Political Violence in the United States

Catalog description

This course examines domestic political violence in the context of the United States from a social scientific perspective. Students will investigate various forms and manifestations of domestic political violence, including terrorism, hate crimes, riots and violent protests, and violence by the state. The history of political violence in the United States as well as the various ideologies that have motivated violent extremism will be considered, as will the factors that might drive support or tolerance for violent extremism within the American public, including economic grievances, media and social media, toxic ideologies, conspiracy theories and disinformation, institutional factors, social and demographic change, and politician hate speech. Students will also examine what can be done to address the problem of political violence in the United States.