In this graduate seminar we will examine the growing formal and quantitative literature on political violence with a special emphasis on insurgency and civil war. The course will draw heavily on game theory and the potential outcome approach, and will require careful reading of 2-4 articles each week on topics including: terrorism, the causes and duration of civil war, revolution, and the institutional and organizational structure of insurgent organizations. The goal of the course is to improve students' ability to theoretically isolate and empirically identify important mechanisms when studying conflict and violence.