SPI 2009 course descriptions
- Session I - May 4-12
- Session II - May 14-22
- Session III - May 26 -June 3
- Session IV - June 8-12 (special five day courses)
SESSION I: May 4-12
Introduction to Conflict Transformation
Gloria Rhodes
(For training only)
Designed as a broad introduction to the field, this course will familiarize participants with various theoretical understandings of conflict. The transformational framework will be explored in depth and compared with other schools of thought in the field. To this end, participants will explore conflict at a personal, communal, national, and international level. They will be encouraged to critically examine their underlying assumptions and beliefs about conflict and their patterns of response to conflict. Participants will also be given an opportunity to examine and critique the underlying biases and assumptions in the conflict resolution models and theories presented throughout the course, with the primary objective of making the materials culturally relevant for each participant. An interdisciplinary approach, which draws on both social science and spiritual perspectives, will be used to explore conflict and communication styles, the role of power, systemic analysis, the dynamics of change, and intervention in interpersonal, organizational, and intergroup conflicts. Participants will be expected to engage in discussions, role-plays, exercises, and case studies.
Course syllabus: Introduction to Conflict Transformation
Introductory readings: Reading 1, Reading 2
Analysis: Understanding Conflict
Lisa Schirch
(Satisfies a core course requirement for MA students)
This course focuses on the analysis of conflict and violence as the foundation for designing strategies for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Participants will learn a variety of tools to “map” and describe the nature of conflict. This course draws from broad interdisciplinary theoretical bases. Participants will use human needs and human rights theories as central frameworks for examining the complex causes of conflict, crime, and violence, including the role of identity; the role of shame and humiliation in the cycle of violence; and the impact of structural violence on other forms of conflict. Participants will gain skills in power analysis, cultural analysis, and psychological analysis of conflict. Participants will practice “seeing” conflict from different perspectives. Participants will practice applying theories and models to real-life case studies at the interpersonal, community, and international levels. Participants will build a vocabulary for talking analytically about conflicts and conflict intervention strategies.
Course syllabus: Analysis
Conflict-Sensitive Development and Peacebuilding
Riva Kantowitz and Bridget Moix
This course will explore the impact of community, national, and global conflicts on humanitarian assistance and development projects and the corresponding impacts, including negative effects, that humanitarian assistance and development programs can have on the conflict context. The class will develop a framework for durable peace and will explore available frameworks in the field of study. Approaches and appropriate tools will be surveyed that can contribute toward integrating peacebuilding with development through the project cycle, including context assessment, project design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. Participants will gain a working knowledge of the various approaches, as well as specific skills and tools they can take back to their own contexts.
Course syllabus: Conflict-Sensitive Development and Peacebuilding
Introductory reading: Reading 1, reading 2, reading 3
Faith-based Peacebuilding
In a post Cold War and post September 11 context, this course will equip participants to form their faith identities as peacemakers, to develop capacity in building structures of interfaith engagement, and to become actors in religious diplomacy at various levels. This course will specifically explore the sources of conflict and resources for peacebuilding in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, reveal how religious identity functions in conflict settings, present models for reading the stages of religious conflict, discuss ways religious leaders and actors have been positive actors in conflict transformation, and engage participants in building a vision for faith-based conflict transformation in their contexts.
Course syllabus: Faith-based Peacebuilding
Pre-readings: reading 1, reading 2, reading 3
The Long-Running Engagement:
Lessons Learned from Environmental and Organizational Conflicts
DUE TO LOW ENROLLMENT, WE HAVE RELUCTANTLY BEEN FORCED TO CANCEL THIS COURSE.
WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO OFFER IT IN FUTURE YEARS.
This course will examine different approaches, ethical issues and skill sets relevant to the long-running engagement. Students will learn from in-depth cases and projects drawn from local, national, and international domains. The course will help students to conceptualize long engagements that weave together a variety of interventions that may include conflict assessment, visioning, negotiation, training, coaching and systems design. The course will be highly interactive, offer a rich array of practice opportunities, and provide time to reflect on current and emerging issues and the challenges practitioners face as they try to craft careers doing this work.
Course syllabus: The Long-Running Engagement
Introductory reading: summary
Human Rights, Governance and Peacebuilding
How may states and societies build effective “regimes” of human rights, good governance, and strategic peacebuilding? This course begins with the post-WWII evolution of human rights standards. It then discerns how peacebuilders have advanced human rights alongside the work of states, corporations, politicians, grandparents, economists, and militaries – all with a critical stake in this venture. Since each student’s home community or organization is situated in the context of overlapping political forces, how can one’s commitment to peaceful processes of change respond creatively, non-violently, and wisely to globalization, diverse authorities, and local-to-global civil society? Hence this course’s learning objective is for students to apply international relations and political theories/practices toward crafting a strategy that engages and/or contends with political might.
