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Abstract
Peace and conflict studies courses are seldom seen by faculty curriculum committees and university administrators as deserving to be part of their institution’s liberal arts education requirements. We show that this unfortunate tendency is rooted in a lack of understanding of not only the compatibility between the two but of their quite complementary connections. These connections include the liberal arts’ emphases on the following: producing liberated citizens; respecting diversity; thoughtfully considering different points of view; highlighting not just the rights of the individual but the responsibilities that accompany those rights. Using the experience of Kent State University’s Center for Applied Conflict Management as a case study, we show that by bridging the perceived gap between the traditional liberal arts core and peace and conflict studies it is indeed possible to have an introductory course in peace and conflict studies accepted as an option for fulfilling an institution’s liberal arts requirements. In the process of ‘mainstreaming’ peace and conflict studies this way, enrollments will expand exponentially, new generations of students will be equipped with conflict management skills, and the field of peace and conflict studies will gain more respect across academia.
Acknowledgements
The authors contributed equally to the research and the writing of this article. We thank Vasili Rukhadzke for his very helpful research assistance.
Notes
1. For a particularly accessible overview of the liberal arts, see the American Association of Colleges and Universities website tab entitled, ‘What is liberal education?’ We found it quite useful and have relied on it in preparing this review, see: http://www.aacu.org/leap/What_is_liberal_education.cfm