SPI 2012 Course Offerings

What’s next?

  • Pre-Session Course – May 1 – 5
  • Session I – May 7 – 15
  • Session II – May 17 – 25
  • Session III – May 29 – June 6
  • Cross-listed course with seminary – May 29 – June 8
  • Session IV – June 11 – 15 (five day courses)

    • Cheryl Woelk and Caroline Borden
    Training only

    Designed as a refresher English course for those who speak English but do not consider English to be their first language, Intensive English for Peacebuilding prepares participants in essential language skills required for SPI courses. Participants will practice communicating about their work and peacebuilding issues, become familiar with commonly used peacebuilding terminology, and review writing and reading skills for the classroom setting.

    Please note that this course is run by the Intensive English Program at EMU and is sponsored by the Summer Peacebuilding Institute. The cost for this course is $1,300.

    Catherine Barnes
    Satisfies a core course requirement for MA students

    Participants in this course will develop their skills in analyzing conflicts as a central component of designing effective strategies for transforming conflict and building peace. We will use a variety of analytical models to understand different categories of conflict and their sources; to explore conflict relationships and the motivations and worldviews of those involved; and to analyze conflicts as systems so as to identify leverage for systemic change. We will explore conflicts through a number of lenses, including power dynamics, structural violence, political economy and drivers of change analysis, gender analysis, and the influence of identity and trauma. We will practice our analysis skills with case studies of inter-personal, community, societal and global-level conflicts and will bring this analysis to life through role plays and simulations. We will explore the ‘ethics of analysis’ and seek to become more self-aware of the implications of our role and biases. We will survey various ‘criteria for effectiveness’ for peacebuilding and consider how best to make the linkages between a broad analysis of a conflict and how best to respond under current conditions. Drawing on their analysis, participants will work in small groups to design intervention and programmatic responses to specific conflict situations.

    Draft syllabus

    Sam Gbaydee Doe

    Development intervention can help transform conflicts and build peace. If not done with sensitivity to the given conflict and the parties involved, it can worsen conflict conditions and undermine prospects for peace. With this realization comes the responsibility for development institutions and practitioners to account for the way they do development, the results of their work, and the implication of their work for conflict, peace, and human security. In this course, students will

    • Explore the peace, conflict, and security nexus
    • Learn how to apply the tools and frameworks for mainstreaming conflict sensitivity in global and national development institutions, policy instruments, and strategies
    • Critically reflect on the conflict sensitivity of “participation”, “consultation”, and “inclusion” – the emerging international best practices for sustainable recovery and development.

    There will be a hands-on application of conflict sensitive approaches to all stages in the recovery and development project cycle: context assessment, project design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.

    Draft syllabus

    Roy Hange

    Deepen your understanding of your own faith identity as a peacemaker while understanding the similarities and differences of those from other faiths. Develop capacity in building structures of interfaith engagement, and learn 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, Islam, and other religions as students have interest and ability to present
    • Reveal how religious identity functions in conflict settings with a vision toward transformation
    • Present models for reading the stages of religious conflict and positioning oneself for peacemaking
    • Discuss ways religious leaders have been positive actors in conflict transformation
    • Engage participants in building a vision for faith based peacebuilding in their contexts.

    The course will also explore how the spiritual and emotional content of trauma and enmity function in the matrix of religious, political, and ethnic identities in conflict and how this trauma and enmity can be transformed through peacebuilding.

    (Formerly Trauma Awareness & Transformation)
    Al Fuertes

    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. The course also examines recently developed healing approaches of individuals and communities moving from violence to trauma healing and transformation and highlights the importance of integrating the study of trauma into the field of peacebuilding, since unhealed trauma often continues the cycle of violence.

    Draft syllabus

    Carl Stauffer and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz

    This course provides a critical examination of the fundamental principles and practices of restorative justice and 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. Participants explore 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.

    Dr. Howard Zehr will feature as a guest lecturer at the beginning of the course, focusing on the theories and background of restorative justice.

    Draft syllabus

    Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah
    Satisfies a core course requirement for graduate students

    Effective practice in any field relies on self-awareness and respecting others. The focus in this course is on essential skills and knowledge for facilitating conflict transformation in interpersonal and group settings. 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.

    Draft syllabus

    Koila Costello-Olsson and Marshall Yoder

    Organizations are dynamic systems with unique structures and cultures, operating in specific environments. Every organization is also shaped by its leaders, who 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.

