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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Paradoxes of War by Princeton University
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About the Course
The Paradoxes of War teaches us to understand that war is not only a normal part of human existence, but is arguably one of the most important factors in making us who we are. Through this course, I hope that you will come to appreciate that war is both a natural expression of common human emotions and interactions and a constitutive part of how we cohere as groups. That is, war is paradoxically an expression of our basest animal nature and the exemplar of our most vaunted and valued civilized virtues. You will learn some basic military history and sociology in this course as a lens for the more important purpose of seeing the broader social themes and issues related to war. I want you to both learn about war, but more importantly, use it as way of understanding your everyday social world. So, for example, the discussion of war and gender will serve to start you thinking about how expectations of masculinity are created and our discussion of nationalism will make clear how easy “us-them” dichotomies can be established and (ab)used. I will suggest some readings for you to complement the class and assign some activities through which you will be able to apply the theoretical insights from the course to your observations of everyday life. At the end of the course, you will start to see war everywhere and come to appreciate how much it defines our life.
All the features of this course are available for free. It does not offer a certificate upon completion.
Top reviews
DW
Mar 15, 2018
Very interesting topic and well-presented, too. Covers virtually every historic period in which there's been warfare (which, I guess, is every historic period in which there's been people).
AR
Jan 28, 2019
Lovely course. Wonderful understanding of the Professor about War and its related implications. Thank you Professor. For the first time I fully understood the horror of holocaust.
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