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The term violence implies both aggression inflicted and aggression received. Violence can therefore be physical, moral or symbolic. Furthermore, it can be more or less intense depending on the circumstances. Françoise Héritier, in her two-volume work provides a definition of violence as "all physical or mental constraints which induce terror, displacement, misfortune, suffering or the death of a loved one; any intrusive act that has the effect, either voluntary or involuntary of dispossessing others; the damage or destruction of inanimate objects." This definition suggests the complexity of theorizing and categorizing violence.

Ecofeminists have argued that oppression and violence form a continuum; that the differences in the exploitation of the earth, of domestic violence, of social violence, of all-out warfare are simply a matter of degree. In other words, all violence is the same. Or is it?

The fact violence is inherent to human behavior has produced an extensive interdisciplinary literature on the subject. This literature has tended to focus on four main strands: institutional violence (war, torture, dictatorial practices, police brutality, genocide); gender, racial or social violence (homophobic aggression, domestic violence, misogynist killings, racial lynching, urban riots, rural vandalism, immigration stigma, religious sanctions), textual violence (exclusionary discourses, hate speech, violence in literature) and social trauma studies (memory syndromes of war, genocide, slavery, dictatorship, colonization, decolonization, exile, etc.). By creating these theoretical frameworks do scholarly theories of violence obscure or illuminate our understanding of its practices? In other words, are the Ecofeminists right or is violence a more complex phenomenon that needs to be analytically teased out?

Beginning in 1492, peoples from the continents of Europe, Africa and America began to encounter each other across the Americas, setting off centuries of confrontation and adaptation, cultural clashes and cultural mixing, enslavement and resistance. Histories of these encounters were dominated for decades by the European perspective, but scholars have been increasingly seeking new sources and methods to uncover and interpret the perspectives and actions of Native peoples and Africans. In addition to written narratives in European languages, they have analyzed sources in Native languages, visual representations, and material culture. In this seminar, we will explore some of these approaches and sources together through topics such as first contact, military conflict, mapping, religion, and culture. Then you will have the opportunity to write a research paper on a topic of your choice on the theme of encounters in the early Americas. (You may also choose a theme related to early modern encounters elsewhere in the globe.) Although most of the papers will likely focus on the 15th to the 18th centuries, "first" encounters have continued and you may propose any paper that fits within the theme. Our seminar will take advantage of the excellent primary sources available in the James Ford Bell Library, and you will have the option of using a source/sources from that collection for your research.

Participation: 20%

Short Response Papers to Readings: 15%

Assignments building toward research paper: 15%

First Draft of Research Paper: 15%

Final Paper: 35%