    Draft syllabus

    Mark Chupp

    Participants will examine strategies of community organizing and network organizing, focusing on community-based models as a means of promoting social change. This course will examine the changing nature of place, given increased mobility and diversity in communities and advances in social network and information technology. Using a general framework for organizing, the course will explore the strengths and uses of both confrontational and collaborative approaches. Participants will learn the history, frameworks and models of community building and community organizing.

    Through real world experience and case studies, participants will develop skills in issue identification, civic engagement, empowerment, and democratic process. Participants will examine various new approaches to engagement, from political organizing to social networking to coalition building. Recognizing that the grassroots and marginalized groups are often excluded in political processes, this course will also explore recent strategies for mobilizing and strengthening these voices in public decision making.

    Draft syllabus

    May 29 – June 8, 2012

    Mark Thiessen Nation

    The Sermon on the Mount has had a unique place in the history of the Christian faith. This is understandable since it is the largest block of teaching by Jesus in any of the four Gospels. It is also the case that various individuals and Christian traditions—e.g. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Anabaptists—have found this set of teachings to be peculiarly formative. With classic and contemporary questions in mind, this course will explore these challenging teachings in some detail. This will include a deliberate focus on peace and justice as they are contextualized within the whole of this extraordinary and compelling Sermon.

    Note: SPI participants interested in this class must register separately with the seminary. Please fill out the seminary’s part-time application, and specify your interest in this course on the application and that you are an SPI participant.

    Lisa Schirch

    Social movements can play a key role in raising awareness about important issues of justice and conflict as well as balancing power between groups so that negotiations can be more successful in addressing root causes of conflict. Social movements work best when they are planned strategically with an eye to the long-term, include all relevant stakeholders, and build important alliances and coalitions with others.

    Strategic nonviolent action and advocacy are essential elements in peacebuilding. Both violence and nonviolence are strategies to balance power and raise awareness in conflicts that are not ready for verbal forms of negotiation, mediation, or dialogue. They both intensify conflict to ‘force’ or persuade people to change their behavior. Violence usually spirals into a cycle and creates new victims. Waging conflict nonviolently through advocacy and activism ideally ripens the conditions for transforming relationships and structures while stopping the cycle of direct and structural violence.

    This class places the use of violence and nonviolence within a larger context of social movements and peacebuilding, and identifies the ways advocacy and activism complement other peacebuilding activities. Unlike many approaches to activism and advocacy, it stresses the need to focus on non-adversarial, relationship-based approaches. The course introduces the philosophy of nonviolence. The course examines the strategy and methods of activism and advocacy. Students will learn to reflect critically on social movements and learn to create nonviolent forms of power, identify tactics and design plans for social movements.

    Draft syllabus

    Barry Hart

    Participants in this course will explore identity, ethnicity, ethnocentrism and nationalism in order to understand the power of identity, especially related to large-scale violence and war. Course participants, through case studies and class discussion, will examine how identity is formed historically, culturally, psychologically, sociologically, and politically. Religious and identity-based conflicts, whether communal, national or international, will be analyzed and participants will look at the ways and means in which these conflicts might be transformed. Additionally, trauma related to humiliation and other factors concerned with identity threat and manipulation will be explored.

    Draft syllabus | Video description from Dr. Barry Hart

    Hizkias Assefa

    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 are understood in spiritual, social, and political terms, as well as how they are 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.

    Draft syllabus

    Reina Neufeldt and Mark Rogers

    Monitoring and evaluation are the learning disciplines most readily available for peacebuilding practitioners. Participants should already be familiar with the theory and practice of peacebuilding, but new to the field of monitoring and evaluation. The course approaches monitoring and evaluation from a learning perspective and introduces program theories of change, indicators, monitoring, evaluation design, and tools for reflective practice. Its objectives are to enable participants to:

    • Practice evaluative thinking
    • Design better projects
    • Monitor and learn from those projects more regularly and effectively
    • Enable participants to engage with evaluation more thoroughly.

    The emphasis is on utilization-focused evaluation and working with qualitative data. The course design includes mini-lectures, experiential learning exercises and practical case applications.

    Prior to the beginning of the course, participants are invited to submit a 5-7 page case study of a peacebuilding project that may be used in the practice sessions involving indicator development, monitoring planning and evaluation design. The case study should include a detailed conflict analysis, a goal statement, SMART objectives, targeted results, and brief descriptions of the key activities. Two to four case studies will be chosen according to participant interest.

