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Praxis Project involves the online experience of connecting to a practice community of other transformational leaders and coaching faculty while implementing a project in their organization or home community. A mix of asynchronous assignments and synchronous meetings allow students to engage in course material, engage in collective brainstorming of practice challenges/barriers, view transformational leadership through an emergence lens, and refine leadership skills in complex projects and programs.
Praxis Project is designed to be taken alongside another course to help students think through projects, programs, and/or interventions. Throughout the course, students will explore the MasterMind methodology and receive training in leading and participating in a MasterMind groupsgroup, explore Human Systems Dynamics and the concept of the “the next wise step”step,” and live into trauma-informed and resilient interpersonal engagement.
Praxis Project is a one-credit pass/fail course required of all MATL students; whether a student passes or fails is determined by whether a student attends course online sessions, and whether assignments are turned in on time, and meet all requirements laid out in the assignment’s guidance note.
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“‘Research Justice’ is achieved when communities reclaim and access all forms of knowledge to affect change between community voices and those of institutions.” [1]
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 and persistence. 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 effectively subjugates indigenous and community-based ways of knowing and being. Therefore, this required 3-credit course for all MA candidates equip equips students with an expansive and justice-oriented qualitative research skills framework that offer introduces pathways for research to advance social change. [2] Ultimately, this This course is designed to invite all to explore their curiosities through inquiry in pursuit of a world with more justice and more 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/.
[21] 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 this 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.
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PAX 568 Transformational Leadership for Social Change (3 SH)
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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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PAX 588 Nonviolent Mobilization for Social Change (3 SH)
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Recent years have witnessed an unprecedented range and number of nonviolent campaigns and movements across the Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. ~ Martin Luther King Jr
Put up again thy sword into its place: for all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword. ~ Jesus of Nazareth
That’s all nonviolence is – organized love. ~ Joan Baez
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 coursethis 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 in order to be effective.
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 nonviolent campaigns will be built into the learning experience. This includes a weekend trip to Washington DC, March 12-1315, to participate in the advocacy and lobbying efforts with government representatives will be built into the learning experience.
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PAX 610 Facilitation: Process Design & Skills for Dialogue, Deliberation & Decision-Making (3 SH)
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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, with groups ranging in size from three to 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 assisting 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 I 1 or an equivalent course is preferred. This class qualifies as a skills assessment course for the CJP MA in Conflict Transformation programdegree.
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PAX 615 Leading Organizational Change (3 SH)
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