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Course name
Order and Violence
Institution
Columbia University
Instructor
Christopher Blattman
Wikipedia Expert
Adam (Wiki Ed)
Subject
Comparative politics, Political economy, International development
Course dates
2016-01-25 – 2016-05-18
Approximate number of student editors
15


This is a course about why some societies are political unstable and violent, how order comes about, and what you, international organizations, and domestic reformers can do about it (if anything).

Course information

  • We meet Mondays 10:10am to 12pm in IAB 711 (420 W 118th St.)
  • You can always reach me at <a href="mailto:chrisblattman@columbia.edu">chrisblattman@columbia.edu</a>
  • My office is IAB 819 and you can sign up for an office hours appointment <a href="http://www.meetme.so/ChrisBlattman">online</a>

Course goals

In terms of the subject matter, my goals are for you to:

  • Understand the demand for order and the multiple forms it takes
  • Understand the causes of violence
  • Understand the origins of states, formal institutions (e.g. the rule of law), and informal institutions (e.g. social norms)
  • Think critically about interventions and policy reforms designed to build states, improve the quality of institutions, or keep peace

The course is also designed to help you (and me) build some broader skill sets:

  • Learn to read, write, and discuss academic ideas critically
  • Learn to write encyclopedically: a neutral, balanced, well-sourced article
  • Think critically about information online, sourcing, and social and collaborative media
  • Get Wiki-savvy

Structure of the Class and Grading

There are three main components to the class:

  1. Critically reading the assigned readings before class
  2. Discussing the assigned readings in class
  3. Wikipedia-based assignments, designed to help you learn while also improving the quality of social science in Wikipedia

Your grade will be based on: 35% quality of in-class participation and critical discussion of readings; 15% various small assignments to get you familiar with Wikipedia and started on your article; 10% peer review; 30% your final (live!) Wikipedia article; and 10% for a short critical essay that contains original thoughts, critiques and ideas on your topic that are not appropriate for the Wikipedia article.

Look under the <a href="https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/courses/Columbia_University/Order_and_Violence_%28Spring_2016%29/timeline">Timeline tab</a> for weekly readings, assignments, and (at bottom) more detail about the grading.

Reading and in-class discussion

Each week I will assign 2-4 articles or a book, or book sections. There will be up to about 100 pages of reading a week. This reading is required, since it's really the main way you are going to learn the material.

Each week I will also note some suggested readings. these are there for your convenience, in case you are interested in the subject or want to consider them as raw materials for your Wikipedia assignments.

Look under the <a href="https://dashboard.wikiedu.org/courses/Columbia_University/Order_and_Violence_%28Spring_2016%29/timeline">Timeline tab</a> for readings. In general I will either:

  • Provide a link directly to the article, typically accessible if you are on the University network or a proxy server
  • For chapters and excerpts not online, I will scan and place a copy in Columbia's CourseWorks
  • Or, in the cases where I want you to read most or all of a book, I will provide an Amazon.com link, since new and used versions will typically be cheapest there (with used versions cheaper than the university bookstore in my experience). I will also put a copy of the book on reserve in the social science library in IAB.

Wikipedia-based assignments

All of your assignments are going to be Wikipedia based. I've never done this before. This is an experiment. We're going to do it in collaboration with the <a href="https://wikiedu.org/">Wiki Education Foundation</a>, which is a non-profit spin-off of Wikipedia that aims to improve education while also improving the quality, quantity, and diversity of knowledge available for free to all.

I like the idea that the class contributes to some public good. We're going to be putting more and better quality social science into the public domain, the Wikipedia way. Ultimately you're going to write a new Wikipedia article or dramatically improve an existing one. Plus some other stuff.

Fortunately we will have our hands held by a Wiki Edu representative. Learning the norms and practices of encyclopedia writing, especially an online collaborative tool, will be a learning experience for us all.

I think you'll be motivated to do well, and feel pressure to work hard, but also feel a sense of accomplishment.

Writing clearly and in a balanced way is a useful skill. You will use writing in every aspect of your professional and personal life. And this style of encyclopedic writing has much in common with academic writing, journalism, policy memos, briefings to your boss or client, and so forth.

