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The intent and design of Praxis: Capstone is to provide guided reflection in four areas: 1) Being a reflexive practitioner in transformational leadership; 2) Integrating and evaluating theories of change in their project context; 3) Adapting to emergent contexts with critical theory lenses; 4) Revisit and review goals and reflections on vocation explored in PAX 507.
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Foundations 1 and 2 give an overview of social justice and peacebuilding practice and its multi-disciplinary, multi-level aspects. This course, Foundations 1, addresses personal, interpersonal, small group, and organizational-level conflict transformation and social change. Foundations 1 will center on personal formation, basic action research, analysis for understanding conflict and injustice, peacebuilding and justice practice, theories of change, practitioner roles, essential skills and processes in our work, and basic process design.
Foundations 2 focuses on communal and societal levels of conflict and social change, centering on critical theory, analysis, power, structural and macro-level engagement, larger group processes, process design and more. See the Foundations 2 syllabi for course options or discuss options with your academic advisor.
Whether you take one or both courses, you will integrate personal formation including self-awareness, critical self-assessment, self-management and self- and communal care, ethical application of theory, technical utilization of research and analysis tools, and systematic processes of planning and implementation for intervention or action across many sectors and at different levels of society.
Foundations 1 is constructed to assist you to integrate these vital elements - personal formation, theory, research, analysis and practical skills and processes – into your justice work and peacebuilding practice. You will be introduced to basic literature and theory of the fields; explore conflict transformation from an individual, interpersonal and community level; consider the dynamics of conflict and injustice, and experience the practice of peacebuilding through reading and discussions, video lectures and other engagements, group work, and interactive case study.
Skills competencies are emphasized in the areas of personal formation, conflict analysis and assessment, communication, construction of theories of change, strategies for intervention in interpersonal, intra-and intergroup conflicts, and basic process design. Basic processes that help structure conversations (such as negotiation, mediation and facilitation), nonviolent social action, accompaniment and coaching strategies as well as informal and other transformative processes are highlighted and can be practiced. This course employs the action-reflection learning cycle as the undergirding educational framework throughout the semester.
Foundations 1 cannot be taken for reduced credit or for professional education/training. Those students enrolling in the BA to MA program will register in the PXD 494 section of the course.
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Emancipatory peacebuilders, academics, and broader social justice movements use research to illuminate obscured relationships between power and oppression, cultivate stories, identify theories of change, and document histories and cultures of resilience. However, the dominant Euro-Western research methods and methodologies many practitioners learn often replicate the very paradigms and power relationships those in the justice and peacebuilding field seek to displace. Consequently, only certain forms of knowledge are valued and sought out, which subjugates indigenous and community-based ways of knowing and being. Therefore, this required 3-credit course for all MA candidates equips students with an expansive and justice-oriented qualitative research framework that introduces pathways for research to advance social change. This course is designed to invite all to explore their curiosities through inquiry in pursuit of a world with more justice and peace.
[1] DataCenter for Research Justice. (2015). An introduction to research justice [PDF], p. 6. Retrieved from http://www.datacenter.org/new-toolkit-an-introduction-to-research-justice/.
This course is not available for reduced credit or professional development. In addition to this course, students will be strongly advised to take one of the existing applied research project courses or complete a research project as part of another course or their practicum placement.
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STAR’s multi-disciplinary framework draws on several fields of theory and practice to support healthy, resilient individuals and communities: trauma and resilience studies (including neurobiology), restorative justice, conflict transformation, human security, and spirituality. STAR centers participants’ experience and insights, while offering activities, resources, and a theoretical model to support a journey toward understanding and interrupting cycles of violence at the individual, communal and societal levels.
Learn more about STAR on the STAR website!
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This class is a core requirement for all MATL students.
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That’s all nonviolence is – organized love. ~ Joan Baez
Community organizing is fundamentally a project of power building within and among groups of people marginalized from existing power structures. Community building is a great example of non-violent mobilization for sustainable change. This course is an introduction to the history, theories, and tactics of community organizing in the United States since the early 20th century. Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented range and number of nonviolent campaigns and movements across the world. There is so much to learn from and contribute to! What does it take to create sustainable social change in the face of institutional and political resistance? What does it mean to work towards the vision of a nonviolent world? In this course, we look at the power of people to effect change through social movements using strategic nonviolence, direct action, community organizing, and advocacy. We examine the theory, practice, history, and research behind nonviolence; revisit and reframe classic debates; explore case studies and our own experiences; practice key assessment, planning, and tactical skills; and apply what we have learned to issues we care about. We also consider how nonviolence needs to synergize peacebuilding approaches to be effective.
