Collaborative essays
From Never Again
Collaborate!
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This is an exercise in learning and synthesising opinions. Members suggest essay titles that lend themselves to collaborative effort. The drafting process includes ideas about areas that could be covered. Existing sources could be used or experts could be asked to write articles on specific points in the essay which would be offshoot of the essays. Seminars, meetings and online conferences could also provide material for the essays.
The point of the essays is to provide interesting and educational resources as well as synthesising opinions on different topics. Ideal topics give the opportunity to bring in many different examples and are not be expected to lead to a particular 'right' answer. Paragraphs or points will only be removed by discussion, otherwise members with other opinions are invited to put the other side as another paragraph. Members learn from the experiences and learning of other members.
As well as adding, essays are collaboratively edited and hopefully shaped into coherent documents which could be used in seminars or presented to experts.
Ideas for essays
- Why do the world's most powerful nations—namely the United States and the United Kingdom—do nothing to stop genocide when it occurs, even when evidence of wide-scale atrocities is obvious and relatively little resources (for these countries) are necessary to end the crimes?
- Are there similarities between the Ireland/Northern Ireland conflict and Rwanda? What could the two countries learn from each other about reconciliation?
- Could have experts on the good and bad points of the Rwandan experience as well as Northern Ireland and a look at the cultural similarities and differences in the two examples; could potentially be widened out to other countries + more.
- Are Britain and America at economic/political risk from the factors which have led to internal breakdown and genocide in African countries?
- A development of essays started by Clare & Nick, would look at those risk factors, where they are present in UK & America, where they are different and comparable; what action might need to be taken to avert violent conflict + more.
- How useful is the film Hotel Rwanda in teaching people about the Rwandan genocide?
- Might discuss suitability for different audiences, ommissions or slants, useful applications in raising awareness.
- Why is it that Britain and the United States focus their military power so heavily on the Middle East, and merely make a mention of genocide in Africa?
- Hint: It has to do with the o-word. See the film Syriana.
