Description
Conflict is a natural phenomenon. However, its ability to produce positive or negative results is dependent on the factors and processes used in response to it. Students will use academic and news articles, movies, book chapters, and case studies to explore the theoretical and empirical factors that influence conflicts, how these conflicts escalate to violence, and the various nonviolent mechanisms that can be used for their peaceful resolution. This course is an introduction to peace studies and nonviolent conflict resolution mechanisms, and will review the primary literature on the roots of peace at the societal level and methods for finding mutually acceptable solutions to conflicts at the individual and group levels. It examines the theories and causes of conflict from the global, national, and human perspectives and explores the stages of conflict, why some conflicts escalate into violence, why some don’t, and what mechanisms help with ensuring peaceful resolution.
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