Peace and Justice Studies Program

Sr. Mary Anne Foley, C.N.D., Ph.D., Director

Overview

The Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church (1971) reported that “actions on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel....” The 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (1974-75) established a pedagogical norm for its own institutions of higher education when it determined that the practice of faith was inextricably linked to the promotion of justice. In this vein the University’s Peace & Justice Program was instituted to bring academic studies, including classes, community service and interdisciplinary research, into the process of building a more just and thus more peaceful society.

The Peace and Justice Concentration will be an attractive complement to the academic programs of students planning careers in law, international relations, human services, ministry and teaching — to name only the most obvious. However, any students who have a personal interest in the problems of peace and justice, regardless of their career goals, can benefit from its multi-disciplinary concentration of courses. It is open to majors from all the undergraduate schools of the University. Eight courses (24 credits) must be taken by students in order to have “Peace and Justice Concentration” added to their transcript. Courses may be taken as part of the cognate requirement (with permission of the chairperson of the major) or as part of the general-education requirements.

1. Requirements in Theology (any two of the following):

   T/RS 230	(P) Moral Theology
   T/RS 231	(P) God and the Good Society
   T/RS 232	Catholic Social Thought
   T/RS 234	(P, D) Twentieth-Century Peacemakers
   T/RS 236	(P) Prophets and Profits
   T/RS 250	(P, D) Latin American Liberation Theology and Beyond
   T/RS 331Z	(P, W) God and the Earth
   T/RS 334Z	(P) The Church and Contemporary Social Issues

2. Electives (any five courses listed below can be counted; others may be included with approval from the program coordinator):

   CHEM 104	(E) Science and Society
   CHS 333	(D) Multiculturalism in Counseling and Human Services
   CHS 338	Poverty, Homelessness & Social Justice
   COMM 311	Political Communication
   ECO 462	Urban and Regional Economics
   ENLT 226	(CL, D) Novels by Women
   ENLT 228	(CL, D, W) Race in Anglo-American Culture 1600-1860
   ENLT 348	(CL, D, W) Colonial and Post-Colonial Fiction
   GEOG 217	(S, D) Cultural Geography
   HIST 125	(CH, D) Colonial Latin America
   HIST 211	The Third World
   HIST 215	(CH, D, W) Church and Society in Latin America
   HIST 216	(CH, D) Race in American History
   HIST 224	(CH, D) Ethnic and Racial Minorities in NEPA
   HIST 327	(CH, D, W) The African Experience in Latin America 1500-1900
   INTD 209	(D) The Holocaust
   INTD 211	(E, D) HIV/AIDS
   LIT 207	(CL, D, W) Literature of American Minorities
   MGT 473	Organizational Social Responsibility
   NSCI 201	(E) Science and the Human Environment
   PHIL 213	(P) Environmental Ethics
   PHIL 218	(P, D) Feminism: Theory and Practice
   PHIL 227	(P) Political Philosophy
   PHIL 410	(P) Philosophy of Culture
   PHYS 106	(E) Energy and the Environment
   PS 216	(S, D) Women’s Rights and Status
   PS 227	(S, D) Women, Authority and Power
   PSYC 220	(S) Social Psychology
   S/CJ 210	(S) Law and Society
   SOC 219	Community Organization
   SOC 224	(S, D, W) Race and Ethnic Relations
   SPAN 314	(D, W) Latin-American Culture and Civilization

3. Integrative Capstone Course: (required in junior/senior year)

T/JP 310 — Toward a Just and Peaceful World — 3 credits

In this seminar students will assess the courses that have fulfilled their requirements for the Peace and Justice Concentration and will explore the religious, philosophical and social/ethical concerns of their undergraduate education. Each participant will prepare and present a paper which assesses how her/his courses have met the goals of the concentration and the University’s mission as it relates to the concern for justice.