Peace Studies Minor
There are more than 160 higher learning institutions offering Peace Studies programs in the United States and more than 500 colleges around the world. The United States government gave official recognition to the field of Peace Studies in 1984 when it established the U.S. Institute of Peace. In 1987, the Peace Studies Association, a professional academic body, was established. In addition, the field is represented by the Consortium on Peace Research, Education, and Development (COPRED). There are at least six scholarly journals devoted to Peace Studies.
Peace Studies is an interdisciplinary field of study housed primarily in the social sciences. Other labels for Peace Studies include “peace and conflict studies,” “peace and justice studies” and “conflict analysis and resolution." Peace Studies explores the causes and nature of human conflict from the interpersonal to the global level. Historically, Peace Studies programs concentrated on “negative peace” or absence of war. Today, more attention is devoted to the concept of “positive peace” promoting social, political, and economic justice. A partial list of topics under Peace Studies includes violence, war, ethnic conflict, conflict management, conflict resolution, peacemaking, law, human rights, values, justice, environment, racism, sexism, and nonviolence. Normatively, the goal of Peace Studies is to promote a more just and peaceful world.
The Peace Studies minor selects courses related to this topic from a variety of departments and programs including Anthropology, Biology, East Asian Studies, Economics, English, Environmental Studies, Geography, History, International Relations, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Religion, Sociology, and Women’s and Gender Studies.
The Peace Studies minor allows students to group a number of courses to advance their interest in conflict, violence, justice, and peace. A Peace Studies concentration will enrich students’ understanding of their respective majors and prove useful to careers or graduate studies in a variety of fields, including journalism, education, media, politics, public policy, law, business, domestic and international organizations, and international relations.
The Peace Studies minor will consist of five courses, none of which can be double counted in the student’s major and with no more than three of those five courses being in the same department.
| Select two of the following: | 2 | |
| The Philosophy of Peace and Nonviolence | ||
| War | ||
| Peace Studies | ||
| Select three of the following: 1 | 3 | |
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Modern Africa | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| East Asian Politics | ||
| China Since 1800 | ||
| International Relations in East Asia | ||
| Modern Japanese History | ||
| Chinese Politics | ||
| U. S.-China Relations | ||
| African Economic Development | ||
| Unemployment and Poverty | ||
| Intermediate Political Economy | ||
| Seminar in Economic Topics | ||
| African-American Literature | ||
| Gender and Sexuality in America | ||
| Green Utopias | ||
| Environmental Injustice | ||
| Environmental Law | ||
| Human Impact on Environment | ||
| Economic Geography | ||
| Urban Condition | ||
| Political Geography | ||
| Third World Development | ||
| American Civil War and Reconstruction | ||
| Twentieth-century African-American History: Eyes on the Prize | ||
| Contemporary Europe, 1890-1995 | ||
| Europe Imperialism and Colonialism | ||
| African History II | ||
| U.S. History since 1865 | ||
| Chinese Politics | ||
| East Asian Politics | ||
| International Law | ||
| East Asian International Relations | ||
| International Relations of Migration | ||
| Latin America: An Introduction | ||
| Colonial Latin America | ||
| International Politics | ||
| Comparative Politics | ||
| Third World Politics | ||
| Latin American Politics | ||
| Russian Politics | ||
| Government and Politics of the Middle East | ||
| Chinese Politics | ||
| East Asian Politics | ||
| Women and Politics | ||
| American Foreign Policy | ||
| U.S. National Security Policy | ||
| Global Governance | ||
| East Asian International Relations | ||
| The International Relations of Latin America in the 21st Century | ||
| United States and the Middle East | ||
| The Arab-Israeli Conflict | ||
| U.S.-China Relations | ||
| Social Psychology | ||
| Black Psychology | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Advanced Abnormal Psychology | ||
| Conflict and Peace in Northern Ireland | ||
| Islam | ||
| Hinduism | ||
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Issues of Religion and Culture | ||
| Religions of China | ||
| Religions of Japan | ||
| Religion and Constitutional Law | ||
| Religion and American Politics | ||
| Race in Historical and Comparative Perspectives | ||
| Criminology | ||
| Sociology of Race and Ethnicity | ||
| Violence and Society | ||
| How Holocausts Happen | ||
| Remember the Holocaust | ||
| Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies | ||
| Women and Politics | ||
| 1 | Students can propose to include another relevant course by consulting with and obtaining approval from the coordinator of the minor. Students also can manage to have an internship or field work related to the minor count for credit. |
Faculty
Coordinators: Tansa G. Massoud