Conflict Analysis and Resolution (CONF)

Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Unless otherwise noted, all nondepartmental majors and extended study students require permission of instructor to register for graduate-level CONF classes.

101 Introduction to Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Brief history of the field, survey of key conflict resolution themes and theories, and intervention methods. Overview includes general factors of conflict and its resolution, and nature of conflict in interpersonal, group and organizational, and international situations.

300 Conflict Resolution Techniques and Practice (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101 and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Advanced consideration of CONF 101 topics, introduction of the core notion of reflective practice, conflict resolution techniques, practice, third party roles, and ethics.

301 Research and Inquiry in Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101 and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Introduction to social science research methods at the undergraduate level. Covers basic epistemology of social research, including quantitative and qualitative methods, with emphasis on participatory action research and evaluation and assessment work.

302 Identity Conflicts and their Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101 and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Covers deeply rooted, intractable, or protracted social conflicts around core issues of identity, including race, ethnicity, religion, and nationalism. Explores cultural, symbolic, and discursive approaches to identity conflict.

320 Interpersonal Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101, 300, and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Covers conflict at the micro level, introducing theories drawn from various disciplines including psychology, anthropology, and conflict resolution. From readings, case studies, and role plays, students develop the ability to analyze and intervene in interpersonal conflicts. Also prepares for further course work for interpersonal conflict concentration.

330 Community, Group, and Organizational Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101, 300, and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Covers conflict at the mezzo level, introducing theories of social harmony and conflict, drawing on sociology, social psychology, community psychology, organizational psychology, administration of justice, philosophy, and conflict resolution. Through case studies, class presentations and group projects, students develop ability to analyze a conflict as well as make recommendations for change. Also prepares for further course work for community and organizational conflict concentration.

340 Global Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 100, 300, and 60 credits; or permission of instructor. Covers conflict at the macro level, introducing theories of international and global violence and conflict, drawing from disciplines of international relations, political science, intercultural communication, and conflict resolution. Covers impact of globalization and structural causes of conflict. From class discussions, case studies, and a final paper, students develop analytical skills to help in the analysis of conflict. Prepares for further course work for international conflict concentration.

399 Special Topics in Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Examination of selected topics relating to analysis or resolution of conflict. Topics vary but may include historical examination of a conflict, social issues stemming from conflict, ethical issues in intervention, globalization, human rights, sources of conflict, or the relationship of particular identity domains to conflict. May be repeated for up to 6 credits if topics vary.

490 Integration (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 101 and degree status. Capstone course in which students reflect on what they have learned, integrating knowledge from course work and synthesizing it to a cogent body of knowledge. Includes class discussion and final project that demonstrates understanding of conflict theory and reflective practice.

501 Introduction to Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite or corequisite for all MS CONF majors. Introduction to field of conflict analysis and resolution. Examines definitions of conflict and diverse views of its Òresolution.Ó Explores thinking about human behavior and social systems as they relate to the origins of conflict and the role of conflict in violent and peaceful social change. Considers appropriate responses to conflict at inter-personal, intergroup, industrial, communal, and international levels.

595 Selected Topics (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501. Topics vary from semester to semester; they are announced each academic year.

601 Theories of Conflict and Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Examines major social scientific theories of conflict. Emphasizes need for theories to inform our ability to resolve conflict. Weaves together ideas from conventional disciplines with new approaches, especially to causes of deep-rooted conflict. -Focuses on analysis as a tool.

610 Philosophy and Methods of Conflict Research (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Introduction to research design, including use of theory to define the problem; exploring research approaches; gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data. Latter includes field observation; field experiments; lab experiments (simulations); surveys and sampling techniques; and archival, documentary, and literature resources. Quantitative techniques include theories of measurement (numerical and ordinal scales); distributions; and analysis techniques (chi-square, correlating, factor analysis). Briefly introduces philosophies of science and its limits.

