Peace Studies at St. Lawrence

Congratulations to Grace Ochieng’ for being awarded one of the “100 Projects for Peace” grants for 2009, sponsored by the Kathryn Wasserman Davis Projects for Peace Program.

Click here for for more about 100 Projects for Peace, and for information about Grace’s project.

For students interested in minoring in Peace Studies, here are the courses offered in Fall 2009 that count towards the Peace Studies minor if you have already taken Introduction to Peace Studies.  (If you haven’t yet taken Intro to Peace Studies, please take it first.)  Note too that only one course can count for both your major and for your Peace Studies minor.  Please see this previous post for additional important information.  For information on how to think about structuring your minor, please see this advice.

Anthropology

ANTH 102 – Cultural Anthropology

Economics

ECON 100 – Introduction to Economics

Education

EDUC 203 – Contemporary Issues in Education

Environmental Studies

ENVS 124 - Dirty Business and the Environment (dual-listed in SOC)

ENVS 216 – Climate Change Policy and Advocacy

ENVS 261 – Sustainable Agriculture

ENVS 310 – Philosophy of the Environment (dual-listed in ODST and PHIL)

ENVS 318 – Environmental Psychology (dual-listed in PSYC)

Government

GOVT 108 – Introduction to International Politics

GOVT 230 – African Politics

GOVT 362 – International Law

GOVT 343 – Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence

Global Studies

GS 230. Secrets and Lies: Nationalism, Violence and Memory

History

HIST 103 – Development of the United States, 1607 – 1877

HIST 104 – Development of the United States, 1877 – Present

HIST 333 – The Age of the American Revolution

HIST 325 – The United States & the Vietnam War

Music

MUS 210 – Musics of the World

Peace Studies

PEAC 100 - Introduction to Peace Studies (dual-listed in PHIL)

Philosophy

PHIL 120 -Introduction to Peace Studies (dual-listed in PEAC)

PHIL 203 – Ethical Theory

PHIL 206 – Introduction to Political Theory

PHIL 310 – Philosophy of the Environment (dual-listed in ENVS and ODST)

PHIL 343 – Political Theories of Violence and Nonviolence

Psychology

PSYC 318 – Environmental Psychology (dual-listed in ENVS)

Sociology

SOC 124 – Dirty Business and the Environment (dual-listed in ENVS)

SOC 275 – Medical Sociology

SOC 288 – Dilemmas of Development: An Introduction to International Development Studies

SOC 310 – Slavery, Race and Culture

The lecture explores the future prospects for the relations between Israel’s Jewish citizens and it’s Palestinian ones. Most of the discussion on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict centers on the antagonists, while the Arab citizens of Israel, of Palestinian descent, are often left out of the discourse. The Palestinian Israelis are not quite Israeli, since they cannot identify with the state’s national Jewish ethos, and in a sense, not quite Palestinian since, as Israeli citizens, they have different legal and political status and interests than their Palestinian counterparts.

The rise in violence between Israel and the Palestinians since the eruption of al-Aqsa intifada in 2000 and the war with Hamas in 2008, as well as the strengthening of the nationalist parties on the political Right in the Israeli  elections in February, all reshape the relationship between the Palestinian minority and its state of citizenship. What are some of the implications of those events for the Jewish-Arab relations within Israel and what are some of the implications for the larger conflict? Is the one state solution a viable option or are we moving toward carving up the area into three distinct entities: Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab autonomy in between?

Ronnie Olesker is an Assistant Professor of Government, specializing in comparative politics and international relations. She holds a Law Degree (LL.B) with specialization in International Law from Israel. She served as an intelligence analyst in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and worked for the district attorney’s office in Tel Aviv. She earned her Masters in Law and Diplomacy (MALD) and PhD from the Fletcher School at Tufts University.

She teaches courses on Comparative Politics, International Relations, Middle East Politics, Terrorism and Human Rights. Her research focuses on majority-minority relations, and the decision-making processes of minority groups in adopting political violence against the state. Other areas of interests include the nexus between violence, namely terrorism, and violations of human rights, particularly in the Israeli-Palestinian context as well as peace and conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict. Her most recent work looks at the effects of the 2008 US presidential elections on US-Israeli bilateral relations and Israeli domestic politics.

