Taught By:
Rachel Goldberg
Associate Professor
Peace and Conflict Studies
DePauw University
Read profile here.
Course Description:
Why does conflict matter? Because you can make a difference -- in your life, family, work, school, the world. The Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) field looks at conflict, social problems, and violence in the world and examines why things are the way they are, and how we could make them better. This means we focuses on a deep understanding and examination of conflicts and violence (analysis), and also ask the question: What can we do about it? (resolution or transformation). T
he Applied Peace and Conflict Studies class gives students analytic skills to understand the complexity of conflict in more depth, introduces various processes to resolve or transform conflict and violence, including structural and societal violence, and provides concrete, practical transformation skills you can use in your own life. The class will also explore some of the major debates in PACS including: can or should interveners be neutral? And how do we engage some of the most intractable conflicts? Etc.
This class also includes a 16-hour Restorative Justice Mediation lab, with skills and practice sessions, on two, full, weekend days. This means you will leave as a trained mediator – a highly marketable skill set. (For those who have already done the training, you will act as coaches, and, if you wish, co-trainers -- also excellent things to add to a resume!)