611 MS Research II (3:3:0)Prerequisite: CONF 501 and 610. Builds on foundation of CONF 610. Guides students through the design, execution, interpretation, analysis, presentation, and evaluation of field research into conflict and conflict resolution.

642 Integration of Theory and Practice (3:3:0) Taken in the last semester of masterÕs studentsÕ course work. Assists in developing studentsÕ own ÒgenericÓ theory of conflict by reviewing and integrating prior course work. Students are expected to demonstrate a holistic comprehension of the field by writing a major essay of publishable quality about the causes, events, and resolution of a particular conflict of their own choosing.

690 Practicum in Conflict Analysis and Resolution (6:1:5) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 and 713; 714 or 715 recommended but not required. Two semesters, taken 3 credits per semester. In-depth field study of ongoing conflict situations, and design and delivery of intervention processes to manage or resolve the conflicts.

694 Internship (1-6:0:1-6) Prerequisite: 21 credits, including CONF 713 and 714. CONF 715 recommended. Under direction of clinical coordinator, students spend at least 160 hours working on a project involving the study and resolution of conflict. Students are expected to mesh theory and practice through observation and experience. Includes comprehensive report analyzing the individualÕs experience.

695 Selected Topics (3:3:0) Topics vary from year to year; they are announced each academic year.

697 Directed Reading (1-3:0:1-3) Independent reading at masterÕs level on specific topic related to conflict analysis and resolution as agreed to by student and faculty member. May be repeated up to 6 credits.

701 Theories of Social Harmony (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801; CONF 601 recommended but not -required. Part of a series of theory courses and the companion to CONF 601. Explores theories that define and explain social harmony and cooperation. Exam-ines social institutions that manage and mediate conflict at all levels (interpersonal to international), and provides foundation for subsequent courses in peace building, peace making, multilateral organizations, social change, and development.

702 Peace Studies (3:3:0) Traces evolution of peace studies since World War II with particular attention to changing definitions of peace, conflict, and violence, and implications for the field of conflict analysis and resolution. Links peace keeping, peace building, and peace making in an integrative framework.

703 Conceptions of Practice (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 501, 601, 713. Provides framework for integrating theory and practice in conflict resolution. Reviews types of practice and theories of intervention and change, discusses analytic process of assessment and diagnosis before intervention. Considers how research can be incorporated into practice, and how thoughtful practice generates research questions. Includes methods of program evaluation and action research. Students encouraged to identify or develop their own theories of practice.

709 War, Violence, and Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) -Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Considers various theories of violence, causes and conditions, and applies them to a variety of cases: family abuse, religious and ethnic violence; terrorism, revolution, and warfare. Insights gained from study of initiation, escalation, management, resolution, and prevention of violence are applied to theories about the resolution of deep-rooted conflicts.

713 Laboratory and Simulation I: Interpersonal and Intergroup Conflict (3:0:3) Prerequisite or corequisite for all CONF majors: CONF 501 or 801. Introductory skill-building course integrating conflict theory and practice using reflective practitioner model. Students learn necessary skills for third-party facilitation and mediation including active listening, empathy, paraphrasing, refram-ing, and negotiation, and analytical skills of problem solving and creation of transformational processes. Cases for practice focus on interpersonal and intergroup conflict.

714 Laboratory and Simulation II: Organizational and Community Conflict (3:0:3)Prerequisites: CONF 501 or 801 and 713. Moves from conflicts that are simply described to those with multilevel components, such as community and organizational conflicts. Expands skills acquired in 713 by adding recording chronology; identifying roles played by various participants; observing turning points in the resolution process; precisely stating the agreed-upon solution.

715 Laboratory and Simulation III: International and Intercommunal Conflict (3:0:3) Prerequisites: CONF 501, 713, and 714; or permission of instructor. Continuation of the study of resolution processes as -applied to highly complex systems, especially where one party denies the legitimacy of existing political authority. Considers third-party options for intervention in revolutionary and international conflicts, and means for building communication and trust among parties, and implementing agreements.