The course is designed to deepen students’ knowledge and skills in community development practice with an emphasis on learning skills to awaken power and build leadership. The course is grounded in the popular pedagogy of Paulo Friere to understand and honor the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of local communities. Popular education methods apply a problem-focused approach to action where community members reflect on a shared problem, plan a response to that problem and further reflect on the process and outcome of their action. To be able to successfully apply this method, this course will help students deepen their skills in critical social analysis, community engagement, popular education methodology, and group processes for community change.
In addition to engaging in classroom discussions and activities, readings and multimedia resources, and group research and presentations on real-life scenarios, opportunities to contribute to planning and carrying out or participating in small campaigns (in Harrisonburg) will be built into the learning experience. [This course is cross-listed with undergraduate course SOC-470.]
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This is a core requirements for MA in Restorative Justice students. This course is offered every fall and is often offered through the annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute as well.
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Through case studies and our own experiences, we will practice assessment, visioning, planning, and tactical skills, and also apply what we have learned to issues we care about. As we discuss whether nonviolence is “the way” or “one way” for us today, we will investigate the intersections of nonviolent social change with peacebuilding practices and social justice movements. Along with readings and classroom discussions and activities, we will engage with multimedia resources like film and music, and connect to real-life scenarios through individual and group research and presentations.
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We will learn methods appropriate for guiding community and organizational meetings, conducting public processes, and for enabling difficult dialogues across conflict divides. Participants will learn how to assess the needs of the group and then to design processes to address them. This will include processes to help groups improve understanding, strengthen relationships, engage in collaborative problem solving and make effective decisions. Participants will become familiar with a variety of methods and techniques to achieve process goals, whether it is a group of three or 3,000.
Through a variety of readings, exercises and reflections, the course will assist participants’ formation as reflective practitioners enabling group processes. We will focus on developing self-awareness and awareness of group dynamics, while cultivating openness and offering a calm presence even in the midst of high levels of anxiety and conflict. We will consider a variety of facilitator roles and functions and critically assess the ethics and appropriateness of these for different types of situations, including with evident power imbalances and systemic oppression. While rooted in a North American peacebuilding paradigm, we will aim to also explore facilitation in other cultural traditions and raise awareness of the challenges of facilitating cross-culturally.
This course is designed for participants enrolled in CJP’s graduate studies program and presumes knowledge of basic conflict analysis and peacebuilding concepts and methods. As such, Foundations 1 or an equivalent course is preferred. This class qualifies as a skills assessment course for the CJP MA degree.
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In this course, faculty continue to coach students as they further develop their knowledge and skills for dealing with conflict and situations of injustice and building sustainable peace, with increased sensitivity to race and gender as well as history, and political economy. Students work individually and in teams to learn new theories and concepts and to apply these ideas and skills to cases that progress in complexity from the community to the national and global levels (and back again). Throughout the course, we also examine the intersections and overlaps among the local and the global.
Students continue to develop their self-awareness as well as their capacity for professional judgment and reflective practice. Students become familiar with theories and frameworks that help explain the causes and dynamics of larger-scale conflicts, injustice and structural violence. They explore the roles of social-movement organizations, practitioner groups and policy engagement for dealing with such situations. Students prepare for future employment by completing assignments that develop professional skills, including but not limited to: communicating complex ideas clearly and succinctly, working in teams on complex projects, researching strategies and moving from analyzing a situation of injustice or conflict to designing and preparing strategies to impact that situation.
Foundations 2 is required for all MA in Conflict Transformation and MA in Restorative Justice students.
View Syllabus535 Research Methods for Social Change (3 SH)
“‘Research Justice’ is achieved when communities reclaim and access all forms of knowledge to affect change between community voices and those of institutions.”
Emancipatory peacebuilders, academics, and broader social justice movements use research to illuminate obscured relationships between power and oppression, cultivate stories, identify theories of change, and document histories and cultures of resilience. However, the dominant Euro-Western research methods and methodologies many practitioners learn often replicate the very paradigms and power relationships those in the justice and peacebuilding field seek to displace. Consequently, only certain forms of knowledge are valued and sought out, which subjugates indigenous and community-based ways of knowing and being. Therefore, this required 3-credit course for all MA candidates equips students with an expansive and justice-oriented qualitative research framework that introduces pathways for research to advance social change. This course is designed to invite all to explore their curiosities through inquiry in pursuit of a world with more justice and peace.