My one hesitation is that Wikipedia does not allow you to write critically or creatively. I usually design my courses to develop these critical thinking and writing skills. This course will not accomplish that nearly as well. Nonetheless, I hope to foster critical reading and thinking in class discussions of the weekly readings.

You can read more about the specific timeline, assignments, and Wikipedia work under the Timeline tab.

Academic integrity

As you work in Wikipedia, you will learn its codes of conduct and guidelines for integrity.

But of course you will also be held to a similar high standard by Columbia University. This is a reminder that all Columbia College students now make the following pledge:

We, the undergraduate students of Columbia University, hereby pledge to value the integrity of our ideas and the ideas of others by honestly presenting our work, respecting authorship, and striving not simply for answers but for understanding in the pursuit of our common scholastic goals. In this way, we seek to build an academic community governed by our collective efforts, diligence, and Code of Honor.

In addition, all Columbia College students are committed to the following honor code:

I affirm that I will not plagiarize, use unauthorized materials, or give or receive illegitimate help on assignments, papers, or examinations. I will also uphold equity and honesty in the evaluation of my work and the work of others. I do so to sustain a community built around this Code of Honor.

I will assume you are familiar with these codes and how to faithfully abide by them. You can read more <a href="https://www.college.columbia.edu/academics/academicintegrity">here</a>.

Student Assigned Reviewing
Crcarey Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation Arab Spring, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control
Ianmckeachie Arab Spring Ethnic conflict, Why Nations Fail
Akm2173 Ethnic conflict, Ethnic violence Prison gang, Rebellion
Christopher Connors Warlord Environmental Determinism, Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation
Jp-columbia Warlord Peacekeeping, Political violence
Mfekade1366 Political violence Fiscal capacity, Rebellion
Adrià Ardèvol Rebellion Ethnic conflict, Political violence
Shenqiu92 Why Nations Fail Fiscal capacity, Prison gang
Shreyadhital Prison gang Ethnic conflict, Warlord
Kevinmccarthy25 Environmental Determinism Peacekeeping, Warlord
Saw2188 Environmental determinism, States and Power in Africa: Comparative Lessons in Authority and Control Ethnic conflict, Impact of Western European colonialism and colonisation
Amannavani Ethnic Conflict, Ethnic Violence Arab Spring, Political violence
Michaelaelan Political violence Ethnic conflict, Warlord
Vivianliu94 Fiscal capacity Environmental Determinism, Why Nations Fail
Kdion Peacekeeping Environmental Determinism, Warlord

Timeline

Week 1

Course meetings
Monday, 25 January 2016
In class - This week's readings
Nature abhors a vacuum of order

Further reading:


In class - Wikipedia essentials
  • Overview of the course
  • Why and how Wikipedia will be used in the course
  • Walk through the anatomy of Wikipedia with a few examples
    1.  Peacekeeping
      • Check out usage statistics
      • Review content
    2. State-building
      • Lengthy but flagged for need of clean-up and experts
      • There are huge topic areas not covered: influential historical accounts, major theories, examples
      • Possibly could benefit from linking to and developing key sub-articles, and better listing and organizing these links
    3. The Better Angels of Our Nature
      • Fairly lengthy book review with moderate amount on talk page
      • Note part of abooks project, where it is labeled Start class, so in need of more development
    4. The Civilizing Process
      • Relatively little coverage, despite being a longtime influential book and backbone of the Peter Singer book
  • Options:
    • Re-organizing and adding to a major page like State-building or Rebellion
    • Creating/adding key articles that feed into these big topics and linking to them (such as theories of rebellion, or the academic literature on peacekeeping)
    • Adding or improving a book summary and integrating it into relevant topic articles
    • The class could even work collaboratively on different pieces of a larger concept, such as State-building

