battle of Algiers: What is “state terrorism” and is torture

ever an acceptable means of waging warfare?

Guatemala: How was the Commission for Historical

Clarification created?

Sierra Leone: What did the Lome Peace Agreement say?

Bosnia Herzegovina: What role did the International Criminal

Court play in restoring peace?
CAPSTONE PROJECT:
Mock tribunal?

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Focus here on writing and reasoning skills, making best use
of assistive technology and resources, punctuality, academic
honesty, etc.