Course syllabus: Human Rights, Governance and Peacebuilding
Bibliography
SESSION II: May 14-22
The Moral Imagination: Building the Art and Soul of Peacebuilding
John Paul Lederach and Herm Weaver
This course will journey into seldom-traveled terrains of peacebuilding: How do people break out of cycles of violence while still facing everything that produces them? How does social change get sparked and then sustained? What makes unexpected shifts that create constructive movement in relationships? These kinds of questions suggest that peacebuilding may ultimately find its deepest roots in artistic and spiritual processes. Therefore, this course will not focus directly on peacebuilding techniques, approaches or skills, but will be a time for reflection, tapping creative sources and touching the deeper soul of peacebuilding work. Through a variety of interactive exercises, intellectual inquiries, and space for listening to the inner voice, the course will provide a platform for exploring the art of inciting the moral imagination.
Course syllabus: The Moral Imagination: Building the Art and Soul of Peacebuilding
Restorative Justice: the Promise, the Challenge
Howard Zehr and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz
This course provides a critical examination of the fundamental principles and practices of restorative justice. It provides a unique opportunity to explore not only the promise of, but also the challenge to the restorative justice field in a variety of contexts. The course explores the needs and roles of key “stakeholders” (victims, offenders, communities, and justice systems), outlines the basic principles and values of restoration, and introduces some of the primary models of practice. It also addresses the “challenges” to restorative justice – the dangers and the pitfalls – as well as possible strategies to help prevent restorative justice from failing to live up to its promise. The central starting point for the course is the Western legal or criminal justice system and the problem of crime. However, attention is also given to applications in and lessons from other contexts. Of particular interest is the contribution of traditional or indigenous approaches to justice.
Course syllabus: Restorative Justice: The Promise, the Challenge
Leadership for Healthy Organizations
David Brubaker and Koila Costello-Olsson
Organizations are dynamic systems with unique structures and cultures, operating in specific environments. Every organization is also shaped by its leaders. Leaders have more leverage than others in the organization – both to determine strategic direction and to nurture people and systems. This course focuses on the role of leaders in “setting the tone” for healthy organizational functioning, with special attention to a leader’s own functioning. The course will include significant opportunities to practice specific leadership and management skills.
Course syllabus: Leadership for Healthy Organizations
Pre-readings: reading 1 reading 2
Trauma Awareness & Transformation
Combining theory and experiential learning, this course is designed to provide persons with a thorough overview of trauma, trauma healing, and transformation. Participants will explore the social-psychological-physical-spiritual processes of responding to deep personal loss, pain, and suffering in settings of protracted, traumatic conflict, as well as examine recently developed healing approaches of individuals and communities moving from violence to trauma healing and transformation. This course highlights the importance of integrating the study of trauma into the field of peacebuilding, since unhealed trauma often continues the cycle of violence.
Course syllabus: Trauma Awareness & Transformation
Practice: Skills for Conflict Transformation
Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah
(Satisfies a core course requirement for MA students)
This course focuses on essential skills and knowledge for facilitating conflict transformation in interpersonal and group settings. No matter what the level of peacebuilding work, effective practice relies on self-awareness and respecting others. The course examines practical skills such as listening, getting beyond posturing, issue identification, working with commonalities, problem-solving, group facilitation, methods for structuring conversation in group settings, and awareness of the impact of self on others. Special attention will be given to exploring the intervener’s cross-cultural assumptions and considering differences in the development of applications in diverse settings.
Course syllabus: Practice: Skills for Conflict Transformation
Introductory reading: Reading 1
Philosophy and Praxis of Reconciliation
This course will explore the underlying philosophical bases and practice of reconciliation. Of particular interest will be the different ways in which forgiveness and reconciliation is understood in spiritual, social, and political terms, as well as how it is perceived from different cultural and religious traditions. Participants will engage in extensive personal reflection and group simulation designed to illuminate the possibilities and complexities of working toward forgiveness and reconciliation in deeply divided societies.
Course syllabus: Philosophy and Praxis of Reconciliation
Introductory reading: The Meaning of Reconciliation
SESSION III: May 26-June 3
Building Communities: Social, Economic and Spiritual Development
This course will focus on the three pillars of community: (1) human and physical environment, (2) economic, and (3) spiritual dimensions. Using the Asset-Based Community Development approach to assessing communities, participants will look primarily at North American case studies of community development which show both positive and negative examples of development. Efforts will be made to identify a local/regional community development project which participants will visit and evaluate. International participants should come prepared with case studies of community development projects with which they are familiar to present and compare with projects in North America.