[1] DataCenter for Research Justice. (2015). An introduction to research justice [PDF], p. 6. Retrieved from http://www.datacenter.org/new-toolkit-an-introduction-to-research-justice/.
This course is not available for reduced credit or professional development. In addition to this course, students will be strongly advised to take one of the existing applied research project courses or complete a research project as part of another course or their practicum placement.
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Whether working in advocacy, healthcare, education, government, care-giving, activism, or in any kind of leadership or community building capacity, stressors add up - particularly in the midst (and aftermath?) of pandemic. Research and experience demonstrate that unaddressed trauma often leads to conflict and violence against self or with others, as trauma-affected people act out against others or become self-destructive. STAR combines theory with experiential learning to increase awareness of the impacts of trauma on the body, brain, beliefs and behaviors. The course offers tools for addressing trauma and breaking cycles of violence.
STAR’s multi-disciplinary framework draws on several fields of theory and practice to support healthy, resilient individuals and communities: trauma and resilience studies (including neurobiology), restorative justice, conflict transformation, human security, and spirituality. STAR centers participants’ experience and insights, while offering activities, resources, and a theoretical model to support a journey toward understanding and interrupting cycles of violence at the individual, communal and societal levels.
Learn more about STAR on the STAR website!
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The complex, dynamic, and frequently chaotic contexts of the 21st century call for approaches to leadership that go beyond the individualistic, competitive and exclusive leadership paradigm after which many roles are often modeled. Social change in fast-paced and interdependent contexts requires a concerted collective effort to identify problems, envision new scenarios, articulate networks and set forth movements that inspire more just and flourishing societies. The challenges of social change demand new approaches to leadership.
In this course, we look at some of the challenges facing communities, such as increasing inequality, climate change, discrimination and oppressive power dynamics, and explore leadership approaches that can be transformational in leading social change. We discuss and experiment with leadership skills such as empathy, inclusivity, fairness, adaptability and creativity, vulnerability, curiosity, and reflect how transformational leaders can foment sustainable change in different areas, from the intra-personal to the communitarian, organizational (for-profit and not for profit), and society.
This class is a core requirement for all MATL students.
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This course provides a critical examination of the values, principles, and practices of restorative justice. It provides a unique opportunity to explore the philosophy of restorative justice from various perspectives, and as it is applied in various contexts. Our primary starting point is the U.S. criminal legal system and the problems posed by its dominant responses to harm and violence. We examine how restorative justice presents a contrasting philosophy of justice that addresses the needs of multiple stakeholders, draws from faith-based and indigenous approaches, and challenges interpersonal and structural forms of harm. We also explore intersections and applications of restorative justice with multiple fields and movements including racial justice, trauma healing, education, youth development, and transitional justice.
This is a core requirements for MA in Restorative Justice students. This course is offered every fall and is often offered through the annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute as well.
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This course introduces you to the field of global development through examining both the history of the field and the current debates and challenges faced by development practitioners. The purpose is to explore and critically evaluate the basic assumptions underlying the competing theories and current approaches towards alleviating poverty and global inequality. This course approaches the phenomenon of development in its broadest sense as the study of change, with attention to global justice, equity, and the historical links between development, colonialism, and global capitalism. In the course, we will explore what development means, how to measure it, and how to understand attempts to balance between economic, ecological, and equity concerns. The course engages the key propositions that emerge in contemporary development debates, and offers frameworks for evaluating theories, interventions and policies. With attention to power relations, we will consider critiques of the development project sensitive to race, gender, ecology and other political economy traditions, in dialogue with the dominant understanding of development as technical interventions for enhancing the market mechanism. This will provide a foundation for uncovering and assessing social and political structures, institutions, inequalities, and development policies as theories meet practice. [This course is cross-listed with undergraduate course PXD-485.]
