We will provide handouts giving information about what Peace Studies is, how the minor here is structured, and what activities we are planning.  If you are interested in learning even more or getting involved, there are a variety of ways, from participating in a discussion group, to offering courses cross-listed into Peace Studies, to joining the Advisory Committee.  Full details will be provided.

If you are interested but cannot make this time, please be in touch, and we can send you information and/or meet with you individually to answer any questions you may have.

Those with more structure either specify that each student choose a concentration, or map out the Peace Studies terrain and specify “distribution requirements” to ensure that students gain a wide perspective on the field as a whole.

We have decided that it might be best for our own students to choose their own approach, in consultation with the Peace Studies Coordinator.  Some students may wish to take a focused approach, perhaps complementing their major.  Other students may wish to gain a broader perspective on the field as a whole.  The following represents a listing of the various ways that programs at other colleges do map out the field of Peace Studies, and can provide suggestions for students in constructing their programs.

Suggestion 1: Broad Overview in Terms of Scope

Peacemaking and nonviolent action can be applied at many levels.  One way to gain a broad overview of the field is to select courses that represent the different levels:

• Personal & Interpersonal Issues
• Community & Social Issues
• International & Global Issues
• Ecological Issues

Suggestion 2: A Wide Geographical Perspective

Another way to gain a broad overview of the field is to gain a broad geographical perspective.  Some Peace Studies programs at other schools require students to examine peace issues across the world:

• Central America, the Caribbean, and South America
• North America
• West, East, Central and Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa
• Europe
• The Middle East and North Africa
• Central Asia and the Former Soviet Union
• Asia and the Pacific Rim

Suggestion 3:  Focus on a Particular Geographical Area

Other programs require concentration rather than a broad overview, and one way to focus one’s studies is to do so geographically: through more in-depth study in a particular region of the world.

Suggestion 4: Strive for a Balance between a Conceptual Understanding and the Study of Practices

In this case, you might want to take some courses that provide a conceptual or theoretical overview, and other courses that examine actual practices.

Examples of Conceptual Foundations would be courses that deal with:

• Philosophical, Religious, and Cultural Bases and Influences
• Religion and Pacifism
• Ethical Approaches to Peace, War, and Conflict
• Increased Understanding of Social, Economic, and/or Environmental Justice
• The Role of International Norms, Institutions, and States in a Peaceful World Order
• Structural Causes of Violence and Conflict
• Social Theory and Social Movements
• Peace and Environmental Sustainability
• Economics and Peace

And then some other courses would help you to study actual practices and processes of peacemaking, nonviolent action, conflict management, conflict resolution, or conflict transformation.  These practices can be identified from historical, sociological, anthropological, or psychological studies.

Suggestion 5:  Focus on Specific Problems

Another way to focus one’s studies is to focus on a particular problem in some depth.  Some examples might include:

• Ethnic conflict in general or in a specific region of the world
• In-depth examination of a contemporary large-scale conflict
• An applied approach, such as reducing violence among youth, the arts and peacemaking, community mediation, or labor relations.

These are only a few suggestions.  There are other possibilities as well!  Feel free to set up an appointment to talk with the coordinator or a member of the advisory board to explore more possibilities.

http://students.stlawu.edu/hillnews/node/83

Anthropology

102. Cultural Anthropology
420. Views of Human Nature

Canadian Studies

201. Canadian-American Relations

Economics

100. Introduction to Economics

Education

203. Contemporary Issues in Education

Environmental Studies

253. Race, Class and Environmental Justice (dual-listed in SOC)
275. Energy and the Environment

Fine Arts

217. Buddhist Art and Ritual

Global Studies

333. Ethics of Global Citizenship (dual-listed in PHIL)

Government

108. Introduction to International Politics

History

103. Development of the United States, 1607 – 1877
104. Development of the United States, 1877 – Present
106. Modern East Asia
234. Modern Latin America
267. The Holocaust (dual-listed in REL)
273. Civil Rights Movement
325. The United States & the Vietnam War

Music

210. Musics of the World
337. Avant-garde and Underground Music

Philosophy

203. Ethical Theory
206. Introduction to Political Theory
333. Ethics of Global Citizenship (dual-listed in GS)

Religious Studies

266. The Holocaust (dual-listed in HIST)

Sociology

112. Inequality
235. Earning a Living: Work and Occupations in a Global Economy
253. Race, Class and Environmental Justice (dual-listed in ENVS)
288. Dilemmas of Development: An Introduction to International Development Studies
314. Nomads in World History
324. Corporate Takeover
465. Environmental Sociology

In the future, there will be a Peace Studies listing in the course catalog, showing that semester’s courses that count towards the Peace Studies minor.  The ones listed as Peace Studies will include PEAC 100: Introduction to Peace Studies, to be offered every Fall, and PEAC 400: Peace Studies Capstone Seminar, to be offered every Spring.  (We are not offering the Capstone Seminar yet this spring, because the minor has only just been approved!)  The other courses that help complete a Peace Studies minor are to be cross-listed from other departments.  For the current listing of courses that count, click on “Peace Studies Minor” above.

If you already have taken or are taking Introduction to Peace Studies (offered last year and this year as ND/PHIL 147A), you can start taking cross-listed courses this spring!  What you have to do, though, is look at the listing under the Peace Studies minor link just mentioned, and see which of these are being offered this spring.  Or, better yet, come talk to me!  It is important to note that you should keep copies of your syllabi and all of the work you do for the cross listed courses. You will make use of these in the Capstone Seminar!

If you are interested in becoming a Peace Studies minor, I strongly encourage you to come talk with me (Laura Rediehs), or anyone else on the advisory board (Donna Alvah, Kathleen Buckley, or Eve Stoddard), soon!