Peace and Conflict Studies Minor

Program Coordinator/Contact

Paul Baggett, Associate Professor
Department of English
Pugsley Hall 301, Box 2218
605-688-4057

Program Information

The Peace and Conflict Studies minor provides robust learning experiences in and beyond the classroom designed to increase students’ willingness to be civically engaged and socially responsible contributors to a more caring and humane society and world, fostering informed citizenship and enhancing SDSU’s ability to graduate students who are committed to lifelong learning and service. The minor presents historical and contemporary conflicts through an interdisciplinary lens because the causes of conflicts can usually be attributed to multiple and interwoven cultural, economic, political and historical factors. The program includes in various subjects as English, Speech Communication, Political Science, History, Global Studies, and Philosophy and Religion, but it is open to students of all majors.  The minor will be invaluable in ensuring that graduates have come to understand the overriding importance of what SDSU refers to as “the fellowship of many.”

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• learn non-violent approaches to conflict resolution on the personal, local, state, national, and global levels.
• to balance theoretical, descriptive, and normative approaches to conflict resolution with practical skills and experiential learning via the minor’s service learning component.
• to test and clarify theoretical and scholarly conceptions of the causes of conflict through field experiences and writing assignments which require them to imagine workable conflict resolutions to real world problems.
• acquire additional research methods skills through library and internet searches and qualitative and ethnographic methods.
• acquire additional skills in planning and managing projects and in working collaboratively with peers and with working professionals.
• acquire additional skills in effectively and persuasively presenting their ideas in oral and written presentations.

Course Delivery Format

Coursework for the Minor in Peace and Conflict Studies is delivered through face to face instruction.