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Is nonviolence effective for creating sustainable social change in the face of institutional, political, and violent resistance? How is the philosophy of nonviolence connected to nonviolent strategy and tactics? And can nonviolence still be relevant today? In this course, we look at the power of social movements to effect change using strategic nonviolence, including forms of protest and persuasion, noncooperation, and nonviolent intervention and direct action. We examine the theory, practice, history, and research behind nonviolence, and explore debates and criticisms about the efficacy of nonviolent social change. Our work will be grounded in a close study of the US Civil Rights Movement, as well as other social change movements from India to Serbia to South Africa, and recent movements from Occupy to Arab Spring to Environmental Justice.
Through case studies and our own experiences, we will practice assessment, visioning, planning, and tactical skills, and also apply what we have learned to issues we care about. As we discuss whether nonviolence is “the way” or “one way” for us today, we will investigate the intersections of nonviolent social change with peacebuilding practices and social justice movements. Along with readings and classroom discussions and activities, we will engage with multimedia resources like film and music, and connect to real-life scenarios through individual and group research and presentations.
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Negotiation is the fundamental process by which human beings discern how to resolve differences and move forward together—whether in a family, a local community, an organization, a society, or a world community. Mediation adds a third party to the negotiation process, and has proven remarkably effective in resolving and even transforming certain disputes. This course will train participants to be effective negotiators and to serve as impartial mediators, but will also explore the varying contexts in which these processes take place and the variety of perspectives and worldviews that parties bring to a negotiation or mediation process.
For CJP MA in Conflict Transformation students this course satisfies the skills assessment course requirement.Each student will be evaluated by the instructor and by class peers for competency in mediation and negotiation skills.
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This course is designed to develop participants’ capacities as skillful facilitators and to enable them to design and lead effective group processes for dialogue, deliberation and decision-making. The course is structured around six all-day class sessions that are complemented by observation of real meetings and mentored, applied practice as facilitators in the community.
We will learn methods appropriate for guiding community and organizational meetings, conducting public processes, and for enabling difficult dialogues across conflict divides. Participants will learn how to assess the needs of the group and then to design processes to address them. This will include processes to help groups improve understanding, strengthen relationships, engage in collaborative problem solving and make effective decisions. Participants will become familiar with a variety of methods and techniques to achieve process goals, whether it is a group of three or 3,000.
Through a variety of readings, exercises and reflections, the course will assist participants’ formation as reflective practitioners enabling group processes. We will focus on developing self-awareness and awareness of group dynamics, while cultivating openness and offering a calm presence even in the midst of high levels of anxiety and conflict. We will consider a variety of facilitator roles and functions and critically assess the ethics and appropriateness of these for different types of situations, including with evident power imbalances and systemic oppression. While rooted in a North American peacebuilding paradigm, we will aim to also explore facilitation in other cultural traditions and raise awareness of the challenges of facilitating cross-culturally.
This course is designed for participants enrolled in CJP’s graduate studies program and presumes knowledge of basic conflict analysis and peacebuilding concepts and methods. As such, Foundations 1 or an equivalent course is preferred. This class qualifies as a skills assessment course for the CJP MA degrees.
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This course will focus on social and global processes of transformation by exploring global challenges, local experiences and struggles, and transnational solidarities that emerge in response to those challenges. It will be concerned with institutions, relations of power, and the relationship between power and the production of justice and peacebuilding theories and practices. It will pick up where the Foundations 1 sequence (“Analysis: Understanding Conflict” and “Formation for Peacebuilding Practice”) left off, aiming to add to students’ comprehensive overview of justice and peacebuilding practice and its multi-disciplinary, multi-level aspects.
Whereas the Foundations 1 sequence centered on personal, interpersonal, small group and organizational transformation analysis, theory and practice, this course will equip students to further develop their knowledge and skills for dealing with conflict and situations of injustice and building sustainable peace. Particular focus will be given to social, state, and political change with increased sensitivity to race, gender, ecology, and other political economy traditions. Particular attention will be given to the colonial legacies and decolonial possibilities in justice and peacebuilding, exploring decoloniality as both an epistemic and a political project.
Action and struggle for justice and peacebuilding are always found in peoples’ local, place-based experiences, but to gain understanding in order to effect change, we have to explore their global features. To do this we will examine the intersections and overlaps among the local and the global, including the transnational solidarities that connect local struggles around the world. Students will become familiar with theories and frameworks that help explain the causes and dynamics of larger-scale conflicts, injustice, and structural violence. Students will work individually and in small groups to apply these ideas and skills to cases that progress in complexity from the community to the national and global levels (and back again). Students will also continue to develop their self-awareness as well as their capacity for professional judgment and reflective practice with attention to vocation, values, ethics, faith and spirituality. [This course is required for all MACT and MARJ students and is not available for reduced credit. cross-listed with undergraduate course PXD-435.]
