THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

 

PEACE AND JUSTICE STUDIES PROGRAM

 

Program Director: Dr. William Barbieri, School of Theology and Religious Studies

 

The School of Arts and Sciences offers an interdisciplinary undergraduate subconcentration in Peace and Justice Studies. The purposes of the program are to enable students to explore the complex set of issues surrounding violent and nonviolent approaches to resolving conflicts and to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of peace, justice, and world order. The program is administered by the office of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies in cooperation with the program director. 

 

Six courses (18 credit hours) are required to complete the minor.  Three of these are core courses in, respectively, politics, sociology, and religious studies.  Students further choose three electives from one of three thematically defined tracks:  Peacemaking in Theory and Practice, Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation, and World Conflict and Cooperation.  In addition, students are expected to complete a senior thesis—normally, a term paper written in the context of a course counting toward the minor, on a topic chosen in consultation with the director.  N.B.:  Courses counted toward a student’s major may not as a rule be counted toward a minor. 

 

Affiliated Faculty:  William Barbieri, Theology and Religious Studies; Lucy Cohen, Anthropology; Thomas Cohen, History; Michael Foley, Politics; Maryann Cusimano Love, Politics; Barbara Wien, Politics; Bronislaw Misztal, Sociology; Sarah Pickert, Education; Rosemary Winslow, English

 

 

Core Courses:

 

Politics:                  POL 226—Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies

 

Sociology:              SOC 102—Social Problems

                                                or

                            SOC 226—Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution

 

Religious Studies:    TRS 334—War, Peace, and Revolution

                                                or

TRS 381—Ways of Peace in World Religions

 

 

Elective Courses:

Examples of approved electives include:

 

Track I:  Peacemaking in Theory and Practice

ANTH 250—Political Anthropology

ECON 501—Ethics in Economics and Social Responsibility

EDUC 503—Human Relations and Interpersonal Communications

ENG 530—The Rhetoric of Propaganda

HIST 332—The French Revolution

PHIL 332—Political Philosophy

POL 402—The Values Divide:  American Politics and Culture in Transition

POL 408—Ecology and Political Theory

POL 425—Just War:  Morality and International Conflict

POL 501—Globalization

SOC 424—Conflict and Conflict Resolution

SOC 450—Race Relations in Feature Film

SSS 223/225—Human Behavior and the Social Environment

TRS 338—War, Ethics and Film

TRS 370—Theologies of Liberation

 

Track II:  Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation

ANTH 240—Ethnicity

ANTH 313—Environment and Society

ANTH 355—Latinos and Latinas in the U.S.

ANTH 366—Identity and Community in America

EDUC 522—Race, Class, Gender and Disability in Education

HIST 283—Latinos in America:  1848-1990

HIST 311—The Crusades

HIST 353—The Civil War and Reconstruction

HIST 369—U.S. Civil Rights Movement, 1945-Present

POL 312—The Civil Rights Movement

POL 403—Poverty, Social Welfare, and Public Policy

PSY 225—Psychology of Aggression and Violence

SOC 413—Sex and Society

SSS 326—Diversity in a Multicultural Society

SSS 554—Homelessness:  Individual and Societal Considerations

 

Track III:  World Conflict and Cooperation

ANTH 217—Migrants, Refugees and the Homeless

ANTH 218—End of Nature?  Environmental Degradation in a Globalizing Society

ANTH 310—Islam in the Modern World

ANTH 315—Globalization and the Culture of Capitalism

ANTH 390—Politics and Religion in the Middle East

ENG/MDIA 452—Film Narrative:  Stanley Kubrick

HIST 361—War and Society in the Middle Ages

HIST 362—Nazism

HIST 377—World War II

HIST 383—Latin America And U.S. History

IRST 599—Northern Ireland:  Conflict and Culture

POL 307—Global Issues

POL 406—Environment and Development

POL 447—War and Peace in the Nuclear Age

POL 479—Iran and Iraq

SOC 331—Globalization and Social Movements

TRS 395—Christianity and the Challenge of Islam

 

Courses taken in accredited study abroad programs may be accepted on application.  The list of eligible courses is updated periodically.  In putting together a course program, students should consult with the director.

 

Students electing to take the minor must fill out an Application for Minor (Subconcentration) form, available in the office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs.  The director may be contacted at x4767 or barbieri@cua.edu.  For Spring 2011, contact Dean Karen Korol at x6522.