For more information, please visit the Contemporary Issues web page.

Center for Civic Engagement and Leadership Teach-in:  “Living with War“

Friday, March 27, 2009
Student Center
Winston Room
12:00 - 4:30pm

12noon-1:30pm
Milspeak Panel: The Road Toward Excellence: How St. Lawrence University can Assist Veterans’ Transition from Military to Civilian Life

Guest Speakers:

• Sally Drumm, Gunnery Sergeant USMC, Ret.
• Charlotte Brock, Marine Officer 2002-2008
• Debra Sharkey, First Sergeant USMC

Description: Panel members Charlotte Brock, Debra Sharkey, and Sally Drumm will share their experience with military life and making the transition to civilian life. How can St. Lawrence University can use existing programs and develop new programs to assist veterans in the SLU community? These three Marines have a few ideas. Presentation will include an overview of Milspeak Creative Writing Seminars (http://www.milspeak.org), a program for military people who want to write about their military experiences.

1:45 - 2:15pm
“The Suitors’ Ward” Performance and Discussion

Written by: Clay McLeod Chapman, Award-Winning Playwright
Performed by: Ann Marie G. Halstead, MFA
Directed by: Chris Clarke, MFA

Description: An army nurse who treats severely wounded soldiers discusses her job and her role in the war.

2:30 - 4:30pm
Panel: “Life after War”

Description: Nellie Coakley, a War Trauma Counselor affiliated with the SLC Vet Center Program will open the session with an overview of the post traumatic stresses and readjustment experiences of our returning veterans and the types of services available to them. The presentation will be followed by a panel of Iraqi war vets and their families who will share their stories about what they have faced and continue to face in life after war.  A question answer session will follow.

This event is made possible by the Alcoa Foundation Cultural Affairs Program Fund.

POETRY  FOR  PEACE

A special reading dedicated to

Languages and Cultures of the World

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Richard F. Brush Art Gallery
4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

Students from classes at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures and other departments will read poems in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Mohawk, Spanish and Swahili to celebrate the “World Languages Week”.

Mark your calendars for the next reading:

Richard F. Brush Art Gallery – 4:30 pm–5:30 pm
Thursday, April 2, 2009

On Thursday, March 5, nine alumni who work in “careers for the common good” will be returning to campus to participate in a career panel, conduct informational interviews, and present to classes.  At 6:30 p.m. in the Hannon Room of the Student Center, they will be participating in a panel discussion related to their careers.  Hors d’oeuvres will be provided at 5:30 p.m. outside the Hannon Room.

Students are able to schedule individual informational interviews with panelists by contacting Career Services (229-5906).  For panelist information, please go to www.stlawu.edu/lir/.

Many of the Contemporary Issues Forum events at St. Lawrence University are on topics relevant to those interested in Peace Studies.

The Center for Diversity and Social Justice is sponsoring a Social Justice Brown Bag Series this semester.  For more information, please contact the Center for Diversity and Social Justice.  Here is their description of the series:

The Center for Diversity and Social Justice will host a series of brown bag lunches on the fourth Friday of each month.  We invite all faculty and staff to participate, and we encourage you to submit topics for conversation and volunteer to lead discussions. Our focus is social justice as it is broadly and variously defined. Participants may share activist experiences, discuss definitions, or ask questions. We want our community to think and talk about social justice in a variety of venues.

Here is a page with links to some online readings on peace and nonviolence.  Some of the readings are classic articles.  Others give an overview of important concepts and principles that are discussed in peace studies, including, for example, nonviolence, civil disobedience, satyagraha, just war theory, and human rights.  Whether you are in the Peace Studies Reading Group or not, feel free to have a look!  If you have additional reading suggestions, please feel free to add them in the “comments” section!

The Peace Studies Advisory Board invites faculty and staff from St. Lawrence University who wish to learn more about peace and nonviolence to join our Reading Group.

We plan to meet on Fridays at noon on the following dates:  February 20, March 6, March 13, April 3, and April 17.

We will read William Ury’s The Third Side, and parts of Gene Sharp’s The Politics of Nonviolent Action.

If you are a faculty member or staff member at St. Lawrence University, and would like to participate in this reading group, please contact Laura Rediehs for more information!