Handout: Editing Wikipedia


Assignment - In-class discussion (every week)
  • This "assignment" covers my expectations for every week of the course until the end. 
  • Every week you'll be expected to arrive to class have read the assigned book or articles.
  • You should read these readings "critically", meaning you think about the research question, the hypothesis, whether the evidence or argument is convincing and complete, strengths, weaknesses, and why the idea is important. You may want to take notes and make summaries. 
  • You may also want to look at whether and how the material is covered in Wikipedia.
  • Every week, at least half to three quarters of the class time will be spent discussing these articles: the ideas in them, strengths and weaknesses, and how they further our learning goals in the course. I as your instructor will lead the discussion and pose questions, but you should also feel free to pose questions or topics for discussion.
  • Your critical discussion and contributions, including demonstration that you read and understood the readings, will be approximately a third of your course grade. 


Assignment - Practicing the basics


  • Create an account and join this course page.  
  • Complete the introductory training modules. During this training, you will make edits in a sandbox and learn the basic rules of Wikipedia.  
  • Create a User page.  
  • To practice editing and communicating on Wikipedia, introduce yourself to another student on their user talk page.  
  • Explore topics related to your topic area to get a feel for how Wikipedia is organized. What areas seem to be missing? As you explore, make a mental note of articles that seem like good candidates for improvement.

Week 2

Course meetings
Monday, 1 February 2016
In class - This week's readings
Violence

Further reading


In class - Editing basics


  • Understanding Wikipedia as a community, we'll discuss its expectations and etiquette.
  • Basics of editing
  • Anatomy of Wikipedia articles, what makes a good article, how to distinguish between good and bad articles  
  • Collaborating and engaging with the Wiki editing community
  • Tips on finding the best articles to work on for class assignments

Handouts: Using Talk Pages, Evaluating Wikipedia


Assignment - Copyedit an article


  • Choose one article, identify ways in which you can improve and correct its language and grammar, and make the appropriate changes. You can also highlight statements in need of citation, or more reliable sourcing. Note: You do not need to alter the article's substantive content or add sources; we will be doing this in a couple of weeks. Just copyedit.


Assignment - Exploring the topic area
  • In a couple of weeks you'll need to formally suggest a term project to work on, so this is a chance to look around informally and get some guidance in class.
  • Look around Wikipedia in the topic area of the course. Don't just look at main pages, but also at smaller and more specialized sub-pages and specialized articles. Are major academic theories or ideas weakly covered? Are there major books with no summary (or a poor one)? Do articles use and reference modern social science?
  • In the next class, be prepared to talk about some of your observations about 
    Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use 
    improvement.
  • This assignment is formally ungraded, but your contributions next week will be reflected in your broader class participation/discussion grade.
Milestones

All students have Wikipedia user accounts and are listed on the course page.

Week 3

Course meetings
Monday, 8 February 2016
In class - This week's readings
The State
  • Pages 1-24 of Timothy Besley and Suresh Naidu (2015). “Chapter 21: Political Economy,” core-econ.org (Dropbox)
  • Herbst, Jeffrey. "War and the State in Africa." International Security (1990): 117-139.
  • Chapter 1 of Dipali Mukhopadhyay. 2014. Warlords, strongman governors, and the state in Afghanistan. Cambridge University Press. (Dropbox or the Kindle version of Chapter 1 is available on Amazon for free by clicking on “Send a free sample”)
  • Chapter 10 (Conclusions) in James C. Scott. (1998). Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed. (Dropbox)

Further reading:


In class - Exploring the topic area


  • Be prepared to discuss in class some of your observations about Wikipedia articles in your topic area that are missing or could use improvement.

Handouts: Choosing an article


In class - Using sources


  • Be prepared to explain close paraphrasing, plagiarism, and copyright violations on Wikipedia.

Handouts: Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sources|Sources and Citations]]


Assignment - Add to an article


  •  Choose a source (one of the short readings from this week, a previous week, a future week, or one that you know from another course). 
  • Choose a Wikipedia article related to the class, where an insight from this source is relevant. Ideally this is an article where the substantive point is not already made, and it is in need of content and sourcing.
  • Add the new information to the Wikipedia article, backed up with a citation to your source. It could be as little as a sentence, though, as Wikipedia advises, feel free to "be bold".