Please note: for the 2023-2024 year academic year, PAX 635 plus a 3 credit hour course from an approved list will satisfy the Foundations 2 sequence.
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Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) Level 2 invites people who have started to bring trauma awareness into their life and work for greater resilience to deepen their knowledge and skills. In Level 2, participants have a chance to:
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This course is intended to provide experience in the circle process as well as an understanding of the foundational values and key structural elements for designing and conducting peacemaking circles. The class will prepare students to design and facilitate peacemaking circles in culturally diverse settings and situations.
A 2-3 SH version of this class is typically offered during our annual Summer Peacebuilding Institute (www.emu.edu/cjp/spi/).
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Restorative Justice originated as a practice-based discipline. In the following decades, the field expanded to include theory and research of RJ. At the core of any restorative practice, is a focus on steps to identify and address harms while finding ways to bring healing and make amends. The course will be framed by four key values of RJ: inclusion, encounter, amends, and reintegration. The content of the course will be embedded in the foundational practice models that drive the Restorative Justice field like Victim Offender Conferencing/Dialogue, Family Group Conferencing, and Circle Processes. The class will explore structural applications of RJ philosophy, principles and practices in diverse situations: in educational settings, with justice-involved individuals, and among members of various communities who experience harm.
The emphasis throughout the semester is on each students’ development as a practitioner. Sessions are set up to introduce, discuss and showcase various practice models in a variety of settings. RJ professionals will share knowledge and expertise derived from years of practicing in their field. Students will derive competence through engagement of case studies, developing a resource toolbox, reflective assessment, peer and instructor feedback, engaging with professionals, and most importantly, practice as a facilitator.
For MA in Conflict Transformation students this satisfies the skills assessment course requirement if taken for 3 credits, and is a required course for all students enrolled in the MA and Certificate in Restorative Justice programs.
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The reemergence of Restorative Justice (RJ) in the last 40+ years initially focused on interpersonal harm and violence, yet, more recently, is expanding to include collective harms caused by governments, corporations, or institutions against marginalized people. Rather than conceiving it as a method of ‘social reform’, if we understand RJ as a ‘social movement’ and study and apply it in that context, there is a greater potential for both serious interpersonal and structural transformation. This course is designed to empower RJ practitioners and theorists who are prepared to position themselves as change agents for justice systems shifts. This course will examine the relationship between institutional and interpersonal harms and dissect systemic harm that is an end result. Through case study research and discussions, we will explore the potential benefits and limitations of restorative and transitional justice principles and practices in building areas of accountability for systemic harms. Students will work collaboratively through a specific case study to identify and create theories of change for systemic transformation of a carceral system. The knowledge gained from the case study will then be applied to areas of personal interest through a three-phase process, culminating in a final project and presentation.
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This course focuses on global peacebuilding and the issues that are of pressing importance in contemporary action. And it will center the work and voices of practitioners through regular conversations and presentations by CJP alumni and current colleagues sharing their insights on their successes and challenges. We will work with such questions as Who are the most effective actors — Civil society, state, or global governance organizations? How should peacebuilding be organized, funded and assessed? What are acceptable roles of internal local or external foreign actors? How can global peacebuilding efforts deal with state violence and war, terrorism, climate injustices and other environmental issues, migration and displacement, the legacy of colonization, silencing of indigenous voices, gender inequity, and religious and identity-based violence among others. The course will include an action project and an optional one-day field trip to Washington DC.
Note: This course is will be being offered as an elective course, likely during the Spring 2024 2025 semester, and it includes an additional $50 course fee.
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The Bible has often been used to justify war and other forms of violence. The biblical story has also been read and interpreted as pertaining to only personal beliefs and behavior rather than communal concerns or social issues. The intent of this course is to explore the biblical story and what it says about issues of violence, justice, and peace. How are people who embrace the biblical story called to apply these understandings to their lives, personally and collectively? How have Christian communities around the world made use of the biblical story as a core component of their efforts to work for safety, emancipation, self-determination, and healing? How can we use biblical narratives in our work to build peace and justice within communities? As we examine these questions, we will center perspectives and traditions of reading the Bible birthed by people experiencing direct violence and oppression.
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