Peace and Justice minor requirements and course descriptions

Peace and Justice minor (6 courses):

• PEAC 200 Introduction to Peace and Justice
• PEAC 400 Capstone in Peace and Justice
• One ethics course (in addition to any taken to fulfill other minor requirements)
• Two courses from one of the following three areas:

A. Economic and Environmental Justice:

• ECON 357 Economics of Globalization
• ENVS 300 Environmental Science
• PEAC 363 / IDIS 363 Poverty and Social Justice
• POLI 348 Environmental Politics
• POLI 362 North-South Relations in the Contemporary World
• SSCI 301 Environmental Studies 

B. Human Rights and Responsibilities:

• GENS 408 Social Inequalities
• PEAC 418 / GENS 418 International Inequalities
• PEAC 363 / IDIS 363 Poverty and Social Justice
• RELS 318 Feminist Theology
• RELS 333 Christian Ethics: Theology and Society
• SOCI 260 Gender and Culture
• WMGS 360 / HUMA 360 Feminist Theory
• PEAC 266 Human Dignity and Responsibility
• HIST 335 / WMGS 335 Women and Work

C. Conflict and Peace:

• HIST 340 Israel/Palestine: The Roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
• POLI 355 International Organizations
• PEAC 266 Human Dignity and Responsibility

One additional course from those above or from the following three courses chosen by the student with the approval of a Peace and Justice advisor.

• PEAC 389 Special Topics
• PEAC 490 Independent Study or Study Abroad
• PEAC 494 Internship

Experiential Component: Students complete 40 hours of approved and monitored field experience. This may be done through a College-sponsored trip, a course or internship, or a semester-long commitment to a social service project or agency.

Course descriptions:

PEAC 200 Introduction to Peace and Justice
Violent conflict remains one of the most serious problems in the world today. Hundreds of thousands of people die every year as a result of war, and millions of refugees are displaced and suffering. The interdisciplinary academic field of peace studies attempts to understand the causes of such conflict and contribute to sustainable strategies that will lead not just to the absence of war, but to genuine human flourishing. This course will introduce that field of study with a particular emphasis on conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and the rights of marginalized persons. These emphases reflect our Norbertine heritage and the ordering themes of the Peace and Justice minor at St. Norbert College.

PEAC 340 / HIST 340 Israel/Palestine: The Roots of the Arab-Israeli Conflict
This course examines the origins and development of Jewish-Arab rivalry in the Middle East, beginning with the advent of Zionism in the 19th century and concluding with a review of current events. Social and economic dimensions of the conflict are considered alongside the political history and students are introduced to a wide range of materials on the topic. Alternate years.

PEAC 418 / GENS 418 International Inequalities – GS 12 / GS 11
This course focuses on social inequalities occurring outside the U.S. The three case studies which are explored are the Rwandan genocide of 1994, female circumcision in Africa and the Armenian genocide of 1915. Since we are looking at two genocides, we will conclude our studies with explorations of strategies for preventing genocide and for moving forward in their profoundly traumatic wake. Finally, to bring things a bit closer to home, this course will create opportunities for students to briefly consider Western as well as indigenous responses to each case study investigated.

PEAC 266 Human Dignity and Responsibility
This course will seek to establish a multi¬disciplinary, interfaith rationale for human dignity while highlighting the contribution of the Catholic intellectual tradition. It will then examine the rhetoric and dynamic of genocide, exploring the way forward with realistic strategies that emphasize human connectedness and responsibility.

PEAC 333 / RELI 333 Christian Ethics: Theology and Society – GS 1 (Upper)
The course addresses the enduring problem of the relationship between Christian faith and moral questions. It does so in the light of the convictions of a Catholic Christian faith community tradition. It seeks to determine the faith responses to contemporary social ethical issues. The social issues studied will vary. Fall and spring semesters. Religious Studies majors/minors taking course for major/minor should sign up for RELS 433.

PEAC 363 / IDIS 363 Poverty and Social Justice – GS 11
Designed for the general student, this course provides an introduction to the multifaceted and complex phenomenon of poverty and exploration of its relationship to social justice. Topics addressed include definitions of poverty and justice, the roots of poverty, its historical manifestations and structural influences, how it may be measured, and ways that it may be alleviated. Poverty is pervasive, affecting the human population on every continent and in every country throughout history. We ask why this is so and what we ought to do about it. Students investigate past approaches, assess their effectiveness and consider future options for reducing, and hopefully eliminating, poverty in the Third Millennium.

PEAC 400 Capstone in Peace and Justice
PEAC 400 is the capstone course for the Peace and Justice minor at St. Norbert College. In this course, students will be invited to deepen their knowledge of the three components of the minor (Economic and Environmental Justice, Human Rights and Responsibilities, and Conflict and Peace) and their inter-relations through in-depth research, reading of peace and justice literature, and discussion. Through class discussion and written work students will be challenged to integrate the knowledge they have accumulated through this course and the previous peace and justice, field and service work that they have done while at St. Norbert College.