Week 4

Course meetings
Monday, 15 February 2016
In class - This week's readings
Insitutions

Further reading:


Assignment - Choosing your article


  • Research and list 3–5 articles on your Wikipedia user page that you will consider working on as your main project. Look at the talk page for existing topics for a sense of who else is working on it and what they're doing. Describe your choices to your instructor for feedback.
  • If you are writing a senior essay or a term paper for another class, do not choose the same topic. Feel free to choose a close or complementary topic, but not an identical one.

Week 5

Course meetings
Monday, 22 February 2016
In class - This week's readings
Geographic origins of poltical and economic development
  • Diamond, Jared (1998). "The evolution of guns and germs." Chapter 3 of Evolution: Society, science, and the universe, edited by A. C. Fabian. (Dropbox)
  • Engerman, Stanley L, and Kenneth L Sokoloff. 2005. “Institutional and Non-Institutional Explanations of Economic Differences.” In Handbook of New Institutional Economics, edited by C Menard and M.M. Shirley, 639–65. Amsterdam: Springer.
  • Nugent, Jeffrey B., and James A. Robinson. "Are factor endowments fate?." Revista de Historia Economica 28.1 (2010): 45. (Skip the math)

Further reading:


In class - Discuss the article topics
  • Discuss the topics students will be working on, and determine strategies for researching and writing about them.


Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/sandboxes|Sandboxes and Mainspace]]


Assignment - Finalize your topic and start researching


  

  • Select an article to work on, removing the rest from your user page. Add your topic on the course page. Remember this should not be the identical topic as one of your other term papers or senior essay.
  • Spend some time looking around Wikipedia for articles related to your topic, whether they are broader or have parallels. How is the information organized? How should your article fit in? Are you sure you are editing in the right place, or addressing the topic in the right way?
  • Compile a bibliography of relevant, reliable sources and post it to the talk page of the article you are working on. Begin reading the sources. Make sure to check in on the talk page (or watchlist) to see if anyone has advice on your bibliography.

Week 6

Course meetings
Monday, 29 February 2016
In class - This week's readings
Theories of institutional development

Further reading:



In class - Wikipedia culture and etiquette
  • Talk about Wikipedia culture and etiquette, and (optionally) revisit the concept of sandboxes and how to use them.
  • Q&A session with instructor about interacting on Wikipedia and getting started with writing.


Assignment - Drafting starter articles


  • If you are starting a new article, write a 3–4 paragraph summary version of your article—with citations—in your Wikipedia sandbox. If you are improving an existing article, create a detailed outline reflecting your proposed changes, and post this for community feedback, along with a brief description of your plans, on the article’s talk page. Make sure to check back on the talk page often and engage with any responses.
  • Begin working with classmates and other editors to polish your short starter article and fix any major issues.
  • Continue research in preparation for expanding your article.

Week 7

Course meetings
Monday, 7 March 2016
In class - This week's readings
Background for your article

You should start reading several articles or other sources relevant to your toipic. Feel free to speak to me about suggestions. We will spend the class looking at your starter articles, spending about 5-10 minutes on each person's article with the rest of the class.

Milestones

All students have started editing articles or drafts on Wikipedia.


In class - Building articles


  • Share experiences and discuss problems.

Resources: Illustrating Wikipedia and Evaluating Wikipedia


Assignment - Reading over the break

We will be discussing two big books after the break, by Migdal and Pinker. This will mean an unusual amount of reading. But they are really, really good books. Migdal is one of my favorite books in all of political science. Pinker is one of the most widely-read and influential books on violence written this century. 

Week 8

Course meetings
Monday, 21 March 2016
In class - This week's readings
Strong societies

Further reading:


In class - Moving articles to mainspace
  • We'll discuss moving your article out of your sandboxes and into Wikipedia's main space.
  • A general reminder: Don't panic if your contribution disappears, and don't try to force it back in.
    • Check to see if there is an explanation of the edit on the article's talk page. If not, (politely) ask why it was removed.
    • Contact your instructor or Wikipedia Content Expert and let them know.


