USC
University of Southern California
black horizontal bar for print styles

Peace and Conflict Studies

Contact: School of International Relations
Von KleinSmid Center 301
(213) 740-6278
FAX: (213) 742-0281

The peace and conflict studies minor is an interdisciplinary approach to the related questions of what causes war and what produces peace. Utilizing theoretical and empirical methods, students will examine both conflict resolution and building sustainable peace. Students will explore these topics throughout their curriculum, and then apply them in the world through their internship opportunity.

Requirements for the Minor in Peace and Conflict Studies

In addition to the university requirements for minor programs, students must complete two required courses, three electives and a one-semester internship.

Required Courses
Students must complete IR 310 Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies and IR 318 Conflict Resolution and Peace Research.

Internship
Students must complete a one-semester internship with a peace-related organization. The internship gives students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge through supervised fieldwork. The organization for which work is done must be approved by the program in advance.

Internship Courses (4 units)
IR 491*Field Study1-8
MDA 250Internship for Liberal Arts: Work and Career-Theory and Practice1-2
POSC 395Directed Governmental and Political Leadership Internship2-8

Required Electives
Students must also complete a total of three electives — one course from Conflict and Its Resolution, Peace and Justice and an additional elective from any of the lists below.

Electives in Conflict and Its Resolution (choose at least one)
ANTH 371Cross-Cultural Research on Urban Gangs4
ANTH 499Special Topics4
GEOG 120Geopolitics4
HIST 235War and the American Experience4
HIST 344The Vietnam War, 1945-19754
IR 315*Ethnicity and Nationalism in World Politics4
IR 327*International Negotiation4
IR 381*Introduction to International Security4
IR 386*International Terrorism and Liberal Democracy4
IR 402*Theories of War4
IR 427*Seminar on Economics and Security4
POSC 345International Law4
POSC 366Terrorism and Genocide4

Electives in Peace and Justice (choose one)
ANTH 345Politics, Social Organization, and Law4
IR 306*International Organizations4
IR 325*Rich and Poor States in the World Political Economy4
PHIL 337History of Modern Political Philosophy4
PHIL 437Social and Political Philosophy4
POSC 421Ethnic Politics4
POSC 476Contemporary Political Thought4
REL 341Ethics in a Technological Society4
REL 462Religion and Violence4
SOCI 342Race Relations4
SOCI 360Social Inequality: Class, Status, and Power4
SOCI 425Crowds, Publics, and Social Movements4

Additional elective (choose at least one from this list or lists above)
ANTH 335Comparative Muslim Societies4
ANTH 380Sex and Gender in Anthropological Perspective4
COMM 308Communication and Conflict4
HIST 352The American Civil War4
HIST 36120th Century U.S. History4
HIST 365The Second World War4
HIST 414Contemporary Europe4
HIST 422European Intellectual and Cultural History: The 20th Century, 1920 to the Present4
HIST 441Modern World History4
HIST 473Colonial Latin America Seminar4
JOUR 483Negotiating and Reporting Global Change4
POSC 380Political Theories and Social Reform4
POSC 381Sex, Power and Politics4
SWMS 301Introduction to Feminist Theory and the Women's and Men's Movement4
SWMS 364Racial and Ethnic Women in America4

*International Relations majors must take four non-IR courses (16 units) for this minor.