Conflict Transformation Studies (CTS)
R. Hostetter (director)
In fulfillment of the university’s mission and vision, the mission of the Conflict Transformation Studies major (CTS) is to prepare students for nonviolent peacebuilding and conflict transformation in local, national, and international contexts. Students will develop interdisciplinary skills for analyzing the root causes of particular conflicts; integrate theory and practice, including spiritual resources, for conflict transformation; and seek to understand the root causes of protracted conflicts, and to work for their transformation through sustainable justice, peace and reconciliation processes (conflict transformation). Students majoring in Conflict Transformation Studies may consider careers in community organization, mediation, teaching, international mission work, community activism/ organizing, interfaith dialogue facilitation, and youth ministry; in fields such as restorative justice, violence reduction, community arts programming, negotiation, labor relations, not-for-profit leadership, UN and other nongovernmental peacebuilding, human rights, government agencies, environmental advocacy, peace and conflict research, and graduate work. The program welcomes students from all backgrounds to examine the theory, analysis, history, religions, and cultures involved in generating both conflict and transformational peacebuilding. The program is built on a “flexible structure,” which includes choosing supporting courses in the Core Curriculum Program, completing a core of five courses for all majors and minors, and creating an interdisciplinary concentration which connects core courses to the student’s interest in a particular discipline, topic, type of activity, or career goals.