I need a topic about ethnic conflicts or genocide for my ethnicity and nationality class...any ideas?

Question

it's a 4000 level university class...got to be good! thank u

i'm sorry i didnt know WWII was still going on....

Answer 1

Off the top of my head, I can think of three major ethnic conflicts- Irish and the British, Islamic and the Jews, Nazis and... pretty much everyone else (mostly the Jews, though), and the Chinese and the Japanese. Does this help any?

Answer 2

Well, I would first think of what interests you because you're gonna be doing a LOT of research. Then I would consider small, obscure, and./or ancient conflicts so you won't be tempted to leave out major details to keep your paper within the prescribed limits. I mean, if you write about the holocaust, Europeans and native Americans, or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, then it's hard not to miss some feature that your prof thinks is vital.

I like movies so watch Hotel Rwanda. After about two hours you will know if you want to write about the civil war between the Tutsis and the Hutus and how it was bred by Belgian colonists. It is a very touching and excellent movie.

Serbia and Kosovo - Beginning with how Yugoslavia was held together by Tito and fell apart after his death, all along ethnic lines.

Russia and Chechnya - That's pretty recent and ongoing, but its small and not commonly discussed in America. Chechnya is a Muslim state of Russia and fights for independence. Lots of horror stories of Russian soldier cruelty. Probably vice versa also, but that gets less press.'

The Kurds -- There a lot like the Palestinians in that they are an ethnic group without a country. Mostly they populate Iraq and Turkey. Part of the charges against Saddam Hussein is his mass killing of about 200,000 Kurds in Iraq.

Northern Irish Catholics seeking separation from Protestant Great Britain. Google Sinn Fein, Irish Republican Army.

Ethiopia and Eritrea - Eritrea was part of Ethiopia. Eritrea is primarily Muslim. Lots of conflict since WWI.

India and Pakistan - Divided by Hinduism and Islam and fighting over a worthless piece of mountainous land called Kashmir. Both sides now have succesfully tested nuclear weapons. Pakistan was part of India.

It's interesting, as I look these over, how many of the conflicts are related to WWI and/or WWII.

There's some ideas. Hope all goes well.

Answer 3

Your teacher is probably desperately hoping for a fresh look at a topic. Don't copy what others have done. If you need something more recent and local, you might design a project around the Hispanic populations. People who have Spanish speaking backgrounds come from various countries and , believe me, they do not all get along! They cannot even agree on what to call themselves: Chicano, Cubanos, Panamanians, Mexicans, Mexican American etc. Every country ( immigrant group) seems to see itself at the top of the pecking order. This shows up from gangs to politics. Even within a country like Mexico, there are those who are considered lower class due to their native ethnic(Indian) background. Southwestern Hispanics may see those whose families have been here since before the Puritans as being somehow "better" than those freshly over the border and certainly better than the "Anglos." "Wetbacks" are often lowest on the pecking order. Personally, I would argue that "coyotes" should be the lowest. Those are people who charge thousands of dollars to help people enter the country illegally, and then may kill or mistreat those people. Throw in some current anti immigration politics, hidden agendas of English only movements etc. and see if you can't come up with some fresh research. Face it, most WWII primary sources are dead or have been rehashed hundreds of times.

Answer 4

See if you can find enough info (use your Internet resources like Google and others) on the conflicts in the Congo, which used to be called Zaire. My sister works there as a missionary, and has seen a lot of this tension for a long time. They have ethnic conflicts all the time there. The northern Congolese don't like the southern ones, the southern ones don't like the northerners, the eastern Conglese are highly suspicious of their western countrymen, and the western Congolese tell you the eastern ones will eat your children when you're not looking. Of course, the ones in the center of the country don't like any of the others, either -- all of whom return the favor enthusiastically. It's one major mess. Humanity at its most human, truly. It's been going on for years, but most of the Western world does not have economic interests in that region so it never makes our news. *sigh* You'd probably be the only one doing your paper on this particular conflict, if originality is important to you.

Answer 5

There's a list of events involving genocide in the following site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history.

Just select one mentioned from the list and then look up the information in the internet and local library any information regarding that particular event.

Answer 6

How about the conflicts going on right now between the various religous sects in Iraq?

Answer 7

The word genocide was coined (if memory serves) in response to the Armenian Genocide.

Answer 8

~WORLD WAR II ...........Hello???!

~also the war that is going on between the Palestinians and Israel.

~There is a genocide going on in DARFUR right now!


(((It does not seem like you learn much in your class!))))