Justice and Peace Program Course Listings (Georgetown Summer)

Director: Henry Schwarz (202) 687-7647 Program on Justice and Peace website

FIRST SESSION (June 7 - July 9)

Introduction to Justice and Peace Park JUPS-123-10 M-F 1:45 - 3:20 p.m. 3 cr.

How do we imagine, theorize, and pursue peace and justice?  How is the globalization of world economy, politics, and culture related to our understanding of peace and justice?  How do we define violence and ethics?  Why do we value certain people's rights and not others?  To what extent is our everyday life defined and controlled by the public media and popular culture that both reflect and shape the contemporary notions of peace, violence, and justice?  We will attempt to answer these questions by performing a close reading of cultural, political, and sociological texts in the larger context of our continuing pursuit of a more peaceful and just world.  This is a student-centered, process-oriented seminar in which students work individually and in groups to prepare written and oral reports and critiques.

SECOND SESSION (July 12 - August 13)

Literature of Peace McCarthy JUPS-201-20 M-F 10:15 - 11:50 a.m. 3 cr.

The literature of peace is vast.  An historical and theoretical approach to normative questions of human behavior will find that most people in most places and in most times prefer peace to war, chaos, or disturbance.  Given this context, why does conflict persist?  This course will consider the literature of peace from ancient to contemporary times, considering such inspiring voices as Mahatma Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Leo Tolstoy, Barbara Demming, Helen Nearing, A.J. Muste, Martin Luther King, Jr., and others.  Questions will include: how do conflicts arise?  How can they be prevented, negotiated or resolved?  How have great figures debated these issues?  How can ordinary students and citizens work for peace through their day to day actions?  The course is based largely on classroom discussion with lectures as appropriate.