INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
COURSE SCHEDULE
SPRING 2000
NEW COURSE!!! |
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UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
SIS308.01 INTRO TO
PEACE AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
TBA W8:30-11:10
This course analyses
scholarly approaches to responding to international conflict and for
establishing peace at the local, national and global levels. The course examines these scholarly
approaches in terms of three distinct categories of responding to conflict and
establishing peace: conflict management which aims to prevent conflict
outbreaks of armed conflict; conflict resolution which aims to develop adequate
communicative strategies and processes for negotiating durable outcomes to
conflict; and conflict transformation which aims to change personal and
societal factors that contribute to violence. This course is premised on the
belief that while conflict is an inherent feature of the human condition,
violence is not; therefore requiring strategies for removing violence in its
various manifestations, i.e., direct, structural and cultural.
SIS396.03 THE LITERATURE OF PEACE McCarthy W8:10-10:40
Course readings will range from Ghandi,
Tolstoy, and Martin Luther King, Jr, among the men, and Dorothy Day, Barbara
Deming, and Joan Baez, among the women. The class offers ample opportunity for
discussion, debate, and dissent. If peace is what every government claims it
wants, and if peace is what every human heart is yearning for, then it is high
time that we begin studying, absorbing, and acting on the literature of peace.
GRADUATE AND ADVANCED
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
SIS519.08 HUMAN RIGHTS Salla W11:20-2:00
This course aims to
introduce students to the development of universal human rights norms in the
international system; efforts to implement these at the national, regional and
international levels; and contemporary debates concerning the universal
implementation of human rights. The
course explores human rights in the context of contemporary challenges to an
international system organized on the principle of ‘state sovereignty’; and to
foreign policy making based on particular conceptions of ‘national interest’.
SIS519.07 APPLIED CONFLICT RESOLUTION Abu-Nimer M8:10-10:40
(Class will end on March 15
with two additional meeting times February 10th 9:30- 5:30, February
11th 9:30-5:30
(16 HOURS) Monday, February 2:10- 4:50 Monday, February19 2:10-4:50)
Although conflict
resolution is still an emerging field of study, it has a wide variety of
practice. The purpose of this class is
to critically present this wide range of methods. Thus, by the end of the course students should be: 1) familiar
with advantages and limitations of the various techniques of conflict
resolution; and 2) able to apply conflict resolution methods on actual or real
life cases.
SIS519.09 THEORIES AND METHODS OF NONVIOLENCE Awad W8:10-10:40
This course examines the
theories and methods of nonviolent politics in terms of two fundamental
perspectives: transformative and strategic nonviolence. Seminal authors and key principles, problems
and issues of the two perspectives will be introduced and analyzed. Students will be introduced to a number of
key debates concerning the practice of nonviolence and the coherence of the two
perspectives. The course aims to give
students a greater awareness of both the problems and opportunities provided by
nonviolence in order to develop their capacity to engage in nonviolent politics
and/or practice nonviolence.
SIS519.13 SPIRITUALITY AND GLOBAL POLITICS TBA M8:30-110:10
This course postulates that the issues
facing modern society nationally and globally, demand a new set of answers,
arising from a new pattern of faith and belief. “Spirituality and Global Politics” is conducted as a seminar to
examine the application of spirituality to global politics, with particular
emphasis on the ways in which faith and belief promote peace and conflict
resolution. Topics include: The
historical significance of faith and belief in international relations; The
impact of faith and belief on contemporary issues in global politics; Content
of spirituality – the substance of our faith and belief, and its effects on
global politics; Process of spirituality – how we practice our faith and
belief; Consciousness in social action – balancing principles and practice.
