Teaching

A renowned peace scholar once said that peace is the absence of violence. Global conflicts are replete with all forms of direct and indirect violence, leaving conflict practitioners with limited options to stem hostilities. This course combines academic theories with practical analytical tools used by field practitioners to stem the flow of hostilities in conflict prone areas. The course begins with a range of theoretical approaches to peace and conflict studies, all of which explore the nature of violence and chart opportunities for interventions and creating sustainable foundations for peace. Second, this class profiles conflicts both past and present, through three case studies: Sri Lanka’s protracted civil war between 1982 and 2006, the current conflict in post-coup Myanmar, and the lingering conflict in Mindanao (Philippines). The final section of the course profiles tangible contributors to peace, through peace or solutions-oriented journalism or the efforts of non-state actors in the promotion of non-violent approaches.