Director:
Professor Paul Joseph, Sociology
Assistant director:
Dale Bryan, Peace and Justice Studies
Executive board faculty:
Assistant Professor
David Arond, Public Health
and Family Medicine
Professor Paul Joseph, Sociology
Assistant Professor
Gary McKissick, Political
Science
Senior Lecturer Sinaia Nathanson, Psychology
Professor Susan Ostrander, Sociology
Professor Kathleen Weiler, Education
The Peace and Justice Studies program (PJS) provides an interdisciplinary structure for examining the obstacles, conditions, and paths to achieving a just global peace. The program brings intellectual and experiential inquiry to the fundamental interrelationship of peace and justice. Four overlapping areas are emphasized: first, study of the causes of war, the techniques of war prevention, and the conditions and structures of a just peace; second, the origins, strategies, and visions of social movements seeking social justice and ecological sustainability; third, the theory and practice of conflict resolution along a continuum from individual disputes to international diplomacy; and fourth, the study of peace culture, particularly the contributions from education and literature in developing the traditions of nonviolence and ethical social behavior.
PJS nurtures an active sense of responsibility for the human condition and examines practical activities for achieving a nonviolent and peaceful future. The program encourages both experiential education, primarily through internship placements and community-service learning, and discussion of appropriate pedagogies designed to promote students participation in their own education. The program also presents a broad range of educational events that help create an engaged intellectual climate on campus and increased social responsibility of its members. In this sense, PJS complements the university's mission and the liberal arts tradition by encouraging the student's awareness, responsibility, and active engagement in the affairs of the world. The program is administered by an executive board that includes faculty, students, and staff.
PJS offers both a major and a certificate. To fulfill the requirements for the major, a student must complete eleven courses: the introductory course (PJS 1), one intermediate course in each of five core areas, an internship (PJS 99), the integrative seminar (PJS 190), and three additional elective courses on a particular theme to be chosen in consultation with the student's adviser. Students with qualifying academic records are also encouraged to enroll in a Senior Honors Thesis in Peace and Justice Studies (PJS 198).
To complete the certificate, a student must complete eight courses: the introductory course (PJS 1), an internship (PJS 99), the integrative seminar (PJS 190), one of two possible intermediate courses (PJS 120 or PJS 135), and four electives on a particular theme to be chosen in consultation with the student's adviser. Completion of the Peace and Justice Certificate will be noted on the student's transcript. Courses fulfilling certificate requirements may also be used, where applicable, to meet major concentration or distribution requirements.
Required Courses for both Certificate and Major
Introductory
PJS 1 Introduction to Peace and Justice Studies
Internship
PJS 99 Internship in Social Change Organization
Advanced
PJS 190 Integrative Seminar in Peace, Justice, and Social Change
Additional Courses for Certificate
Four electives and either PJS 120 or 135.
Additional Courses for Major
Intermediate
One course from each of the
following five core areas:
A. WAR AND PEACE
PJS/Sociology 120 Sociology of War and Peace
Political Science 51 International Relations
PJS/Anthropology 185 Anthropology of War and Peacemaking
B. JUSTICE
PJS/Sociology 130
Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality
PJS/Philosophy 141 Global Justice
C. PEACE CULTURES
PJS/Education 164 Education for Peace and Justice
PJS/CIS 150 Cultural Legacies of the Atomic Bomb
PJS 90 Inner Peace/Outer Action
D. CONFLICT RESOLUTION
PJS/Psychology 134 Interpersonal Conflict and Negotiation
UEP 230 Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution
E. SOCIAL ACTIVISM
PJS/Sociology 135 Social Movements
PSJ/Political Science 114 Social Movements in American Politics
PJS/Sociology 149A Organizing Urban Communities
Electives
Three additional elective courses on a particular theme to be chosen in
consultation with the student adviser.
For more information, visit http://ase.tufts.edu/pjs or the program office at 109 Eaton Hall.
Peace and Justice Studies Courses
1 Introduction to Peace and Justice Studies. Main concepts in the field of peace and justice studies. Extent of global militarization and its impact on human needs. Social movements and nonviolent social change. Possibilities of building a stable and just peace. Joseph
99 Internship in Social Change Organization. Supervised fieldwork in a wide range of community, peace, justice, and social change organizations. Readings, guided group discussions, and written reports to integrate analysis and experience. Prerequisites: Peace and Justice 1, one intermediate course each from core areas A through D, and one intermediate course from core area E which may be taken simultaneously. Bryan
114 Social Movements in American Politics. (Cross-listed as Political Science 114.) How and why social movements such as civil rights, women's rights, environmentalism, Christian conservatism, and gay rights have transformed American politics. Factors that help social movements gain political advantage, forces that imperil their sustained success, and governmental responses to their policy demands. Additional focus on how movements come about, why people choose to become active in them, and what makes them different from other forms of political organization and collective action. McKissick
120 Sociology of War and Peace. (Cross-listed as Sociology 120.) Concepts of war and peace. Theoretical perspectives on the cold war and the nature of post-cold war armed conflicts. The process of constructing enemy images. Recovery and reconciliation following violence. Feminist perspectives on war, military training, and peace. Impact of peace movements, especially at the end of the cold war. Movements to ban land mines and abolish nuclear weapons. Debate over the meaning of national and global security. Prerequisite: one sociology course or Peace and Justice Studies 1, or junior standing. Joseph
130 Wealth, Poverty, and Inequality. (Cross-listed as Sociology 130.) Socioeconomic class in U.S. with some global comparison. Intersections with race and gender. Social analysis of distribution of economic, social, political resources. Alternative visions and strategies for change. Opportunity for field placements in local community organizations. Prerequisite: one sociology or comparable course, or consent. Ostrander
134 Interpersonal Conflict and Negotiation. (Cross-listed as Psychology 134.) An examination of perspectives in social psychology for understanding the escalation and reduction of conflict. Course emphasizes empirical research approaches to the study of conflict and negotiation techniques, and the nature and functioning of third-party intervention in interpersonal, intergroup, and international settings. Prerequisites: Psychology 13 and 31, or PJS enrollees. Nathanson
135 Social Movements. (Cross-listed as Sociology 135.) Circumstances under which organized efforts by the powerless to affect history are attempted. Motivations, processes, and impact of social movements. Review of major perspectives in the field. Selected use of films to illustrate major themes. Ennis
141 Global Justice. (Cross-listed as Philosophy 141.) A philosophical study of justice in a global context. Topics selected from the following: nationalism, identity and group rights, political resistance and revolution, the conduct of war, human rights and duties of aid, population control and environmental justice. Theoretical discussions of cultural pluralism and the requirements of justice, universalism versus relativism, and the limits of partiality. Prerequisite: junior standing or one course in philosophy, or consent.
164 Education for Peace and Justice. (Cross-listed as Education 164.) Past and present efforts to use education for building a just and peaceful society. The advocacy of education in democratic societies, emphasizing the works of contemporary critical, antiracist, and feminist theorists. Peace pedagogies, curricula, and programs focused on social justice. Participation in a "mini-internship" focused on peace and social justice issues in an educational program. Mizell
190 Integrative Seminar in Peace, Justice, and Social Change. Guided development of senior research projects. Exploration of different obstacles and paths to peace and justice through interdisciplinary integration of a wide range of projects. Weiler, Cohen
198 Senior Honors Thesis in Peace and Justice Studies.