720 Ethnic and Cultural Factors in Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Examines the role culture plays in genesis, structuring, and resolution of processes of conflict within and between groups. Special attention to ethnicity and other subcultural markers of identity in complex social systems as generators and outcomes of conflict. Explores relevance of these variables to the success or failure of conflict resolution.

721 Conflict and Race (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Cross-listed as SOCI 523. Addresses historic analyses of racial and ethnic identity conflicts and their resolution.

722 Conflict and Religion (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Explores role of organized religions in conflict, war, peace making, and conflict resolution.

723 Conflict and Gender (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Examines constructs of gender and conflict as they relate to a critical analysis of theory and practice. Feminist theories are reviewed for their contributions to social and conflict theories. Narratives used to explore how gender and power dynamics interact in conflict.

724 Conflict and Ò-ismsÓ (3:3:0)Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. ÒThemÓ and ÒUsÓ: Deals with the identification and analysis of interrelationships and similarities among the various ways human beings bifurcate themselves based on national, ethnic, religious, gender, and other criteria. Explores the role these divisions play in the development and intractability of identity-based conflicts, and implications for conflict analysis and resolution. Examples include nationalism, racism, sexism, ageism, classism.

725 Conflict and Spirituality (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Explores role of spirituality in the naming, framing, and unwinding of conflict. Roles of apology, reconciliation, and forgiveness are considered as they relate to the deconstruction of enemy images in protracted communal and interpersonal conflicts. Examines relational empathy, and ways of cultivating connection across perceived deep differences.

726 Moral and Philosophical Foundations of Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Overview of moral, philosophical, and ethical underpinnings of conceptions of conflict and conflict resolution. Enhances ability to engage in discourse approaching conflict from moral or philosophical disciplinary background.

727 Cross-Cultural Analysis of Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Introduces techniques of participant observation and anthropological research. Provides insights into cross-cultural fieldwork experience, an impor-tant skill for facilitation of working with groups outside their own Òworldview.Ó Highly recommended for students interested in understanding diverse groups and gaining insights into the wide variation in world views and values understandings held by different people.

728 Human Rights Theory and Practice in Comparative Perspective (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801, or permission of the instructor. Introduces major controversies and debates surrounding the use of human rights theory and practice crossculturally. After a basic study of human rights philosophy, uses case studies from around the world to examine problems and potential of human rights in todayÕs globalized world.

729 Approaches to Violence (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801, or permission of instructor. Explores violence from a variety of intellectual and political perspectives. Readings are wide-ranging and interdisciplinary, addressing levels of analysis from the biological to the nation-state and transnational processes.

730 Structural Sources of Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 501 or 801, and 601 for MS; or 802 for PhD. -Examines how structures and institutions affect behavior and give rise to conflictual relationships at all social levels, from interpersonal to the international. Explores role of conflict resolution as a political process proving opportunities for nonviolent system change.

731 Conflict in Organizations (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Explores intersection and dynam-ics of organizational behavior and dimensions of conflict. Theoretical perspectives and cases examine issues involved in conflict analysis and resolution. Strategies for prevention and intervention are practiced. Students conduct field research in the greater metropolitan area to help integrate course content.

732 Conflict in Development (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Economic and social development cause trauma as new ideas conflict with old ones. When devel-opment is generated or directed by forces outside of a culture, conflict takes on deep-rooted character. Course explores how conflict analysis and resolution approaches can be applied to conflicts of development and change.

733 Law and Jurisprudence in Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Contrasts legal processes and institutions with alternative approaches to dispute resolution. Defines and distinguishes among law, Òalternative dispute resolution,Ó and problem-solving analysis as methods for resolving rather than controlling conflict. Asks to what extent legal procedures are truly applicable to resolving deep-rooted conflict.

734 Crime and Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 or permission of instructor. Explores usefulness of conflict analysis and resolution perspectives in analyzing causes, nature, and consequences of criminal behavior, and alternative approaches to crime problem.