    Draft syllabus

    David Anderson Hooker

    This course is an intensive exposure to the concepts and practices of consensus building, negotiation, dispute resolution, and scenario planning in the multi-party context. While many theories and practices of conflict analysis and negotiation applicable to interpersonal disputes are also applicable to situations involving multiple parties, there are additional skills and refinements required for successful implementation of multi-party processes. In the presence of alliances, uneven bargaining power, illegitimate parties, and threats of violence, most public policy disputes are resolved in informal negotiation settings. This course will utilize role plays, lectures, and case studies to identify and develop the skills necessary to interpret and resolve multi-party problems.

    Draft syllabus

    Carl Stauffer
    A background or previous training in restorative justice is suggested prior to taking this course.

    Using case studies, this advanced restorative justice seminar will explore ways to apply restorative justice principles and values in a variety of complex and difficult situations and contexts. Violations discussed will range from the individual and group to the societal level. Each participant is encouraged to come prepared to share a case study from their own experience that will serve as a seedbed of the course content. Cases may represent serious criminal offenses, collective/communal violence, indigenous customary law, transitional justice, and/or political and organized criminal violence.

    In discussing these issues we will grapple with the tensions inherent in defining RJ as a professional field in need of standardization and/or as a social change movement in need of a clear set of guiding principles and values. Class participants will discuss the most important ethics and values that they believe motivate their work in RJ. We will workshop (critique and adapt) various conflict analysis frameworks and peacebuilding models that are particularly cogent for RJ work. We will also explore critical practice skill-sets, tools and instrumentalities that can assist in constructing effective and transformative RJ responses to violent harms.

    Draft syllabus

    Armand Volkas

    How do cultures emotionally integrate a legacy of perpetration or victimization? How do we prevent the rage, guilt and shame of one generation from haunting a people for generations to come? In this course, participants will learn how to use techniques drawn from drama therapy, psychodrama, sociodrama, improvisation, expressive arts therapy, Theatre of the Oppressed, and Playback Theatre as methods to approach intercultural conflict transformation and collective trauma. Through experiential exercises integrated with theoretical explanations of the method, participants will be guided through an embodied exploration of conflict and trauma.

    Theatre, the expressive arts and other action methods can provide a bridge between personal and collective experience and help people master complex feelings, heal deep wounds and put ghosts of history to rest. Participants will emerge with a beginning competence to ethically apply these powerful tools in their peacebuilding contexts. No previous theatre experience necessary. Shy people welcome.

    Draft syllabus

    Nick Martin and Charles Martin-Shields

    The advent of new technologies has fundamentally changed the capacity for processing and exchanging information in the 21st century. NGOs, governments, and the private sector are just beginning to understand the potential of these tools and systems for analyzing and addressing violent conflict, social movements, peacebuilding and good governance.

    This course will explore how technology is being used to respond to crises, create early warning mechanisms, monitor elections, provide banking services, ensure effective governance, and more. It will also consider some of the key challenges related to access, implementation, scale, and evaluation that working with technology presents. Using case studies, simulations and collaborative activities, the course will help students understand where theory can be integrated into the development of strategies for applying technological tools and skills to work amid this rapidly evolving landscape.

    Draft syllabus

    David Anderson Hooker and Elaine Zook Barge

    STAR (Strategies for Trauma Awareness & Resilience) is an integrated training designed for leaders (religious, civil society, government, and community) and caregivers (pastors, educators, parents) who are dealing with the violence and trauma caused by human activity, structures/institutions and nature. Trauma affects how we think, feel, and behave. 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, mind and spirit of individuals, communities and societies;
    • Offer tools for addressing trauma and breaking cycles of violence;
    • Teach and encourage self-care for the caregiver.

    The STAR framework draws on the fields of trauma healing, restorative justice, conflict transformation, and spirituality for building resilient individuals and healthy communities.

    Draft syllabus

    Dan Maxwell

    The past two decades have witnessed a major transformation of humanitarian action. The geopolitical changes resulting from the end of the Cold war and the global war on terrorism have profoundly changed the environment in which humanitarian agencies operate. Universal principles of humanitarianism—specifically intended to enable access to conflict and disaster-affected populations—have been undermined by the politicization of aid, but humanitarians have also sought a more politicized role in responding to conflict, addressing not just physical needs but also the need for protection.

    The boundaries between humanitarian action, economic development, human rights and governance work, and peace building have become increasingly blurred, even as humanitarian budgets have grown rapidly. While many promote this more integrated approach, others blame the cooptation of humanitarian aid into political and security agendas for the collapse of access and “humanitarian space”—as exemplified by the near total prevention of access to famine-affected areas of Somalia.

    This course will introduce participants to the humanitarian response to conflicts, displacement and protracted crises, and will explore the quandaries of humanitarian action in such conflicts as Colombia, Sudan, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia.

    Draft syllabus