INACTIVE EFFECTIVE FALL 2016
Effective Fall 2012
Students wishing to pursue an academic minor in Peace and Social Justice must develop a specific plan for its completion in consultation with one of the program's designated advisors.
The goal of the Peace and Social Justice (PSJ) academic minor is to integrate the study of social inequity with the peaceful resolution of conflict. In a world threatened by ethnic and religious strife, a widening gap between rich and poor, and violent confrontations over dwindling resources, the need to solve conflicts fairly and nonviolently has never been more pressing. The PSJ academic minor takes an interdisciplinary approach to these problems, combining insights from political science, history, psychology, human physiology, environmental science, anthropology, and cultural studies, among others. Students may explore the roots of violence in human behavior, including the violence of racism and economic inequality, the origins and perpetuation of war and terrorism, approaches to nonviolent conflict resolution, and various paths to social and economic justice.
Peace and social justice are natural companions. Peace cannot last without the just resolution of conflict, and justice pursued through violent means all too often results in the same pattern that caused the original injustice: lack of respect and understanding between peoples, social and economic inequalities, and control of restive populations through violence or the threat of violence. Thus, students who pursue social justice should also study insights from peace studies, while those who are attracted to nonviolence should explore some of the political, social, and economic roots of conflict. The core courses and electives in the PSJ academic minor provide this breadth while allowing students to focus on either or both of these areas. The three core course alternatives, Nonviolence in Action (RCSSCI 354), Nonviolence: A Global Perspective (CICS 401) and Globalization (RCSSCI 226), provide overviews of the fields of peace studies and social justice, respectively.
Area A Electives address the psychology, sociology, and biology of interpersonal and organized violence, exploring questions that underlie the abuse of social and interpersonal power: Is physical violence innate to humans (or human males)? How is violence defined differently by perpetrators and victims? In what ways do religious, political, and cultural institutions glorify, perpetuate, and/or alleviate violence? Area B Electives give students background and historical facts about specific wars, intractable conflicts, and attempts at global or state control of the social order. These detailed examples from different historical periods and cultural contexts help students understand and apply the more general theories of power. Area C and Area D Electives give students an understanding of how these conflicts, inequalities, and injustices have been dealt with in different cultures and contexts, and in some cases, provide opportunities for experiential learning and activism. Area C comprises courses that address nonviolent responses to conflict: social justice movements, dialogues across differences, interpersonal conflict resolution, and legal means of addressing injustice. Courses in Area D center on the reasons for specific social and economic disparities, analyses of social and political movements that address injustice, and the ways that communities can be organized to pursue nonviolent social change.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for the academic minor per se, although individual courses elected to meet the requirements of the academic minor may have course prerequisites.
Requirements
Students are required to complete at least 18 credits of course work. Twelve or more credits must be at the 300 level or above. These courses must include:
- Core Course. Choose one of the following:
- RCSSCI 354. Nonviolence in Action
- CICS 401. International Studies Advanced Seminar, section titled “Nonviolence: A Global Perspective”
or
AAS 458. Issues in Black World Studies, section titled “Nonviolence: A Global Perspective” - RCSSCI 226. Globalization
- Electives
- One course from Area A or Area B
- At least two courses from Area C
or
two courses from Area D
or
one course from Area C AND one from Area D
Area A: Understanding Violence – Courses that address the psychology, sociology, and biology of interpersonal and organized violence.
