Peace and Social Justice

The goal of the Peace and Social Justice (PSJ) minor is to integrate the study of social inequity with the peaceful resolution of conflict. In a world threatened by ethnic and religious strife, a widening gap between rich and poor, and violent confrontations over dwindling resources, the need to solve conflicts fairly and nonviolently has never been more pressing. The PSJ minor takes an interdisciplinary approach to these problems, combining insights from political science, history, psychology, human physiology, environmental science, anthropology, and cultural studies, among others. Students may explore the roots of violence in human behavior, including the violence of racism and economic inequality, the origins and perpetuation of war and terrorism, approaches to nonviolent conflict resolution, and various paths to social and economic justice.

Peace and social justice are natural companions. Peace cannot last without the just resolution of conflict, and justice pursued through violent means all too often results in the same pattern that caused the original injustice: lack of respect and understanding between peoples, social and economic inequalities, and control of restive populations through violence or the threat of violence. Thus, students who pursue social justice should also study insights from peace studies, while those who are attracted to nonviolence should explore some of the political, social, and economic roots of conflict. The core courses and electives in the PSJ minor provide this breadth while allowing students to focus on either or both of these areas. The two core course alternatives, Nonviolence in Action (RCSSCI 354) and Global Justice (PHIL 224/RCSSCI 224), provide overviews of the fields of peace studies and social justice, respectively.

Students wishing to pursue an academic minor in Peace and Social Justice must develop a specific plan for its completion in consultation with one of the program's designated advisors (currently, Helen Fox or Frank Thompson).

Area A Electives address the psychology, sociology, and biology of interpersonal and organized violence, exploring questions that underlie the abuse of social and interpersonal power: Is physical violence innate to humans (or human males)? How is violence defined differently by perpetrators and victims? In what ways do religious, political, and cultural institutions glorify, perpetuate, and/or alleviate violence? Area B Electives give students background and historical facts about specific wars, intractable conflicts, and attempts at global or state control of the social order. These detailed examples from different historical periods and cultural contexts help students understand and apply the more general theories of power. Area C and Area D Electives give students an understanding of how these conflicts, inequalities, and injustices have been dealt with in different cultures and contexts, and in some cases, provide opportunities for experiential learning and activism. Area C comprises courses that address nonviolent responses to conflict: social justice movements, dialogues across differences, interpersonal conflict resolution, and legal means of addressing injustice. Courses in Area D center on the reasons for specific social and economic disparities, analyses of social and political movements that address injustice, and the ways that communities can be organized to pursue nonviolent social change.

Prerequisites to the Academic Minor: There are no prerequisites for the Academic Minor per se, although individual courses elected to meet the requirements of the Academic Minor may have course prerequisites.

Academic Minor Program: Students are required to complete at least 18 hours of course work. Twelve or more credits must be at the 300 level or above. These courses must include:

1. Core Course: RCSSCI 354 Nonviolence in Action or PHIL 224/RCSSCI 224 Global Justice
2. One course from Area A or Area B
3. At least two courses from Area C
   or two courses from Area D
   or one course from Area C AND one from Area D

Area A: Understanding Violence – Courses that address the psychology, sociology, and biology of interpersonal and organized violence.

• AMCULT 235/WOMENSTD 235. Representing the Middle East in Hollywood Cinema
• AMCULT 378/WOMENSTD 378. Violence Against Women of Color
• AMCULT 498. Humanities Approaches to American Culture: Why Do They Hate Us? Perspectives on 9/11
• ANTHRCUL 326/WOMENSTD 326. Politics of Health and Social Suffering
• ASIAN 253. Religion, Violence, and Media
• ASIAN 480. Dialogue of Violence: Cinema in WWII&'s Pacific Theater
• HISTORY 345/RCSSCI 357. History and Theories of Punishment
• ORGSTDY 495. Exploring the Psychological Underground of Power (limited enrollment)
• POLSCI 330. Psychological Perspectives on Politics
• PSYCH 393. Political Psychology
• RCHUMS 312/SLAVIC 312. Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Central European Cinema
• RCSSCI 280/SOC 280. Moral Choice in Context
• RCSSCI 356. Mind, Brain & Violence
• SLAVIC 225. Central European Culture
• WOMENSTD 390/CAAS 390. Homophobia in the Black World: The U.S., Africa and the Caribbean

Area B: Conflict And Control – Courses that explain 20th and 21st century wars, intractable conflicts, globalization, and attempts at world order.

• AAPTIS 361. Jihad in History
• AAPTIS 491. Islamic Movements in Comparative Perspective (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
• ANTHRCUL 309. Anthropology of Europe: Nationalisms, Post-Socialisms, Multiculturalisms, & Refugees
• CAAS 413. Theories of Cultural Nationalisms
• HISTORY 241. America and Middle Eastern Wars
• HISTORY 302. U.S. Interventions in Latin America and the World
• MENAS 491. Islamic Movements in Comparative Perspective (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
• POLSCI 353. Arab Israeli Conflict
• REES 405. Islamic Movements in Comparative Perspective (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
• RCSSCI 360 & RCCORE 409. Struggles for Democracy in Mexico: Seminar and Field Study
• WOMENSTD 368/AMCULT 368. Women and War in the Middle East
• NAVSCI 310/UC 310. Evolution of Warfare

Area C: Conflict Resolution – Courses that address nonviolent responses to conflict: social justice movements, race relations, interpersonal conflict resolution, and legal paths to a just society.

• CAAS 385/ENGLSIH 385. African Literature: South Africa: Apartheid and After
• HISTORY 255. Gandhi's India
• POLSCI 364. Public International Law
• PSYCH 310/Soc 320/UC 320. Intergroup Dialogue Training and PSYCH 311/SOC 321/UC 311 Intergroup Dialogue Practicum (a two semester commitment)
• RCSSCI 461. Maps, Timelines, and Internet: The Quest for Peace in the Middle East
• UC 245/GEOG 245. Global Interdependence

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