This course is intended to be a synthesis for the minor in Peace and Justice Studies. Therefore it is to be offered each spring, to accommodate the cohort of graduating seniors who have minored in Peace and Justice Studies. The course may be taken without prerequisite for students who would like to take this 400-level course, and initial classes will review key concepts from the introductory course, GEOG204. The class meets twice a week for discussion of the readings and briefings on important concepts or knowledge. Students have flexibility to arrange their internship hours to meet their other course and extracurricular obligations. All sections of GEOG447 are to have the internship requirement and carry the DLE designation.
The course will have four major readings which students will discuss in classes which meet twice a week. These four readings are first, Séverine Autesserre, The Frontlines of Peace, which presents a novel way of doing peacemaking, advocating that international peacemakers work at a grassroots level with knowledge of local language, culture and history, rather than prioritizing high-level diplomatic peacebuilding negotiations. Autesserre draws on her personal career history and extensive work in many countries. Next, taking this exposure to peacebuilding to a higher level of broader conceptual knowledge, students read renowned practitioner and prolific author/scholar John Paul Lederach, The Moral Imagination, in which he draws on his extensive work in many conflict zones to encourage radical courage and practice of peacemaking and peacebuilding. Next students read Ken Conca's award-winning, An Unfinished Foundation: the United Nations and Global Environmental Governance, in which he extensively uses quantitative methods to examine how effective the UN has been in working for peace where the environment is a major issue in the conflict. He calls on the UN community to become more effective at peacemaking and peacebuilding. Lastly, students review a website on monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of peace agreements. It was developed by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association under a grant from the United States Institute for Peace. Modules establish theories of environmental peacebuilding and provide a monitoring and evaluation toolkit for peacebuilding practitioners and students of peacemaking and peacebuilding.
In addition to the weekly journal and the final learning assessment for the internship, students will write four reflection papers on the readings in which they evaluate and assess the relevance and applicability of the theories and concepts presented and compare the theories and toolkits to each other.
To allow for or encourage creative expression, students may opt to create an art piece, musical composition, poem or dramatic play to illustrate concepts learned in the four readings in lieu of the written essays on the readings. If they choose the creative option, they will write a short explanatory paper to enable interpretation and validate acquisition of understanding of concepts and skills explained in the readings.