SW1501

This course provides an introduction to peace studies – an interdisciplinary field that considers questions such as: how can human conflicts be resolved in ways that promote justice and peace? Learners in this class explore definitions, conditions, and causes of violence, nonviolence, war, and peace – be it between nations, groups, or individuals. Students will be able to distinguish between the concepts of negative peace, or the absence of war, and positive peace, understood as the presence of values and practices which promote justice and well-being within a society (such as economic and social justice and environmental stewardship). Learners in the class will explore a broad range of historical examples of ways that people have responded powerfully and creatively to situations of violence and injustice, and construct their own understandings of creative ways to respond to conflict.

Global Perspectives

Every Fall & Spring