Peace and Conflict Studies

Students may complete a concentration in peace and conflict studies.

Coordinator

Marc Howard Ross

Instructor

Ahsiya Posner

The goal of the Bi-College concentration is to help focus students’ coursework around specific areas of interest central to peace and conflict studies.

Concentration Requirements

The concentration is composed of a six-course cluster centering around conflict and cooperation within and between nations. Of these six courses, at least two and no more than three may be in the student’s major. The peace and conflict studies concentration draws upon the long-standing interest in war, conflict and peacemaking, and social justice, as well as questions associated with the fields of anthropology, economics, history, political science, social psychology and sociology. It draws on these fields for theoretical understandings of matters such as bargaining, internal causes of conflict, cooperative and competitive strategies of negotiation, intergroup relations and the role of institutions in conflict management.

Students meet with the coordinator in the spring of their sophomore year to work out a plan for the concentration. All concentrators are required to take three core courses: the introductory course, General Programs 111a; either Political Science 206 or General Programs 322; and Political Science 347. It is advised that concentrators complete at least two of these three courses by the end of their junior year.

Students are required to take three additional courses chosen in consultation with the coordinator, working out a plan that focuses this second half of their concentration regionally, conceptually or around a particular substantive problem. These courses might include international conflict and resolution; ethnic conflict in general or in a specific region of the world (e.g., South Africa, the Middle East, Northern Ireland); a theoretical approach to the field, such as nonviolence, bargaining or game theory; an applied approach, such as reducing violence among youth, the arts and peacemaking, community mediation or labor relations.

Peace and conflict studies courses currently available at Bryn Mawr include:

ANTH B206/POLS B206 Conflict Management: A Cross-Cultural Approach
CITY B205/SOCL B205 Social Inequality
CITY B266/EDUC B266/SOCL B266 Schools in American Cities
CITY B348/POLS B348 Culture and Ethnic Conflict
HEBR B283/HIST B283/POLS B283 Introduction to the Politics of the Modern Middle East and North Africa
HIST B303 Topics in American History
POLS B111 Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies
POLS B141 Introduction to International Politics
POLS B233 Israel and the Palestinians: History, Politics, Negotiation and Conflict
POLS B241 Politics of International Law and Institutions
POLS B316 Ethnic Group Politics
POLS B347 Advanced Issues in Peace and Conflict Studies
POLS B348 Culture and Ethnic Conflict
PSYC B208 Social Psychology
SOCL B215 Challenges and Dilemmas of Diversity
SOCL B350 Movements for Social Justice

Peace and conflict studies courses at Haverford include:

ANTH H258A Politics of Culture and Identity
ANTH H324B Post-Conflict Trauma and Psychosocial Repair
GNPR H111B Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies
GNPR H201A Human Rights Development
HIST H240B History and Principles of Quakerism
POLS H141A International Politics
POLS H235B African Politics
POLS H245A The State System
POLS H391A Political Philosophy: From Theory to Practice
POLS H391A Democracy and Global Governance
POLS H391A Democracy and its Challenges
POLS H391A Democracy in America
POLS H391A Public Policy Analysis
RELG H264A Religion and Violence