Handout: Moving out of your Sandbox


Assignment - Moving articles to mainspace


  • Move your sandbox articles into main space.
      
    • If you are expanding an existing article, copy your edit into the article. If you are making many small edits, save after each edit before you make the next one. Do NOT paste over the entire existing article, or large sections of the existing article.
        
    • If you are creating a new article, do NOT copy and paste your text, or there will be no record of your work history. Follow the instructions in the "Moving out of your sandbox" handout.
        
  • Begin expanding your article into a comprehensive treatment of the topic.


Assignment - Move your article proposals to the talk page
  • Before the break you provided article summaries to me in your sandboxes, and I gave you feedback
  • Based on that feedback, add your planned changes to the Talk page as soon as possible, to see if there is feedback from other Wikipedians.
  • Make sure you use the appropriate formatting, sign your suggestions, use the : for replies, etc.
  • It seems like the style of talk pages is not to add one big heading with all your proposed changes, but rather to break it up by theme or major type of proposal. You will probably add many headings with comments, each related to a different aspect or part of the article.
  • If you are collaborating with someone else in the class, you will often be adding to the same subsections on the talk page, rather than creating duplicate ones. You can reply to one another and put some of your discussion.

Week 9

Course meetings
Monday, 28 March 2016
In class - This week's readings
The Case of Central America

Further reading:

  • Review from Week 5: Nugent, Jeffrey B., and James A. Robinson. "Are factor endowments fate?." Revista de Historia Economica 28.1 (2010): 45. (Skip the math)
  • Part 4 of Coffee and Power, especially Chapter 10

Week 10

Course meetings
Monday, 4 April 2016
In class - This week's readings
The origins of weak societies and weak states
  • Migdal, Joel S. Strong societies and weak states: state-society relations and state capabilities in the Third World. Princeton University Press, 1988 (Buy on Amazon)


Assignment - Choose articles to peer review


  • I will assign you two classmates’ articles that you will peer review and copyedit. On the table at the bottom of this course page, add your username next to the articles you will peer review. (You don’t need to start reviewing yet.)

Week 11

Course meetings
Monday, 11 April 2016
Assignment - Complete first draft


  • Expand your article into a complete first, rough draft.
  • Your classmates will need this for peer review so be sure to complete it on time (the 18th)


In class - NO CLASS THIS WEEK

I will be out of town and so you should use this week to read more deeply in your subject and complete your first draft.

Week 12

Course meetings
Monday, 18 April 2016
Assignment - Peer review and copyedit


  • Peer review two of your classmates’ articles. Leave suggestions on the article talk pages.
      
  • Copy-edit the two reviewed articles.

Supplementary training: [[../../../training/students/peer-review|Peer Review]]


In class - This week's readings
Strengthening states and society

Further reading



In class - Group suggestions

  

  • As a group, we will discuss general suggestions for improving other students' articles, based on your ideas of what makes a solid encyclopedia article.[[../../../training/students/peer-review|
    ]]

Week 13

Course meetings
Monday, 25 April 2016
Milestones

Every student has finished reviewing their assigned articles, making sure that every article has been reviewed.


In class - This week's readings
TBD



In class - Discuss further article improvements


  • Continue discussing how the articles can be further improved. Come up with improvement goals for each article for next week.
  • Think about what broader articles your article should speak to, and how they could connect


Assignment - Address peer review suggestions


  • Make edits to your article based on peers’ feedback. If you disagree with a suggestion, use talk pages to politely discuss and come to a consensus on your edit.

Week 14

Course meetings
Monday, 2 May 2016
In class - This week's readings
TBD



In class - Reflections on process
  • Before class, you should prepare some reflective notes on your experiences with Wikipedia, what you learned, what you would do differently in future, and how your ideas about online information has been shaped by the experience.


Assignment - Final article


  • Add final touches to your Wikipedia article.
  • Are there lists, disambiguation entries, or major topic articles where your article should be included?

Handout: Polishing your article

Milestones

By the end of reading period (May 5) students have finished all their work on Wikipedia that will be considered for grading.

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