Course syllabus: Building Communities: Social, Economic and Spiritual Development
Introductory reading: Reading 1
Project Management for Nonprofits and NGOs
Jim Leaman and Angela Yoder-Maina
This course offers an introduction to the basic concepts and methods of project management, specifically for the nonprofit or non-governmental organization (NGO). Applying theory and practice, the course will explore current methods and tools of project management. Topics include basic elements of project management, the project life cycle, context, workflow analysis, resource management, performance management and evaluation. Funding is a key component for many nonprofits and NGOs and, as it relates to project management, the course will include an introduction to grant writing and management, as well as the role of funding in the economics of projects and organizations. Teaching strategies will include mini-lectures, experiential learning exercises, and practical case applications.
Course syllabus: Project Management
Designing Learner Centered Trainings for Conflict Transformation
This course will examine the principles and practices of learner-centered design for those creating and facilitating training/education for conflict transformation. The course will focus on design of training and education events using principles of dialogue education. Participants will use a “seven steps of planning” framework for designing “learner-centered” tasks. The framework accounts for different learning styles and considers the varied purposes of learning tasks. Participants will examine the power of group-based learning to bring about behavioral change. They will also develop a simple evaluation format that considers the concepts of learning, transfer, and impact as outcomes of learning. Participants will work on designs they plan to use in their work and must come to the class with a design idea to work on. The class is built upon concepts and practices developed by Jane Vella and focuses more on design practice than on learning theory.
Course syllabus: Designing Learner Centered Trainings for Conflict Transformation
Introductory reading: Reading 1
Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Reina Neufeldt and Mark Rogers
This is an introductory monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEaL) course for peacebuilding practitioners and professionals. It assumes that participants are already familiar with the theory and practice of peacebuilding but not monitoring and evaluation (MEaL). The course approaches monitoring and evaluation from a learning perspective and introduces theories of change, indicators, monitoring, evaluation design, and tools for reflective practice. Its objectives are to enable participants to design better projects, to monitor and learn from those projects more regularly and effectively, and to enable participants to engage with evaluations more thoroughly. The course includes mini-lectures, experiential learning exercises, and practical case applications.
Course syllabus: Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning
Peacebuilding in Traumatized Societies
Barry Hart
(The Trauma Awareness and Transformation course is a prerequisite)
This course will examine the important relationship between trauma recovery and peacebuilding in violent and war-torn societies. This relationship will be placed in the larger context of human security, which is concerned with protecting human life, meeting basic human needs, and securing freedom from want and fear, as well as taking action to change oppressive situations and structures. The course will also address the importance of identity and how it is threatened. It will explore how identity health results from trauma recovery processes and is an essential factor in constructing peace with justice after traumatizing events such as war or acts of terror. Through various research methodologies, case studies, and personal narratives, participants in the course will determine how to apply their learnings to real world contexts.
Course syllabus: Peacebuilding in Traumatized Societies
Strategic Peacebuilding
Sam Rizk
(Analysis, Practice, and Theory are prerequisites for this course)
This course will explore the challenges and dilemmas of peacebuilding in contemporary protracted and violent conflict. It will focus on the development of a strategic framework for peacebuilding, primarily from the perspective of nongovernmental practitioners, but with careful attention to coordinating NGO work with Track I official actors, funding agencies, and others working to promote peace. We will study peacebuilding from the perspective of national leaders as well as international organizations in order to become familiar with the frameworks of practice and analysis used at different levels. Participants will work in teams to apply their frameworks to complex cases and will practice the professional skills of preparing and presenting a briefing and developing protocols for monitoring and evaluation.
Course syllabus: Strategic Peacebuilding
Pre-readings and assignment: see syllabus
Eastern Mennonite Seminary, the graduate theological school at EMU, will offer the following course May 26 - June 5 (during Session III of SPI): Biblical Foundations of PeacemakingThis course examines the various dimensions of peace in the Bible, with special attention to how the Bible as a whole functions as a foundation for peacemaking. We explore texts that reflect everyday dimensions of wholeness, well-being and security, as well as those which describe God’s attempts to make peace with rebellious humanity. A central figure in the biblical story of peace is Jesus, both as foundation of peace and as model for peacemaking. Texts that present peacemakers with serious difficulties, such as the wars of Israel or the image of God as judge and warrior, will also be examined. Register online at: www.emu.edu/seminary/part-time_app |
SESSION IV: June 8-12
Developing University-Based Peacebuilding Curricula
Jayne Docherty and Vernon Jantzi
A growing number of universities worldwide are starting undergraduate and graduate programs with a peacebuilding emphasis. Some programs are new initiatives while others are revisions of peace studies and conflict resolution programs. Their distinguishing features are cross-disciplinary approaches, an academically informed practical focus, and an emphasis on preparing students to understand and lead processes of social change that move communities, societies, and organizations toward greater justice and less violence. In this course participants and instructors will explore together what should be taught, how it should be taught, and methods for making university-based peacebuilding programs relevant to the local socio-political and economic context. Course participants should be directly involved with developing university-based peacebuilding programs.
