In collaboration with the New Century College (NCC), the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) is offering courses which promote an integrative understanding of the processes relevant to conflict resolution and social change. The program is primarily concerned with the problems of human conflict and the means by which such conflicts can be transformed. It traces major approaches to conflict analysis and intervention from interdisciplinary perspectives that include Communication, Psychology

This initiative is a response to the growing demand for new undergraduate courses in peace and conflict studies on campus as well as the changing educational and academic environment in the field. In recent years, there has been increasing public awareness of violent conflict at interpersonal, communal, national, and international levels, and various efforts have been made to deal with social conflict in a constructive manner. Equally important, strong research traditions in the field of peace and conflict studies have been built over the last several decades, and the courses have been widely taught at many prominent academic institutions around the world.

The program is designed to enrich the undergraduate learning environment at George Mason University by emphasizing an interdisciplinary approach, a participatory learning process, and the integration of practice and theory. These educational goals help students understand the complexities of real world problems and alternative approaches to solving problems.

1. Promotion of an Interdisciplinary Learning Environment

The study of peace and conflict studies draws on perspectives from many different academic disciplines. Understanding conflict and social conditions requires knowledge of the behavior of individuals, groups, and nations provided by social sciences and humanities. Methods of resolving conflicts and strategies for bringing about social change are based on a combination of psychological, social, anthropological, political, legal, communication, and other theories.

2. Integration of Knowledge

The program offers unique opportunities for students to integrate what they have learned. Resolving disputes and conflicts in families, schools, communities, and between nations requires an integrative model of human behavior and social theories. This conceptual model includes social, psychological, economic, and legal, and political dimensions of conflict and peace at various levels of human entities and institutions. While students may concentrate on their own areas of interest, the program encourages students to integrate their learning into a comprehensive body of knowledge.

3. Participatory Learning

Students are encouraged to take an active role in their education. Teaching methods include discussion, skills training, games service learning, and simulations as well as lectures. Various exercises and workshops are offered to build students' capacity to critically think about policy issues and analyze the nature of social stability and order. In addition, participatory teaching methods allow students to compare various strategies for peace building and suggest their own models of conflict resolution.

4. Practical Implications

Theories will be explored in terms of their practical perspectives for social change. Students will learn cross-cultural communication, negotiations, and development of skills in creating visions for peace. Training skills are offered in the context of linking analysis and research to action.

ICAR undergraduate courses will focus on complex social conditions at both micro and macro levels which generate conflict. More specifically, they focus on such issues as how conflict emerges at interpersonal, societal, and international levels; how these conflicts can be managed and transformed; what are the social, political, and economic dynamics of conflict; what would be a vision for the peaceful world. In addition to helping students understand the sources of conflict, the ICAR courses will offer practical skills in conflict management and resolution. The following courses will be offered at New Century College during the 1997-98 academic year.

1. Interpersonal Communication and Conflict Transformation

This course will examine the nature and dynamics of conflict and ways to resolve and transform conflict. Experiential learning will be the vehicle through which students explore their assumptions about communication and develop their skills for resolving interpersonal conflicts. Objectives are to learn about individual conflict strategies and how these affect interpersonal dynamics; to examine and analyze theories of conflict resolution and transformation as these relate to interpersonal conflict; to explore how communication and conflict resolution skills can enhance interpersonal communication and transform relationships; to experience the use of conflict resolution processes as they improve group cohesiveness and understanding; to consider how cultural differences affect the way conflict is perceived and handled and how these differences can be accompanied; to analyze the way that psychological dynamics play out in interpersonal conflict; to practice evolving and applying conflict resolution and transformation processes in interpersonal settings; to reflect on the social contexts in which conflicts arise and how these affect interpersonal dynamics.

2. Spirituality and Conflict Transformation

This course will examine dimensions of spirituality as they relate to a range of activities, including peacemaking efforts in large-scale conflicts, conflicts within faith communities and interpersonal disputes. Experiential learning will be emphasized as we explore approaches for spiritually-informed resolution. Some of the topics featured will include healing, reconciliation, forgiveness, spiritual traditions from diverse cultures, myth, metaphor and ritual as transformative tools. This course will be of interest to students who have an interest in some of the following: conflict resolution and transformation, mediation, negotiation, peacemaking, spirituality, gender issues, ethics, culture, worldviews and communication. Students who take the course will have the opportunity to think deeply about the positive and divisive effects of conflict and how conflicts can be catalysts for the transformation of relationships and social systems.

3. Peace Building and Conflict Resolution

This course will provide students with a background on the structural conditions of conflict. Conflict at various levels can be broadly understood in terms of conditions which generate human misery and suffering such as poverty, hunger, refugees, racial and ethnic discrimination, violence, gender inequality, militarism, pollution, overpopulation, and ecological deterioration. Dealing with the causes of conflict and organized violence leads to concern for promoting economic equity, social justice, and ecological balance through nonviolent conflict resolution strategies. Other topics will include peacekeeping, self- determination, reconciliation and reconstruction, environmental policies, global governance, sustainable development, etc. The objective of the course is to enhance knowledge and analytical skills of students to interpret conflict in various social settings and understand appropriate intervention methods.

The ICAR undergraduate courses--designed to enhance the goal of achieving collaborative, self-reflective, and interdisciplinary learning communities--are offered in cooperation with NCC in the 1997-1998 academic year. They complement existing teaching programs of New Century College which stress an experiential and integrative learning process. The courses sponsored by ICAR are well connected to other courses in New Century College which deal with race, class, gender, the impact of social and economic forces on community relations, community building, global culture, and so forth. These NCC courses include Violence and Gender, Construction of Differences; Tradition & Modernity; Modernization & Its Discontents; Social Movements and Community Activism; Neighborhood, Community and Identity.

The ICAR program complements other existing liberal arts programs at George Mason University. This particular program is intended to integrate a variety of themes taught in other courses which deal with conflict. Students can deepen their knowledge by taking courses in other programs. At the same time, with these core courses, students may develop specific areas of inquiry and practice, including interpersonal and intergroup conflict, organizational conflict, environmental conflict, public policy, and international conflict. Collaboration will be initiated with relevant programs on campus to select possible elective courses. These programs include, but are not limited to Communication, Cultural Studies, History, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Government and Public Policy, Management, Urban and Suburban Studies, and Women's Studies.

There is great demand for expertise in conflict management, transformation, and resolution at community, social, and international levels. Society has begun to recognize the critical need for professional third party intervention in both public and private sectors. Career opportunities for students can be enhanced by combining knowledge and skills in conflict studies with other fields of specialty or interest such as social work, education, public policy, and international relations. Possible employers include social service agencies, government departments, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations.

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