Undergraduate Course Catalog 2010-2011
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 Michael Ferber, Department of English, (603) 862-3973.