- AAS 390 / WOMENSTD 390: Homophobia in the Black World: The U.S., Africa and the Caribbean
- AMCULT 235 / WOMENSTD 235: From Harems to Terrorists: Representing the Middle East in Hollywood Cinema
- AMCULT 498: Humanities Approaches to American Culture, section titled “Why Do They Hate Us? Perspectives on 9/11”
- ANTHRCUL 326 / WOMENSTD 326: Politics of Health and Social Suffering
- ASIAN 305 / RELIGION 305: Religion and Violence in the Secular World
- COMM 481 / PSYCH 481: Media and Violence
- COMPLIT 490: Comparative Cultural Studies, section titled “The Imagination of Disaster: From The War of the Worlds to 9/11”
- HISTORY 345 / RCSSCI 357: History and Theory of Punishment
- INTLSTD 401: International Studies Advanced Seminar, sections titled “The Violence of Believers: Religious Terrorism in the Modern World” or “Why do they hate us: Perspectives on 9/11”
- ORGSTUDY 495: Special Topics in Organizational Studies, section titled “The Organization of Violence” (limited enrollment)
- POLSCI 330: Psychological Perspectives on Politics
- PSYCH 393: Political Psychology
- PSYCH 401: Special Problems in Psychology as a Social Science, section titled “Psychological Aspects of War and Peace”
- PSYCH 481 / COMM 481: Media and Violence
- RCHUMS 312 / SLAVIC 312: Central European Cinema
- RCSSCI 280 / SOC 280: Moral Choice in Context: Social-Psychological and Historical Perspectives
- RCSSCI 357 / HISTORY 345: History and Theory of Punishment
- RELIGION 305 / ASIAN 305: Religion and Violence in the Secular World
- SLAVIC 225: Arts and Cultures of Central Europe
- SLAVIC 312 / RCHUMS 312: Central European Cinema
- SOC 280 / RCSSCI 280: Moral Choice in Context: Social-Psychological and Historical Perspectives
- SOC 368: Criminology
- WOMENSTD 235 / AMCULT 235: From Harems to Terrorists: Representing the Middle East in Hollywood Cinema
- WOMENSTD 326 / ANTHRCUL 326: Politics of Health and Social Suffering
- WOMENSTD 390 / AAS 390: Homophobia in the Black World: The U.S., Africa and the Caribbean
Area B: Conflict And Control – Courses that explain 20th- and 21st-century wars, intractable conflicts, globalization, and attempts at world order.
- AAS 322 / ENVIRON 335: Introduction to Environment Politics: Race, Class, and Gender
- AAS 328 / WOMENSTD 328: Women, Agency and Sexual Safety
- AAS 358: Topics in Black World Studies, sections titled “Atlantic Slave Trade: Histories and Legacies” or “Examining Revolution, Its Aftermath, and Theories of Social Change”
- AAS 408: African Economies: Social and Political Settings, section titled “African Development from the Pre-Colonial Era to Structural Adjustment and Beyond”
- AAS 413: Theories of Black Nationalism
- AAS 432: Violent Environments: Oil, Development, and the Discourse of Power
- AAS 458: Issues in Black World Studies, section titled “The Politics and Culture of Fair Trade”
- AMCULT 301: Topics in American Culture, section titled “The Global Cold War: Dreamworlds and Catastrophes”
- AMCULT 356 / HISTORY 356: World War Two in the Pacific
- AMCULT 368 / AAPTIS 368 / WOMENSTD 368: Women and War in the Middle East
- ANTHRCUL 309: Anthropology of Europe, section titled “Radicalism, Post-Socialism, Refugees and Rights”
- ANTHRCUL 346 / HISTORY 347: Latin America: The Colonial Period
- ASIAN 280: Topics in Asian Studies, section titled “Sacred Collectives: Nation and Religion in South Asia”
- ASIAN 354 / HISTORY 354: Rebellion and Revolution in China Through Two Centuries
- COMPLIT 430: Comparative Studies in Fiction, section titled “The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Middle Eastern Literature”
- COMPLIT 490: Comparative Cultural Studies, section titled “Islam and the West: Critical Perspectives on European Literature”
- ENGLISH 317: Literature and Culture, section titled “Writing Islam”
