Undergraduate Course Catalog 2006-2007
Special University Programs
War and Peace Studies
War is the scourge of humankind. Tribes, cities, and nations have gone
to war against each other for as long as we have records; only here and
there, among some small "precivilized" groups, has war been absent or
strictly controlled. For as long as we have records, too, we find
thoughtful people crying out against war and pleading for peace,
arguing for principles to govern war's conduct and laboring to mitigate
war's effects, imagining a world where war is abolished, and taking
steps to bring that world about. As the scale of war has grown to a
size now great enough to devastate the entire globe in a single
conflict, more and more people have devoted themselves to preventing
war and finding acceptable substitutes. In the nuclear era, age-old
moral and religious discussion has joined with historical study and
practical, even technical, research to produce a set of related
disciplines sometimes called "war and peace studies."
To meet the requirements for the war and peace
studies minor, students must complete two core courses (8 credits) and
12 credits of elective courses with a grade of C- or better. Ordinarily
no two electives (or no more than 4 credits) may be taken from the same
academic department. No elective may count for both a student's major
and the war and peace minor. A relevant internship may be substituted
for one of the electives. As they are announced, other relevant courses
may be added to the list of acceptable electives. Students may request
others not so listed. Courses carrying fewer than four credits will be
counted as partial satisfaction of an elective requirement. If a good
case can be made for it, a departure from any of these rules may be
approved by the adviser for the minor and the coordinator.
All students will be assigned an adviser from the
membership of the Committee on War and Peace Studies, ordinarily one
not in the student's major department. The adviser will assist students
in constructing a coherent program that suits their particular
interests.
The core courses are INCO 401, War, and INCO 402, Peace. Occasionally a new core course may be included.
Departmental elective courses will include courses such as these
AERO 681, National Security Forces in Contemporary American Society (3 cr.)
CMN 456, Propaganda and Persuasion
HIST 617, Vietnam War
HIST 537, Espionage and History
NR 435, Contemporary Conservation Issues and Environmental Awareness
POLT 562, Strategy and National Security Policy
POLT 778, International Organization
SOC 780, Social Conflict
Special offerings that may serve as electives
ANTH 797, Advanced Topics in Anthropology (e.g., War and Complex Society)
ECON 698, Topics in Economics (e.g., Economics of War and Peace)
ENGL 595, Literary Topics; ENGL 693, 694, Special Topics in Literature;
ENGL 797, 798, Special Studies in Literature (e.g., Literature of World
War I, Literature of the Vietnam War)
HIST 600, Advanced Explorations (e.g., Comparative Revolutions)
HUMA 730, Special Studies (e.g., Nonviolence, Thinking about War and Peace)
INCO 404P, Honors: Introductory Seminar (e.g., Understanding War)
POLT 660, Special Topics in International Politics (e.g., Arms Control and Disarmament)
For more information, contact either Ken Fuld, Department of Psychology, or Michael Ferber, Department of English.
