Peace and Social Justice (American University Syllabus, 2010)
Peace and Social Justice
American University
Fall Semester 2010
Prof. Colman McCarthy
If every government claims it wants peace, and if every human heart yearns for peace, why is there so little of it? Why is violence routinely used as the way to settle conflicts, whether across an ocean or across the living room? And one more question: why are so few of the nation’s 78,000 elementary schools, 34,000 high schools and 4,100 colleges and universities offering courses on peaceful solutions to conflicts?
This course is a modest effort on offering a chance for students to break away from conventional thinking, worn-out politics, quick-fixes and slow progress. Studying nonviolence is not for the faint or weak of heart, nor conformists or the close-minded. Instead, it is for those who are intellectually brave, spiritually alive, socially engaged and lovers of long-shots.
The course is discussion based. Dissents and debates are welcomed. One skeptic enlivens the class more than a dozen passive agreers. Let’s be good listeners. Listening to others is an act of caring.
COURSE TEXTS
Solutions to Violence
Strength Through Peace
All of One Peace
I’d Rather Teach Peace
WRITING REQUIREMENTS
A paper and a journal. The paper should be a minimum of 1,000 words. Due date: October 27. each. It should not be a conventional research paper. Instead, try the unconventional: research your own life, your experiences with violence or nonviolence, how you have dealt with conflicts with your family and friends, how you have shaped your personal or political values. Another possibility is to write your reflections on one or more of the essays in our texts and how those ideas relate to your own life. It’s fine to use the first person pronoun. In fact, it’s often better that way: to write the kind of paper that only you could write because it contains only experiences or reflections you have had.
For the journal, make weekly entries: 400 words or more. Due date: December 1, last class. The entries can be your reflections on what was discussed in class, or the readings. Or your reflections on events in your own life or topical events in the news. Write it so that 40 years from now, your children can read it say, “So that’s what Mom or Dad were like in college. Amazing!”
Papers and journals that are exceptionally well-written, creative and unique earn As. Ones that are above average, flow with well hewn prose and have occasional flashes of creativity earn Bs. Papers or journals that show only an ordinary command of language and aren’t especially noteworthy in either style or intelligence, earn Cs. Ones that are plodding, dull or give the appearance of being recycled from old material from other classes, or cause the professor to fall asleep after the third paragraph earn a D—or F, depending how long the sleep lasts.
The papers should be typed or computer printed and turned in at class. The journals can be handwritten or typed. Neither should be emailed. Grade deduction for lateness.
FINAL EXAM AND GRADES
Based on the course texts and handouts, the exam will list approximately 20 quotes as well as a list of approximately 20 of their authors. Students are expected to match the quotes with the authors. Only those quotes which were read aloud in class will be on the exam.
Final grades are based on thirds: one third the first paper, one third the journal and one third the exam. Final exam date: December 13.
The best reason for missing class is a death: mine or yours.
Poor attendance can effect the final grade. What’s poor? Three or more absences.
AVAILABILITY
I’m reachable at the Center for Teaching Peace, 4501 Van Ness St., Washington DC 20016. Phone 202 537-1372. Email: cmccarthy@starpower.net. Appointments easily arranged.
The following is a plan of what’s ahead. Like all plans, it is subject to changes when needed.
An introductory discussion of the relationship between personal and impersonal violence, including the differences between alternatives to both as found in practical nonviolence and spiritual nonviolence.
Among nations, where has nonviolence worked? The question is perennially asked. For an answer or two, read chapter one in “Solutions to Violence,” as well as chapter six in “Strength Through Peace” on the Danish resistance in World War II.
What about peace and justice in our personal lives and relationships. It often breaks down when verbal or emotional violence is inflicted on someone we know. Or perhaps don’t know—as in catcalling, a common form of violence against women. For class, read “The Art of Loving” by Erich Fromm on page 135 in “Solutions to Violence.”
With the U.S. military encamped in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus bases in more than 100 countries, what drives the policies behind the wars, as well the media coverage? Read “Top Gun Party” which is chapter two in “All of One Peace.” The documentary “War Made Easy” will be shown.Time now for Gandhi, the Indian peacemaker. Readings: the Gandhi essays in “Solutions to Violence” (chapter three) and “Strength Through Peace” (chapter five).
A discussion of legalized violence, as in the death penalty. Readings: chapter seven in “Solutions to Violence” and pages 95 to 110 in “I’d Rather Teach Peace.”
Week Six The documentary film from “Fury to Forgiveness” will be shown, followed by a class discussion. The film is about families of murder victims who are not only opposed to the death penalty but actively work to abolish it. Readings: chapter 10 in “Strength Through Peace” and chapter 3 in “All of One Peace.”
The longest war in recorded history, and mostly before historians got around to recording, is the war on animals as waged by humans. Readings: chapter 12 in “Strength Through Peace” and chapter 6 in “All of One Peace.”
Week Eight A discussion of the difference kind of violence inflicted on animals, as found in the documentary “To Love or To Kill” which will be played in class. Readings: chapter 8 in “Solutions to Violence.”
Week Nine Time now for Gandhi, the Indian peacemaker. Readings: the Gandhi essays in “Solutions to Violence” (chapter three) and “Strength Through Peace How are the media covering the war in Iraq? Readings: the first chapter in “All of One Peace,” which details the difficulties that occurred during the 1991 invasion of Iraq, as contrasted with 2003 invasion. Documentary film, “War Made Easy,” will be shown and discussed.
An examination of the writings of Leo Tolstoy, the Russian pacifist and author of “War and Peace,” considered by many literary critics as the greatest novel ever written. For class: chapter eight in “Solutions.”
What about civil disobedience? How does it work? Is it effective? For class, read chapter 6 in “Solutions,” including Henry David Thoreau’s “On the Duty of Civil Disobedience” and Andrea Ayvazian’s “War Tax Resistance.”
Week Eleven
The similarities and differences between the U.S. wars in Vietnam and Iraq. Read Martin Luther King’s essay on Vietnam, p. 69 in “Solutions” and “What Would You Do If?” by Jan Baez on p. 197-99.
Week Twelve
In addition to the literature of peace and justice, there is the music--as in, the folk music. We’ll listen to some of the enduring anti-war songs. Readings: chapter 14, the essays by and about Joan Baez.
Week Thirteen
Are the methods of nonviolent resistance practical in our personal lives? Readings: chapter one in “Solutions to Violence.”
Week Fourteen
A summing up, a time to relax and say farewell.