735 Global Context of Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Advances skills and knowledge base in critical analysis and creative problem solving. Root causes of conflict in a global context examined in terms of gender inequality, cultural differences, unequal North and South relations, militarism, economic oppression, genocide, maldevelopment, religious and -ethnic struggle, and environmental scarcity. Students develop their own conceptual tool boxes to analyze conflicts in different parts of the world.

736 Globalization and International Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801, or permission of instructor. Explores meanings of globalization—economic, political, social, and cultural—and examines how they affect conflict processes at international level. Students explore when and under what conditions globalization promotes cooperation or conflict.

737 Societies, Globalization, and Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801, or permission of instructor. Explores how globalization affects conflict processes at the domestic level. Topics include economic interdependence and civil war; structural adjustment policies and distributional conflicts; changing cultural norms and gender roles, migration, tourism, and conflict.

738 Researching Conflict in Health Systems (3:3:0) Capstone seminar; final course in the graduate certificate program in conflict resolution for health professionals. Involves conducting research and analyzing a specific conflict situation in depth. Builds on theory, research, and practice learned in previous courses for this certificate.

739 Collective Action, Social Movements, and Globalization (3:3:0)CONF 501 or 801, or permission of the instructor. Explores how people translate underlying grievances into collective action. Examines how groups organize, frame, and develop strategies and tactics to pursue their agendas, and how the processes of globalization have influenced social movement dynamics.

740 Conflict Roles, Resources, and Ethics (3:3:0) Prereq-uisites: CONF 501 or 801, 713. Analyzes and critique nature and roles in conflicts. Theoretical perspectives and case histories are used to understand how settings -affect roles. Includes ethical assessment of interventions in a variety of conflict settings.

741 Negotiations (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 or permission of the instructor. StudentÕs negotiating exper-iences are used to construct a framework for thinking about and analyzing negotiation processes. The framework is then used to organize a review of the research literature on the ÒrhythmsÓ and ÒpatternsÓ of negotiation as well as to analyze a variety of actual cases. Exercises and class projects interwoven with state-of-the-art concepts and findings.

742 Mediating Policy Conflict (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 or permission of the instructor. Analyzes disputes involving the formation, implementation, and reform of social policy. Development and assessment of the roles of mediation and other intervention approaches in policy conflicts in the public, private, and citizens -sectors.

743 Dynamics of Conflict Termination (3:3:0)Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 or permission of the instructor. Studies nature of Òpeace processÓ in terminating international, transnational, and civil conflicts. Includes analysis of partiesÕ decision-making procedures during processes of de-escalation, prebargaining, and nego-tiation. Examines impact of various third-party roles (media-tor, conciliator, facilitator) on the overall process, including implementation and monitoring of agreements. Takes as exemplary case studies efforts to terminate such conflicts of the Iran-Iraq war, the Cyprus dispute, and the Eritrean conflict.

744 Peace Keeping (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. To what degree do international Òpeace-keepingÓ forces embrace conflict resolution and peace-building as part of their mission? To what degree could conflict resolution be integrated? What are the roles conflict resolvers can play in peace-keeping -environments?

745 Leadership Roles in Conflict and Conflict Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801 or permission of the instructor. Leadership responses to conflict are affected by several variables, including race, ethnicity, and gender. Explores roles of leadership decision-making styles as agents of conflict across a range of conflict scenarios at the interpersonal, community, organizational, and international levels.

746 Peace Building (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Building on initiatives of the United Nations and other multilateral organizations, explores dynamics of post- conflict peace building. Prepares students of conflict resolution to play innovative roles in reconstruction of civil societies.

747 Reconciliation (3:3:0)Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. Explores processes of acknowledgment, reconciliation, forgiveness, and restitution. Literature, case studies, and other research are reviewed to assess the applicability and impact of these efforts.

748 Comparative Peace Processes (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 501 or 801, 601 or 803, or permission of the instructor. Compares case studies drawn from actual peace processes, both successful and unsuccessful, to illuminate principles and complexities.