- ENVIRON 335 / AAS 322: Introduction to Environment Politics: Race, Class, and Gender
- ENVIRON 490 / HISTORY 440: War and the Environment: A Lethal Reciprocity
- FRENCH 272: French and Francophone Film, Media and Culture, section titled “The Algerian War in Film and Literature”
- HISTORY 224 / PUBPOL 224: Global Nuclear Proliferation
- HISTORY 241: America and Middle Eastern Wars
- HISTORY 266: Twentieth-Century American Wars as Social and Personal Experience
- HISTORY 303: Topics in History, section titled “The Atlantic Slave Trade: Histories and Legacies”
- HISTORY 347 / ANTHRCUL 346: Latin America: The Colonial Period
- HISTORY 354 / ASIAN 354: Rebellion and Revolution in China Through Two Centuries
- HISTORY 356 / AMCULT 356: World War Two in the Pacific
- HISTORY 440 / ENVIRON 490: War and the Environment: A Lethal Reciprocity
- INTLSTD 401: International Studies Advanced Seminar, sections titled “Islam, Media and Globalization” or “Politics of Energy in the Developing World”
- MENAS 491: Proseminar on the Arab World, section titled “Modern Islamic Movements in Comparative Perspective” (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
- MENAS 591: Interdisciplinary Middle East Topics Seminar, section titled “Arab-Israel Conflict”
- NAVSCI 310 / UC 310: Evolution of Warfare
- NEAREAST 417 / HISTORY 442: Jihad in History
- NEAREAST 490: Topics in Near Eastern Studies, section titled “Islam and the West” (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
- POLSCI 353: The Arab Israeli Conflict
- PUBPOL 224 / HISTORY 224: Global Nuclear Proliferation
- RCLANG 324: Readings in Spanish, section titled “Place, Identity and Rights in the Americas”
- RCSSCI 360: Social Science Junior Seminar, section titled “Struggles for Democracy in Mexico: Seminar and Field Study” [with RCCORE 409. Study Off-Campus]
- REEES 405: Topics in REEES, section titled “Nowhere People: Exiles from the State of Ideology” (some background in Middle East, South Asian, and/or Islam intro courses required)
- SOC 495: Topics in Sociology, section titled “Culture and Power”
- UC 310 / NAVSCI 310: Evolution of Warfare
- WOMENSTD 328 / AAS 328: Women, Agency and Sexual Safety
- WOMENSTD 368 / AMCULT 368 / AAPTIS 368: Women and War in the Middle East
Area C: Conflict Resolution – Courses that address nonviolent responses to conflict: social justice movements, race relations, interpersonal conflict resolution, and legal paths to a just society.
- AAS 303 / SOC 303: Race and Ethnic Relations
- AAS 324: Dealing With the Past and Doing Justice in Africa: South African, Rwanda, Sierra Leone.
- AAS 451: Law, Race and the Historical Process, II
- ANTHRCUL 349: Indigenous Political Movements
- ANTHRCUL 445: Cultural Anthropology Mini-Course, section titled “Examining Apartheid and Its Aftermath in South Africa”
- ASIAN 259 / HISTORY 255: The History of Modern South Asia
- ENVIRON 306: Global Water
- HISTORY 255 / ASIAN 259: The History of Modern South Asia
- INTLSTD 401: International Studies Advanced Seminar, section titled “The International Law and Politics of Human Rights”
- POLSCI 364: Public International Law
- PSYCH 310 / SOC 320 / UC 320: Processes of Intergroup Dialogues Facilitation and PSYCH 311 / SOC 321 / UC 311. Practicum in Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues (a two semester commitment)
- PSYCH 312 / UC 375 / SOC 375: Intergroup Conflict and Coexistence: Religion, Ethnicity, and Culture
- SOC 203: Sociology of Multiculturalism
- SOC 303 / AAS 303: Race and Ethnic Relations
- SOC 320 / UC 320 / PSYCH 310: Processes of Intergroup Dialogues Facilitation and SOC 321 / UC 321 / PSYCH 311: Practicum in Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues (a two semester commitment)
