The course requires a series of medium length papers assigned at the end of each of the course's three sections. These papers should be no longer than seven double-spaced pages in length. In these papers the student is asked to compare and contrast the major ideas addressed in that section of the course. Students should confine their analysis to the course readings and are discouraged from going outside these readings.
There is also a slightly longer paper, eight to ten double-spaced pages, due at the very end of the course. This paper may apply the concepts of the course to a particular case or set of cases, for example, the persistence of ethnic conflict in Northern Ireland or the problem of democratic consolidation in Central Asia. The paper is not expected to be a research project. The aim of the paper is to discuss the insights or limitations of the theories discussed in the course in order to address the question. Alternatively, the paper can return to one or two of the theoretical debates brought up during the course and delve more deeply into those issues and how these theories relate. An example that integrates two sessions of the course would be the topic of prejudice and stigma in patronage systems. Both topics were addressed, but not their interaction. Again, the focus is on thinking theoretically about ethnicity and politics.
Finally, the course requires six two page papers. These papers are not summaries. Students should use them to identify flaws and raise specific questions to bring up during class discussion. These papers are intended as an outlet for student opinion, intuitions, and questions.
Incompletes are strongly discouraged.