SOC 327: ETHNIC CONFLICT
Presenting Case Studies

COLGATE UNIVERSITY
FALL 1999
Professor Thomas Hall
Last Updated 11-2-99

I.  Doing the Research [See Picking Your Case Study and Annotated bibliography]
II. Presenting a report to the class on the text [below]
III. Critiques of other reports [see Criticizing A Case Study]
IV. A written version that elaborates on II and incorporates critiques [Writing A Case Study]

The Presentation:
Your presentation should last about 15 to 25 minutes.  I would suggest no more than 5 minutes or so summarizing your case. Use the remaining time analyzing your case: what does this case teach about ethnic violence or conflict, OR why it does NOT teach much. Finish with questions or problems YOU are having in analyzing your case. This will guide the rest of the class in writing comments to help you. Try to leave some time for questions and answers/discussion with the rest of the class.  On the days we have two presentations, being briefer will help.  If points are missed, you can elaborate during the question & discussion time.

Note: you should interpret questions that ask you to clarify or elaborate on something as suggestions that you may need more details or more explanation on those points.

Organization:
The organization of your case study should follow that for the written version [see Writing A Case Study], but be considerably shorter to fit into the allotted time.

Your case study should be organized into the following parts

• 1. A general, brief description of the case including:
• Description of the parties to the conflict
• A time-line for the conflict
• How it fits into our typology of conflicts [if this is complex, address this under 2]
• I. > 1500 CE, state-state or state and minority group
• II. > 1500 CE, state-indigenous group
• III. < 1500 CE, state-state or state and minority group
• IV. < 1500 CE, state-indigenous group
• A brief overview of what this case adds to our understanding of ethnic conflict in general.
• All of this should be done in one or two minutes, and might be summarized in a handout
• 2. The last part of 1 should segue, fade into, a discussion of how you see your case fitting into the general discussion, analysis, and understanding of ethnic conflict. Also include any complexities in the components of part 1 [2 to 4 pages].  This may take another 2 - 4 minutes.
• 3. A description of the case, including its history [a time line may be useful], how the conflict, the parties to the conflict, and sources of conflict have changed over time. While this will be the longest part of your written paper, here keep it to the minimum necessary to present parts 4 and 5.  Try to keep it to 10 minutes or less.
• 4. Analysis of the case. Here you use your description and history [part 3] to set up a discussion of how your case fits into the model presented in chapter 5 of Gurr and Harff, or how it requires their model be modified, or even how it requires that it be redone completely. This will take from 3 to 5 minutes.
• 5. Suggestions for ending or at least ameliorating the conflict. Here, if you can not invent a plausible way to do this, try to specify what further information you would need to begin developing a solution or amelioration to the conflict. This will take from 2 to 5 minutes.

Handouts:
One or more handouts may be useful for your audience.  You might even include a map, if the region is one that is unfamiliar [which true for almost all the cases].  With some clever use of the reducing function on a photocopier, you can get a map and basic time line onto one page.

If you are adding some complex boxes or relations to the Gurr & Harff model, you may want to make a copy of the original, and draw in by hand your modifications so the audience can follow your discussion.

The advantage of these handouts are that you can go over material more quickly, and when writing critiques the rest of the class can make more useful comments [see Criticizing A Case Study].

Questions & Discussion:
Use the questions and discussion to help you formulate how you will revise what you have already done for the draft and final written versions of your case study [see Writing A Case Study].