- SOC 375 / UC 375 / PSYCH 312: Intergroup Conflict and Coexistence: Religion, Ethnicity, and Culture
- UC 320 / PSYCH 310 / SOC 320. Processes of Intergroup Dialogues Facilitation and UC 321 / PSYCH 311 / SOC 321: Practicum in Facilitating Intergroup Dialogues (a two semester commitment)
- UC 375 / PSYCH 312 / SOC 375: Intergroup Conflict and Coexistence: Religion, Ethnicity, and Culture
Area D: Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice – Courses that center on the reasons for social and economic disparities, social and political change, community empowerment, and human rights
- AAS 304 / WOMENSTD 304: Gender and Immigration: Identity, Race, and Place
- AAS 323 / HISTORY 388 / WOMENSTD 323: Black Feminist Thought and Practice
- AAS 328 / WOMENSTD 328: Women, Agency and Sexual Safety
- AAS 330 / RCSSCI 330: Urban and Community Studies, I
- AAS 337 / WOMENSTD 337 / HISTORY 337: Black Women in the United States, Part II
- AAS 381 / ENGLISH 380 / WOMENSTD 381: Intersections: Fictions and Feminisms of the African Diaspora, section titled “The F Word: Exploring Feminism in Black Women’s Literature”
- AAS 390 / WOMENSTD 390: Homophobia in the Black World
- AAS 409 / ANTHRCUL 408: Maternal/Child Health and Environmental Pollution in Africa
- AAS 418 / POLSCI 324: Black Americans and the Political System
- AAS 426: Urban Redevelopment and Social Justice, section titled “Cities in Contemporary Africa”
- AAS 443 / WOMENSTD 443: Pedagogy of Empowerment: Activism in Race, Gender, and Health
- AAS 458: Issues in Black World Studies, sections titled “Health and African Development” or
“The Algebra Project: Education, Citizenship, and Community Organizing for Social Justice in the 21st Century” - AAS 490: Special Topics in Black World Studies, section titled “Back-to-the-City ? Back to What? Envisioning a More Just and Inclusive City Ideal”
- AMCULT 293 / WOMENSTD 293: 20th-Century Writing by Women of Color
- AMCULT 311: Topics in Ethnic Studies, section titled “Race and Mixed Race”
- AMCULT 319 / PSYCH 319: Empowering Families and Communities
- AMCULT 353 / HISTORY 353: Asians in American Film and Television
- ANTHRCUL 370 / LING 370: Language and Discrimination: Language as a Social Statement
- ANTHRCUL 408 / AAS 409: Maternal/Child Health and Environmental Pollution in Africa
- COMM 478: Special Topics in Media and Culture, section titled “Race, Representation and the Media”
- ENGLISH 303: Language and Rhetorical Studies, section titled “Rhetorical Activism and U.S. Civil Rights Movement”
- ENGLISH 310: Discourse and Society
- ENGLISH 319: Literature and Social Change, section titled “Theatre and Social Change”
- ENGLISH 326: Community Writing and Public Culture
- ENGLISH 380 / AAS 381 / WOMENSTD 381: Intersections: Fictions and Feminisms of the African Diaspora, section titled “The F Word: Exploring Feminism in Black Women’s Literature”
- ENGLISH 407: Topics in English Language and Literature, section titled “Literature of the Holocaust”
- ENGLISH 416: Topics in Disability Cultures, section titled “Autism, Culture, and Representation”
- ENVIRON 222: Introduction to Environmental Justice, section titled “Issues in Race & Ethnicity”
- ENVIRON 391 / RCIDIV 391: Sustainability and the Campus
- FRENCH 244: Issues in Race and Cultural Diversity in the Francophone World, section titled “Race, Racism, and Ethnicity in the French Speaking World”
- HISTORY 303: Topics in History, section titled “Detroit Politics and Community Organizing”
- HISTORY 337 / AAS 337 / WOMENSTD 337: Black Women in the United States, Part II
- HISTORY 353 / AMCULT 353: Asians in American Film and Television
- HISTORY 388 / AAS 323 / WOMENSTD 323: Black Feminist Thought and Practice
- HISTORY 477: Law, History, and the Dynamics of Social Change, section titled “The Boundaries of Citizenship: from Dred Scott to the Era of Plessy vs. Ferguson”
