Peace Studies Courses at Kroc School and How They Can Impact You

Conflict is a normal part of human interaction. By studying its dynamics and how it is incited, we can promote peace and encourage collaboration from the individual to the global level. Programs that train future peace leaders to foster social impact are increasingly important in a world ravaged by social and environmental challenges.

Kroc School of Peace Studies seeks to prepare the next generation of innovative changemakers to shape more peaceful and just societies. Our peacebuilding courses equip changemakers with a high-quality, research-based education while inspiring them to have compassion, curiosity and empathy. 

Here are a few of our unique courses, led by experienced faculty to guide our students to make a lasting difference in the world.

Peace, Justice & Social Change

Peace, Justice, and Social Change is a foundational course that introduces theories and concepts that lie at the foundation of social change. Some of the theories and concepts touched on in this wide-ranging course include global order, ethics, patriarchy and decoloniality, social change and social movements, identity, othering and belonging, altruism and the possibility of a collective identity, peace and conflict, nonviolent social change and constructive resistance, justice, human rights, community participation, ecology and sustainable development, and hope and vulnerability. The course also explores the intersection between these theories and concepts, and the challenges we face in the world today. 

Throughout the course, students learn to drill more deeply into the assumptions behind different interventions and analyze the theories of change underlying them. Students can expect to walk away from the course with the idea that they are building a guiding framework for the meaningful work that they will continue to pursue over the course of their lives and careers. 

“My teaching style includes both challenging and cutting-edge readings, and a lot of class discussion to help break them down. We also have a lot of guest speakers who do firsthand research on the topics we are looking at that week, so that students can really engage with a topic and someone who has thought deeply about it. We try to create a really safe and open space in the class where people can bring up honest questions they face in their lives, current events or with peers. People come to the program with very different backgrounds, internationally, ideologically, racially and religiously, and we want to make space for all of that diversity of thought in our class discussions, seeing issues from multiple angles and not allowing one perspective to crowd out the others.”

- May Farid, Professor

Conflict Analysis & Resolution

Conflict is integral to daily life at interpersonal, intra-group, inter-group and international levels in all human societies. 

Conflict can be constructive, focusing attention on neglected voices or social injustice and driving cultural and political change. It can also be destructive, damaging relationships, polarizing societies, or escalating into violence and war. In our increasingly interconnected world, it is crucial to develop effective methods to understand the sources and dynamics of conflicts and to deal with conflict productively. 

This course, Conflict Analysis and Resolution, is designed to familiarize students with the interdisciplinary fields of peace and conflict studies. It provides an overview of contemporary theory and practice, core concepts and the recent critical developments in this field. 

Students examine the framework for analyzing the origins and processes of social conflict and violence. By the end of the course, students will understand leading practical approaches to conducting and evaluating conflict resolution interventions. 

Human Rights Advocacy

Human Rights Advocacy takes a deep dive into the practical and ethical issues human rights activists face today and the solutions to combat them. Students participate in an examination of the actors and organizations conducting modern-day human rights advocacy and the techniques central to their work, including fact-finding, monitoring, report writing and media work. 

The course balances practical skill development (interviewing, press release writing) with a critical-reflective examination of the ethical and strategic dilemmas human rights advocates face today.

Social Innovation

Social innovation is a “novel solution to a social problem that is more effective, efficient, sustainable or just than current solutions” (Phills, Deiglmeier, & Miller 2008). Social innovations accrue value primarily to society rather than to private individuals. 

In the Social Innovation course, students develop their own definition of social innovation and their own theory of change, which integrates social innovation. They learn strategies for understanding and creating social change for the greater good. 

Students gain knowledge and experience through engagement with individuals, organizations, and institutions implementing a wide range of social innovations. Social innovations occur in many organizational platforms, such as the market, the government, the nonprofit sector and increasingly in the space between.

This course also prepares students to clarify their social innovation contribution. Through a combination of readings, guest lectures, and case studies, students gain knowledge on diverse ways organizations are implementing social innovations and analyze successes and failures. 

Through the course’s field-based learning process and practical analytical tools, students will gain experience analyzing others' approaches and developing their own approaches to social change.

Do you want to get a better understanding of social innovation, what it means and how it affects society? Read our blog, What is Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation: Definition, Ideas, and Examples.

WKSH: Stress Resilience: Science and Practice

Stress Resilience: Science and Practice is a unique experiential workshop delivered in four modules over four consecutive weeks. The workshop shares various practical, accessible, inclusive practices accompanied by the science behind them. 

This course is not a one-size-fits-all class. It explores the effects and influence of our human response patterns on the brain, body, cognition and behavior as students map the dynamics of stress individually, interpersonally, collectively and systemically. The course studies the biopsychosocial effects of unexamined, acute and chronic stress. It harnesses the power of curiosity as a portal to agency, restorative practice, relational well-being and collective resilience.

Student practitioners learn to identify and prevent burnout in their work and lives. They gain a basic understanding of the science of how stress, state and story intersect to impact our reactions and actions and learn evidence-based practices and Indigenous restorative approaches. These skills are critical to a wide variety of fieldwork, including:

• Effective leadership
• Facilitation
• Conflict resolution
• Negotiations
• Mediation
• Education
• Human rights
• Humanitarian and social justice work
• Public health
• Community-building 

“With each class, we challenge the limitations of virtual learning, from our pre-workshop community resource-sharing to the many components of the course that keep us connected, engaged, surprised and curious!”

- Lu Hanessian, Instructor

Make a Societal Impact with Impactful Courses

At Kroc School of Peace Studies, managing conflict and fostering peace goes beyond the classroom. From learning to effectively analyze conflict to making social innovations in all types of organizations, Kroc’s peacebuilding education extends to practical skills and theories to prepare students for making social change.

When choosing a degree program, the quality of a course can make or break your experience and career outcomes. Excellent course instructors become lifelong mentors and suitable classes make all the difference in building the structure of your career.

Through the mindfully designed courses at Kroc School, students can experience educational, philosophical, and purposeful transformation in their lives and careers. 

Not quite sure which program is best for you? Take the quiz to find out!

You can also learn more about our programs here.