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26:735:501
Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies (3)
This course is a required first-semester introduction for all incoming students of the master of arts degree program in peace and conflict studies. The basic structure, goals, and requirements are discussed. Then each class is given a presentation by one of the program’s core faculty, describing their core courses and research interests. Students will attain a general overview of peace and conflict studies as approached by our program, and be better able to plan their individual course of study. Students and faculty will get acquainted, and an incoming class will all get to know each other as a cohort.
Required for all entering students.
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26:735:502
Classical Foundations of Social Theory (3)
This course provides a graduate-level introduction to the works of the classical theorists who laid the foundations for modern social thought with additional coverage of theorists who have developed and expanded upon classical theoretical themes. Students will acquire competence in concepts, methods, and critical visions of modernity that are the lingua franca across many otherwise disparate fields in the social sciences today. Major emphasis will be given to the thought of Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber.
Cohen
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26:735:517,518
Colloquium in Peace and Conflict Studies (1,1)
A series of six lectures or discussions led by nonfaculty experts on particular subjects relevant to the general goals of the master of arts degree program.
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26:735:519
Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies (3)
Courses on specific subjects relevant to the general goals of the master of arts degree program in peace and conflict studies, which are not given on a regular basis.
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26:735:523
Comparative and International Education in Peace, Conflict, and Human Rights (3)
This course provides an overview of the history, theories, and current trends in comparative and international education focusing on peace, conflict, and human rights. The readings and discussions will be framed by historical and contemporary theories of comparative and international education development: colonial and postcolonial theories, economic theories of modernization, neoliberal economic expansion, international migration, and globalization. Using various case studies, it will explore and critically analyze the social production of mass schooling, nation-building, cross-national trends in implementing human rights, and emergency education in conflict and postconflict zones.
Lew
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26:735:525
Environmental Conflict (3)
Competition over territory and natural resources often leads to social conflict. This course focuses on the ways power dynamics shape landscapes, cause conflict, and exacerbate problems of ecological scarcity and degradation. Historical and ethnographic case studies illuminate the ways environmental conflicts have been framed by policymakers, social scientists, and people on the ground. These include, for example, the forceful displacement of Native Americans for the creation of national parks in the United States, the seizure of African savannah by British colonialists for large-game hunting preserves, the delimitation of rain forest by states and NGOs for biodiversity protection and ecotourism, and the enforcement of international bans against killing endangered species in regions where poverty is acute. Texts explore influential theories of environmental conflict, such as the “tragedy of the commons,” scarcity-induced violence, political ecology, postcolonial mindsets, and overpopulation, as well as scholarly critiques of these perspectives.
Sodikoff
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26:735:526
Peace, Conflict, Security, and Development (3)
International aid organizations and military and police strategists in places as different as rural Afghanistan and urban Brazil (and even here in Newark, New Jersey) today often understand security and development to be interdependent goals. But for critics, this “security-development nexus” legitimates authoritarian surveillance regimes and violent intervention into the lives of the world’s poor. This course examines the relationships between security and development in the contemporary world. Through reading ethnographic and historical case studies, as well as theoretical, journalistic, and polemical works, the course explores the different meanings assigned to these terms and the origins and material consequences of the “security-development nexus.” At its core, the debate over security and development revolves around key perspectives on the relationships among inequality, governance, well-being, and the social bases of violence and peace.
Mitchell
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26:735:539
Topics in the Social and Cultural Bases of Conflict and Cooperation (3)
Courses on specific subjects relevant to the general goals of the master of arts degree program in peace and conflict studies, which are not given on a regular basis.
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26:735:543
Irregular War: History, Culture, and Theory (3)
An ethnography-based examination of recent intrastate wars, when at least one party is not a government-based military, and different sides have a distinct social and cultural character. Students will develop a critical and comparative perspective on theories about cultural values, social organization, identities, interests, leaders, group formation, power, “the State,” violence, and history. Beginning with contrasting theoretical perspectives, 11 weeks will then focus on detailed examination of major areas of recent irregular war, each with a comparable counterpoint conflict. Student teams will research and present cases, and are tasked to identify critical junctures where mass violence became more likely, and conflict resolution efforts that do or do not address underlying causes of war.
Ferguson
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26:735:544
Urban Space and Urban Conflict (3)
Urban centers are becoming the theaters of new social and violent conflicts. According to the United Nations, by 2030, 80 percent of the world population will live in urban areas. This course will explore the contribution that the field of conflict resolution and strategic peace building can offer to support efforts in lowering violence and crime. Students will apply the concepts learned in mapping and in analyzing case studies in urban violence.
Civico
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26:735:545
Culture, Political Violence, and Globalization (3)
TThis course explores the cultural, structural, socioeconomic, and ethnohistorical dimensions of different types of violence (political violence, terrorism, war, and genocide) in a variety of local contexts (Cambodia, Rwanda, the Yanomamo, the United States, Argentina, Paraguay). It examines such topics as the bodily inscription of violence, terror and taboo, and the discourses mediating the perpetration, experience, and aftermaths of mass violence.
Hinton
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26:735:559
Topics in Violent Conflict (3)
Courses on specific subjects relevant to the general goals of the master of arts degree program in peace and conflict studies, which are not given on a regular basis.
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26:735:563
Transitional Justice, Recovery, and Legacies of Atrocity (3)
Examines the broader ethical and political question of how contemporary postconflict societies recover from devastating state-sponsored violence. By means of an interdisciplinary approach and a focus on case studies, students will develop a critical understanding of how survivors and affected communities in former war-torn areas remake their local worlds and everyday lives, working toward social coexistence, justice, and memory within and outside state-sponsored projects of transitional justice. The course speaks to debates in legal anthropology; anthropology of violence; human rights studies; interdisciplinary theories of transitional justice; theories of postconflict; and cultural elaboration of mourning and commemoration in the aftermath of atrocity.
Rojas-Perez
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26:735:576
Strategic Nonviolent Conflict (3)
This course examines strategic nonviolent conflict, i.e., conflicts prosecuted by civilians wielding methods of nonviolent action in struggles against oppressive and often violent opponents. The organized and sustained use of methods of nonviolent action by civilians in asymmetric conflicts is often referred to as “civil resistance.” Civil resistance movements occur partially or entirely outside of institutional political channels (which may be nonexistent, blocked, or controlled by hostile parties) and involve people using methods of nonviolent action to deny legitimacy and support to the opponent. Historically, the impact of civil resistance on challenging unjust relationships between citizens and states, and oppressor and oppressed, has been significant.
Schock
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26:735:579
Topics in Nonviolence and Recovery from Violence (3)
Courses on specific subjects relevant to the general goals of the master of arts degree program in peace and conflict studies, which are not given on a regular basis.
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26:735:610
Internships in Peace and Conflict Studies (BA)
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26:735:690
Independent Study (BA)
Involves focused research on subjects of particular interest to a student, under faculty supervision. Goals, measures, and end products are to be decided in advance with a faculty adviser.
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26:830:613
Conflict and Resolution (3)
This course focuses on the mediation of social conflict at the interpersonal, organizational, and international levels. Topics include theories of dysfunctional conflict; cognitive, behavioral, and institutional obstacles to the constructive management of conflict; strategies and tactics of intervention; and theoretical and empirical issues in the study of the mediation process.
Kressel
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