As a rising senior at Tufts, I have come to realize that the beauty of my education is that, every so often, I take a class that greatly alters my perspective about the relationship between peoples, states, and institutions. I have begun to seek out these experiences, which are simultaneously liberating and overwhelming, and this past year I was lucky enough to find one in Political Violence in State and Society. In the class, we explored the relationship between violence and state-building and the ways in which state and non-state actors employ violence to further their goals. I left that class not only with a deeper understanding of how civilian and ruling actors engage through conflict, but with a renewed eagerness to promote political rights and change the structures that lead to oppression.