Course syllabus: Developing University-Based Peacebuilding Curricula
Pre-reading and pre-assignment: See syllabus
Dialogue Facilitator Training: Crimes of Severe Violence
Lorraine Stutzman-Amstutz and Barb Toews
(Restorative Justice: the Promise, the Challenge is a prerequisite)
A growing number of victims of violent crime are requesting opportunities to meet with the person who harmed them/their loved one. Offenders are also increasingly interested in pursuing similar opportunities. These dialogues often play a critical role in the ongoing healing journey for both victims and offenders of crime. Participants will learn about the trauma of victimization, the realities of living behind bars for offenders, and the impact of the crime for victims, offenders, their families, and the community. The course will be experiential and interactive as we walk through the steps of preparation for a dialogue as well as the issues that arise when bringing victims and offenders together for what is often an emotionally-charged face-to-face dialogue.
Course syllabus: Dialogue Facilitator Training: Crimes of Severe Violence
Pre-reading: see syllabus
STAR: Breaking Cycles of Violence, Building Healthy Communities
Elaine Zook Barge and David Anderson Hooker
(For training only)
This course is an integrated training designed for leaders and caregivers who are dealing with the violence and trauma caused by nature, human beings or structures. Trauma affects how we think, feel and behave, and unhealed trauma often leads to more violence as victims act out against others or become self-destructive. STAR combines theory with experiential learning to increase awareness of the impact of trauma on the body, spirit and relationships and to offer tools for addressing trauma and breaking cycles of violence. Self-care for the caregiver is also addressed. The STAR framework draws on the fields of trauma healing, restorative justice, conflict transformation, and spirituality for building healthy, resilient individuals and communities.
Course syllabus: STAR: Breaking Cycles of Violence and Building Healthy Communities
Pre-readings: reading 1, reading 2
On Your Feet: Mastering Your Delivery as a Workshop Trainer
Hedley Abernethy and Nancy Good Sider
This leadership training course is for the peacebuilder trainer who needs a safe place to practice and be coached in workshop delivery skills so that you can get smart on your feet … in the moment. So often we focus on workshop objectives and content yet spend little time on the skills of actually doing a training course – the nuts and bolts of standing up in front of a group and presenting material in a way that does not discredit the peacebuilding content. From our experience we know some peacebuilders are natural facilitators and others need to learn trainer skills step-by-step. The course will be an opportunity for the experienced and not-so-experienced workshop facilitator to share and learn from others such skills as dealing with the unexpected during a workshop; encouraging active participation from all; ensuring the workshop meets the needs of participants and facilitators; using small and large group time effectively; and cultural sensitivity and awareness of diversity. Course participants should come willing to share their successful and sometimes not-so-successful experiences in carrying out workshops.
Course syllabus: On Your Feet: Mastering Your Delivery as a Workshop Trainer
Pre-readings: reading 1, reading 2
Mediation
Tim Ruebke
(For training only)
This course will focus on the skills needed to be a successful mediator. Participants will develop mediator communication skills and effective mediation process strategies, as well as knowledge of the ethical, moral and legal issues facing mediators. The course examines general community and workplace disputes, the function of a mediator within a court system, and special challenges in the mediation context (e.g., the role of attorneys in mediation). While attention will be on a very particular form of practice, participants will be encouraged to discuss strengths and limitations of the model in relation to personal and cultural contexts in their home country. Course meets basic mediation training standards of the Supreme Court of Virginia.
Course syllabus: Mediation
Introductory reading: Mediation: A Consumer Guide
Peace Education: Theory and Practice
Barry Hart and Vesna Hart
This course focuses on theory and practice of peace education in formal educational systems, as well as community settings. Educating for peace will be examined in relation to regions of stability, interethnic conflict, and in situations of intractable conflict. Root causes of violence will be explored for deeper understanding of ways to break cycles of violence on personal, community and societal levels. The emphasis of the course is on innovative approaches for introducing peace education into curricula and materials development; motivating teachers and school officials to participate in helping children, youth and adults practice community building, conflict transformation and restorative practices; and the cultural, psychosocial and structural aspects of peaceful and just communities.
Course Syllabus: Peace Education: Theory and Practice