- INTLSTD 401: International Studies Advanced Seminar, sections titled “Translating Human Rights” or “Sexual Rights are Human Rights: The History of Human Rights Law and its Application to Gender, Sexuality, and Sexual Orientation”
- LING 370 / ANTHRCUL 370: Language and Discrimination: Language as a Social Statement
- NEAREAST 315: Introduction to Arab Culture: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender Issues
- POLSCI 324 / AAS 418: Black Americans and the Political System
- POLSCI 489: Advanced Topics in Contemporary Political Science, section titled “Law and Social Change”
- PSYCH 319 / AMCULT 319: Empowering Families and Communities
- PSYCH 488 / SOC 465 / WOMENSTD 465: Sociological Analysis of Deviance
- RCCORE 334: Special Topic, section titled “Community Empowerment Through the Arts”
- RCIDIV 350: Special Topics & RCIDIV 351. Special Topics, sections titled “Pills, Profits, Politics, and the Public Good: Ethical Crossroads and the Pharmaceutical Industry”
- RCIDIV 391 / ENVIRON 391: Sustainability and the Campus
- RCLANG 304: PALMA: Spanish in the Community
- RCLANG 306: Spanish Language Internship Program II
- RCLANG 324: Readings in Spanish, section titled “Media, Terrorists, and Freedom Fighters”
- RCSSCI 315: International Grassroots Development
- RCSSCI 330 / AAS 330: Urban and Community Studies, I
- RCSSCI 360: Social Science Junior Seminar, sections titled “Theory and Practice of Community Organizing”, or “Understanding Ethical Consumption”, or “Struggles for Democracy in Mexico: Seminar and Field Study” [with RCCORE 409. Study Off-Campus]
- RCSSCI 365: Excellence, Equity and the Politics of Education
- RCSSCI 461: Senior Seminar, section titled “Sexual Rights are Human Rights: The History of Human Rights Law and its Application to Gender, Sexuality, and Sexual Orientation”
- RCSSCI 463 / SOC 453: Mexican Labor in North America
- SOC 270 / WOMENSTD 270: Gender and the Law
- SOC 295: Topics in Sociology, section titled “The Experience of Class in College and the Community”
- SOC 325: Sociology of Service Learning
- SOC 335 / WOMENSTD 335: Gender and Globalization
- SOC 350: Human Rights in the United Nations
- SOC 389: Practicum in Sociology (choice of sections to be chosen in consultation with and approved by the academic minor advisor)
- SOC 453 / RCSSCI 463: Mexican Labor in North America
- SOC 465 / PSYCH 488 / WOMENSTD 465: Sociological Analysis of Deviance
- SOC 495: Topics in Sociology, section titled “Human Rights and Socioeconomic Citizenship”
- SOC 503: The Sociology of Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration
- WOMENSTD 270 / SOC 270: Gender and the Law
- WOMENSTD 293 / AMCULT 293: 20th-Century Writing by Women of Color
- WOMENSTD 304 / AAS 304: Gender and Immigration: Identity, Race, and Place
- WOMENSTD 323 / AAS 323 / HISTORY 388: Black Feminist Thought and Practice
- WOMENSTD 328 / AAS 328: Women, Agency and Sexual Safety
- WOMENSTD 331: Advanced Gender and the Law
- WOMENSTD 335 / SOC 335: Gender and Globalization
- WOMENSTD 337 / AAS 337 / HISTORY 337: Black Women in the United States, Part II
- WOMENSTD 381 / AAS 381 / ENGLISH 380: Intersections: Fictions and Feminisms of the African Diaspora, section titled “The F Word: Exploring Feminism in Black Women’s Literature”
- WOMENSTD 390 / AAS 390: Homophobia in the Black World
- WOMENSTD 432: Advanced Topics in Gender and Health, section titled “Sexual Rights and Reproductive Justice”
- WOMENSTD 443 / AAS 443: Pedagogy of Empowerment: Activism in Race, Gender, and Health
- WOMENSTD 465 / PSYCH 488 / SOC 465: Sociological Analysis of Deviance
Other courses may be substituted for the electives listed above with the advice and consent of the PSJ advisor.