SIS579.03 DEMOCRATIZATION IN THE ARAB WORLD TBA M8:30-11:10
This course is designed to
provide students with an overview of the debate concerning democratization in
the Arab world. It is intended to
familiarize them with some of the mainstream literature on Arab political development
as well as to introduce them to critical perspectives that would enrich their
thinking about questions of democracy and governance in the region. Some of the questions that will be raised
include: What exactly is involved in the democratic process? How can we define the term ‘democratization?’ Do Arab governments in the countries
mentioned above, exhibit similar characteristics? What role did democratic trends (if they exist) play in political
transformations of Arab countries? Do
these trends produce “real” or “cosmetic” changes in Arab politics? What are the main obstacles to democratic
development in the Arab world?
SIS579.04 RETHINKING
IDENTITY: TRIBES, NATIONS AND STATE
O’Leary M12:45-3:25
This course will examine the relevance of “tribal studies” for understanding political, economic, and socio-cultural developments in the Middle East. Particular emphasis will be placed on analyzing the various forms and setting of tribalism and their expression as socio-political and ideological imaginations. The four principle forms in which people create tribal identities will be defined and analyzed in the context of the assigned readings: 1) The elaboration and use of explicit indigenous ethno-political ideologies by people to explain their socio-political organization; 2) Concepts used by state authorities for administrative purposes; 3) Implicit, practical notions held by people that are not elaborated into formal ideologies; and 4) Anthropological concepts. Studies of expressive and communicative culture that shed light on notions of community and authority, forms of speech and experience, and tribal, ethnic and national identities will be explored in class. The goal of this course is to introduce perspectives and research rooted in recent social and cultural theory that will assist students to become more informed interpreters of analytical and descriptive generalizations about “tribalism” in the Middle East.
*SIS579.05 WOMEN’S LITERATURE IN THE ISLAMIC
WORLD Simone M11:20-2:00
There are four main
objectives for this course: 1) it will familiarize students with a variety of
Islamic cultures and with their diversity.
Samples of literature from a number of Islamic countries, both large and
small, will be included; 2) it will also make possible a better understanding
of family life, social structure, politics and religion so that we can better
grasp the sources of conflict among these nations and the West; 3) to
counteract some of the stereotypes of Arabs, Turks and Iranians that have
circulated in the West and to help students who are unfamiliar with Islamic
culture examine some of their own prejudices and assumptions about these
cultures; and 4) to the extent that translations allow, to look at the forms
these writers have chosen to express themselves and discover in what ways
differ from their own literary traditions and in some cases adapting Western
literary forms to their own purposes.
SIS596.06 ETHICS IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS TBA
W8:10-10:40
This seminar is structured
to promote student dialogue and participation.
The course is divided into four parts.
Part one provides the necessary historical context for understanding the
relations between ethics and IR. In
part two, the class explores the different ethical “traditions” to appreciate the
heterodox character both of IR theory and the politico-cultural worlds. Perspective drawn from political realism,
the Judeo-Christian tradition, Gandhi, Islam, and feminism advance our
understanding of the complex nexus between ethics and IR. Part three is devoted to a focused inquiry
into some key substantive issues (human rights, development, justice and
equality). Finally, part four offers a
review of the course and identifies
questions that are likely to dominate the agenda of normative world politics in
the twenty-first century.
SIS
596.07 RELIGION, SCIENCE AND
PEACE Ommaya Th2:10-4:50
This
course examines the connection between science, religion and peace by analyzing
the causes of
historical cleavage between religion and scientific
thought during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
and examining contemporary trends toward
integration between scientific and ethical values.
SIS596.14
THE MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
Drake F5:30-8:00
Current and evolving trends
in the Middle East peace process in the approach to final status
negotiations. The first part of the
course examines the historical background leading up to Madrid and Oslo: why
did the Israelis, Palestinians, and Syrians suddenly embrace the peace
concept? The second part of the course
deals with the changes in the strategic landscape since Oslo: the establishment
of the Palestinian Authority, the emergence of Hamas as the main political-military
opposition, and the long-term consequences of the short Netanyahu
interlude. The final part of the course
focuses on emerging issues and problems in Palestinian-Israeli and
Syrian-Israeli-Lebanese relations that are set to emerge during the coming Barak
era. The course will include live reports
and debates by students, and several distinguished guest speakers, class size
permitting.
