Peace and Conflict Studies

Want to make the world a better place? Study Peace and Conflict Studies!

What are our students doing?

Sandy Tran 2014

Presidential Ambassador, Bonner Scholar, Posse Scholar, Restorative Justice program, Order of Omega, Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc., Walker Cup recipient.

Sandy Tran, after doing nonviolent organizing here at DePauw, lives in Chicago where she is a senior grant writer for Nobel Network of Charter Schools. She started a nonprofit with her partner, Alliance 98 and their program, ‘Suited for a Cause’. The program helps young people get resources, develop resume, interview and communication skills, develop a project that is meaningful to them working with mentors from their community, and graduate with a tailored suit and skills to get the jobs they want.

Clark Edwards 2014

Clark was a Teach for America corps member teaching high school math where she also co-authored a new social justice curriculum and worked to institute restorative justice practices. She has since gone on to get her masters degree at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, and is now a Federal consultant at Deloitte in the Washington D.C. Metro Area.

WHAT IS PACS?

Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) is an interdisciplinary program that examines conflict from a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives – social, psychological, structural, economic, political, etc. PACS majors draw from the entire catalog to design a major focused on their passion, with their PACS advisor. The field of Peace and Conflict Studies teaches analysis and resolution of conflicts and how to understand the structural underpinnings of violence and work to build transform our world and peace. Students develop complex conflict analysis skills, the ability to do research, and apply theory to solve real world problems from personal to global.

PACS majors also learn practical skills and some of the most desirable skills employers are looking for: collaboration, problem-solving, leadership, negotiation, management, and effective communication and powerful listening and communication skills. Students can develop intercultural communication skills, expertise in inclusion and diversity, empathy, emotional intelligence (which is highly correlated with success), and gain the ability to understand why and how their actions impact others. These abilities help students to understand the complexity of local and global interactions and how they influence each other, in complexity, depth, and insight into what supports real, positive change. It also helps majors get and keep jobs. Our majors have an impressive array of careers – see the “What Our Majors Are Doing” page!

Sample Courses:

Topics in Conflict Studies; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Senior Seminar: The Study and Analysis of Conflict, Intercultural Conflict, God at Peace and War, Advanced Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Introduction to Conflict Studies.

Student Protest Involvement

Student Protest Involvement

DePauw students attend anti-war protest in Washington, DC.

DePauw Students at Amnesty International Conference

DePauw Students at Amnesty International Conference