Program Overview

Peace and Conflict Studies - B.A.

Overview

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies prepares students for careers or graduate study in the field of conflict management, peace studies, and dispute resolution. This major gives students a solid background in managing conflicts in constructive, not destructive, ways. Students learn skills that are not only useful in a variety of workplace settings, but in everyday life and relationships as well.

Program Areas of Focus

• Mediation
• Negotiation
• Environmental conflict resolution
• International conflict resolution
• Workplace conflict management
• Nonviolent action
• Community organizing

Admission Requirements

• First-Year Students on the Kent Campus: First-year admission policy on the Kent Campus is selective. Admission decisions are based upon cumulative grade point average, strength of high school college preparatory curriculum, and grade trends.
• First-Year Students on the Regional Campuses: First-year admission to Kent State’s campuses at Ashtabula, East Liverpool, Geauga, Salem, Stark, Trumbull, and Tuscarawas, as well as the Twinsburg Academic Center, is open to anyone with a high school diploma or its equivalent.
• International Students: All international students must provide proof of proficiency of the English language (unless they meet specific exceptions) through the submission of an English language proficiency test score or by completing English language classes at Kent State’s English as a Second Language Center before entering their program.

Program Requirements

Major Requirements

• PACS 11001: Introduction to Conflict Management (DIVD) (KSS)
• PACS 31002: Gender, Power, and Conflict
• PACS 31003: Nonviolence: Theory and Practice
• PACS 31010: Conflict Theory
• PACS 32030: International Conflict Resolution (DIVG)
• PACS 35092: Internship in Peace and Conflict Studies (ELR)
• PACS 41010: Reconciliation Versus Revenge: Transitional Justice (DIVG) (WIC)
• PACS 48080: Mediation: Theory and Training
• Major Electives (choose from the following):
  • PACS 30000: May 4 1970 and Its Aftermath
  • PACS 32020: Strategic Planning
  • PACS 32040: Cross-Cultural Conflict Management (DIVG)
  • PACS 33030: Conflict in the Workplace
  • PACS 34010: Career Pathways in Peace and Conflict Studies
  • PACS 35050: Environmental Conflict Resolution
  • PACS 35095: Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies
  • PACS 40089: International Experience: Peace and Conflict Studies (DIVG) (ELR)
  • PACS 40090: Study Away: Peace and Conflict Studies (ELR)
  • PACS 44040: Negotiation
  • PACS 45050: Community Organizing: People, Power, and Peaceful Change
  • PACS 49091: Variable Content Seminar in Peace and Conflict Studies

Additional Requirements

• UC 10001: Flashes 101
• Foreign Language (see Foreign Language College Requirement below)
• Kent Core Composition
• Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning
• Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (minimum one course from each)
• Kent Core Social Sciences (must be from two disciplines)
• Kent Core Basic Sciences (must include one laboratory)
• Kent Core Additional
• General Electives (total credit hours depends on earning 120 credit hours, including 39 upper-division credit hours)

Graduation Requirements

• Minimum Major GPA: 2.000
• Minimum Overall GPA: 2.000

Roadmap

This roadmap is a recommended semester-by-semester plan of study for this program. Students will work with their advisor to develop a sequence based on their academic goals and history.

University Requirements

• Flashes 101 (UC 10001)
• Diversity Domestic/Global (DIVD/DIVG)
• Experiential Learning Requirement (ELR)
• Kent Core (see table below)
• Writing-Intensive Course (WIC)
• Upper-Division Requirement
• Total Credit Hour Requirement: 120 credit hours

Kent Core Requirements

• Kent Core Composition (KCMP)
• Kent Core Mathematics and Critical Reasoning (KMCR)
• Kent Core Humanities and Fine Arts (KHUM/KFA) (minimum one course from each)
• Kent Core Social Sciences (KSS) (must be from two disciplines)
• Kent Core Basic Sciences (KBS/KLAB) (must include one laboratory)
• Kent Core Additional (KADL)

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of this program will be able to:

1. Demonstrate the research and analytical skills that will be useful while working in the field of peace studies and conflict management.
2. Analyze the dynamics of social conflicts and apply the principles of nonviolent theory and practice in order to wage conflict constructively to bring about social or political change.
3. Utilize conflict management and peace-building skills and knowledge to effectively develop, teach, and/or implement approaches to preventing, managing, and resolving conflicts.
4. Demonstrate an ability to identify and analyze the cultural dimensions of conflicts and conflict management.
5. Describe and interpret the roles that gendered power dynamics play in conflicts and conflict management.
6. Demonstrate a broad grounding in the field of peace and conflict studies by being able to explain the historical evolution of the field, by identifying and analyzing a full range of conflict dynamics, and by designing constructive and appropriate intervention tactics and strategies.
7. Demonstrate an ability to explain the main theories on causes, expression, and consequences of international conflicts, and comparatively evaluate different mechanisms of prevention, management, and resolution of international conflicts.

Program Policies

Foreign Language Requirements

In general, students may elect any foreign language taught through the Department of Modern and Classical Language Studies. However, certain majors, concentrations, and minors require specific languages or limit the languages from which students may choose.

Mandatory Outcomes Assessment

In addition to the other General Requirements of the college, candidates for an undergraduate degree in the College of Arts and Sciences are required, as a condition of graduation, to participate in an outcomes assessment. These outcomes assessments are conducted by each undergraduate degree program in the College of Arts and Sciences.