*SIS596.15 THE KURDS: THE SEARCH FOR AUTONOMY Ghareeb Th8:10-10:40
AND SELF-DETERMINATION
This lecture discussion
course will seek to identify the origin, evolution and role of the Kurds in
various countries in the Middle East.
It will focus on the growing assertiveness and search for identity
and/or political autonomy of the Kurds and their impact on the socio-political
developments in the countries they inhabit.
Attention will be given to various Kurdish nationalist movements and
personalities in the region.
GRADUATE COURSES
SIS607.01 PEACE PARADIGMS Salla
T8:10-10:40
This course analyzes
scholarly approaches to understanding and realizing peace that range from a
conception of peace as
absence of war, to peace as interpersonal harmony and unity. Special emphasis
will be on exploring the
implicit assumptions concerning power, violence, social justice, etc., that
undergird the different
ways in which peace is conceptualized, and how these assumptions impact on the
effectiveness of various
strategies developed for realizing peace.
The course examines the following peace
paradigms: peace through
coercion; peace through order; peace through nonviolence and conflict
resolution; peace through
critical perspectives; and peace through global transformation.
SIS609 CONFLICT ANALYSIS
AND RESOLUTION Salla F2:10-4:50
This course is designed to
present and discuss major theoretical approaches to conflict and conflict
resolution. It examines theories that attempt to explain
causes, dynamic, courses, and resolution of
conflicts. It surveys theoretical frameworks from
different disciplines and emerging conflict resolution
theories. Thus, the boundaries and definitions of the
field of conflict resolution will be discussed. Also, the
course examines needs and
obstacles in the development of future theories in the conflict resolution
field.
SIS611 INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATION Hammer W5:30-8:00
This course presents a
survey of the literature on the communicative dimensions of international
negotiations. Contending approaches to
conceptualizing international negotiations and the application of various
methodologies and models to current conflict situations are examined. In addition, the role of cross-cultural
communication dynamics present during international negotiation (e.g.
hostage/terrorist negotiation), international business negotiation (e.g., trade
talks), diplomatic negotiations (e.g., North Korea nuclear arms conflict) and
social conflict situations (e.g., protracted social conflicts, ethnic-based
conflicts). Finally, meditation,
conflict resolution training and skills development in international
negotiation are included.
SIS696.02 ISLAMIC SOURCES OF CONFLICT
RESOLUTION Said W2:10-4:50
This course will examine Islamic precepts in the holy book of Islam, the Qur’an, the Hadith of the Prophet Muhammed, and the Shariah that relate to conflict resolution. Students will have the opportunity to analyze historical practices of Islamic states in resolving conflict among them and with non-Islamic states and will identify contemporary examples of conflict resolution techniques employed by Muslims.
SIS
696.05 CULTURE, PEACE AND
CONFLICT: Hammer T2:10-4:50
ALTERNATIVES TO VIOLENCE
This course examines the
intricate and often times out of awareness influence of culture (assumptions,
values, beliefs, and
behavior) on individual’s conceptions of and strategies for resolving conflict
and
building peaceful
relations. The impact on international
peace and conflict resolution processes of both
ethno-centric and
ethno-relative orientations toward cultural differences are investigated. Cultural
general and cultural
specific peace and conflict resolution methods are also examined.
SIS 710.01 COLLOQUIUM IN
IR: READINGS IN PEACE THEORY
Hammer M8:10-10:40
Intensive dialogue between
faculty members and doctoral students in the international relations field.
M.A. students may be
admitted with permission. Reading and discussion of literature and ideas in an
aspect of the field
announced in advance by the SIS graduate office. Preparation for comprehensive
examination.
Any questions regarding the
course schedule, please contact the IPCR Program Office at x1622.
*Times may be subject to
change, please check internet for the most updated schedule.