795 Professional Development Seminars (1-3:1-3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 501 or 801. These 1- and 2-credit courses scheduled nonconventionally using weekends, concentrated presentations, and intersession periods to give students advanced professional skills. Possible -topics include marketing conflict resolution services, academic course design, training design, mediation, facilitation, family practice, fundraising, writing for publication, advanced field research techniques, and grassroots applications of conflict resolution. May be repeated.

799 MasterÕs Thesis (1-6:0:1-6)Prerequisites: CONF 501, 713, 610. Two semesters, normally taken as 3 credits per semester. Original research or analysis under direction of thesis committee.

801 Introduction to Conflict Analysis and Resolution (3:3:0) Prerequisite or corequisite for all PhD CONF students. Introduction to field of conflict analysis and resolution for doctoral students. Examines definitions of conflict and diverse views of Òresolution.Ó Explores thinking about human behavior and social systems as they relate to origins of conflict and the role of conflict in violent and peaceful social change. Considers appropriate responses to conflict at interpersonal, intergroup, industrial, communal, and international levels.

802 Micro Theories (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 801, and acceptance in the doctoral program, or permission of instructor. Understanding human conflict requires knowledge of human behavior, motivation and perception. Reviews and critically analyzes several psychological theories for their application to conflict analysis and resolution. Surveys work of major personality theorists as well as material on cognition, creativity, and change.

803 Macro Theories (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 801, 802 and acceptance in the doctoral program, or permission of instructor. Understanding social conflict and potential for conflict resolution requires that both conflict and cooperation be perceived in relationship to patterns of social change. Course reviews and critiques significant theories of social change to establish a basis for -creative conflict analysis and resolution.

810 Philosophy of the Social Sciences (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 801 or permis-sion of instructor. Philosophical inquiry into history and structure of ideas and the building of scientific hypoth-eses. Assumes that the ways we think, as -human beings, and the ways we build and test our theories about the world are closely linked. Explores and critiques the thinking of major 20th century thinkers from the social sciences, thus forming an introduction to -research methodology.

811 Advanced Research Methods I (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 801, 810, or permission of instructor. A prior course such as STAT 510 in intermediate statistics is presumed. Building on the logic of inquiry, introduces students to steps in the research process needed to prepare a dissertation and implement published research. Covers a wide array of quantitative and qualitative research approaches used in the social sciences, with an emphasis on conflict analysis.

812 Advanced Research Methods II (3:3:0) Prerequisite: CONF 811 or permission of instructor. Continuation of steps in the research process needed to prepare a dissertation and implement published research. Builds on CONF 811 by extending the coverage of quantitative and qualitative research approaches used in the social sciences, with emphasis on conflict analysis.

890 Practicum in Conflict Analysis and Resolution (6:1:5)Prerequisite: CONF 801 and 713; 714 or 715 recommended but not required. Two semesters. In-depth field study of ongoing conflict situations. Design and delivery of intervention processes to manage or resolve conflicts.

897 Directed Reading (3:3:0) Independent reading at doctoral level on a specific topic related to conflict and conflict resolution as agreed to by a student and faculty -member.

900 Integrating Theory, Practice, and Method in -Conflict Analysis (3:3:0) Prerequisites: CONF 801,and 802, and at least 9 additional credits in doctoral core program. Analyzes theoretical basis undergirding methods of research in conflict resolution. Explores how theory is built through the reciprocal influence of research and practice.

998 Doctoral Dissertation Proposal (1-6:1-6:0)Prerequisite: successful completion of all course work and doctoral qualifying exam-inations. Work on a research proposal that forms the basis for a doctoral dissertation. May be repeated for maximum 6 credits toward degree.

999 Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-12:0:1-12) Credits vary; at least 6 must be taken toward the degree. Research on approved dissertation topic under direction of committee. Note: At least 12 credits of 998 and 999 must be accumulated toward the degree.