Justice and Peace Studies Program (JUPS)

This gateway course surveys the histories, theories, concepts, actors, and pedagogies that compose the growing transdisciplinary field of justice and peace studies. We will familiarize ourselves with current issues in the field, as well as the movements and structures that both contribute to and provide obstacles to the creation and sustainability of a more just and peaceful world. The course presents a wide range of theoretical and practical perspectives on peace and social justice, including: poverty, hunger, and homelessness; racism, sexism, and homophobia; violence, oppression, slavery, and colonization; and complex issues of sustainable development and humanitarian aid. Through historical and contemporary analyses, the course addresses critical issues of militarism, inequality, and injustice, emphasizing the development of viable alternatives. This course is highly recommended for first-year students and sophomores interested in pursuing the JUPS major or minor. As an introductory course, it requires permission for seniors.

This course is designed to introduce students to a perspective on nonviolence that integrates theory and practice, drawing upon a wide range of literature and examples. A central aim of the course is to develop a holistic view of nonviolence as a set of practices that range from the personal and local to the national and global. The course seeks to foster an experiential engagement with the tenets of nonviolence, through participation in workshops, activities, and projects in the community and region. The overarching objective is to develop a systematic analysis of nonviolence in order to cultivate effective approaches to addressing contemporary challenges in society through nonviolent means, as well as envisioning and animating a world built on the tenets of nonviolence.

This course introduces students to the rapidly evolving role of contemporary digital technologies in conflict and peacebuilding. After examining social media, artificial intelligence, and similar technologies as drivers of conflict, we will explore ways to both mitigate their harms and to harness a host of prosocial digital tools for dialogue facilitation, misinformation monitoring, participatory mapping, early warning systems, conflict simulation, and collaborative decision-making. We will test a variety of peace tech platforms and think through their application to real-world peacebuilding initiatives. The course will critically assess both the potential and pitfalls of digital approaches, emphasizing ethical considerations, inclusivity, and sustainability. The course will not cover the technical aspects of digital technologies, so knowledge of coding and programming is neither required nor within the scope of the instruction.

In this immersive 1-credit seminar, students will be introduced to key social justice issues, including democracy and rights, immigrant justice, community safety, racial justice, and more. The course will explore how social movements, legal advocates, and community groups are building pathways towards social justice. Using a workshop style, the course will include guest speakers, experiential learning, and reflective practice.

Using a workshop- and participatory-based approach, this immersive 1-credit module examines the facilitation of group processes, from inter-group dialogue to team meetings and town halls. Through exercises, reflective practice, group work, and hands-on simulations, students develop practical skills and strategies for building trust, integrating multiple perspectives, promoting clarity and organization of thought, navigating power differences, addressing emotional charge, organizing around issues and outcomes, and staying focused towards process outcomes. Effective facilitation of group processes has wide application in traditional peacebuilding fields, advocacy, government, business, and beyond.

This course gives students a foundational understanding of the field of community organizing, as well as local knowledge around the issues and challenges of movements for social justice in D.C. and other U.S. cities. Students will be able to learn about prominent theories, current trends in organizing and gain hands on experience by meeting with local organizers and practicing critical skills for organizing. During the 2 day course, students will articulate the skills, vision and values of community organizing and describe the main contemporary tensions within organizing.

History has shown that stories are inextricably linked to what it means to be human. Before there was formal communication, there were stories--on cave paintings, within ancient temples, and passed down verbally from every culture and generation our world has known. It should come as no surprise, then, that individuals, groups, and organizations looking to advance justice and peace should utilize storytelling as a key tool to drive influence and social action. This course will teach students how to create--and then practice telling--strategic stories that spark action in order to advance the issues they care about most. Upon course completion, students will have created a working portfolio of the key stories every change leader must know how to deliver while also reflecting upon topics like the ethics of storytelling, how storytelling will evolve in the future, and which story archetypes frame their own thinking.

This course aims to help students understand the importance of mental health advocacy from a social justice pedagogy. Mental health advocacy challenges practices that perpetuate stigma and discrimination. Students will analyze mental health stigma associated with cultural and systemic barriers that limit social inclusion, access, and healing. This course will equip students with the tools necessary to champion for mental health positive policy, structures, and resources. Instructor: Jennifer Wiggins Dates: Tuesday 5.00-7.30 ( 6 weeks starting from day 1 of classes)

Full title: Immigrant Communities in DC: Digital Story Making Using a lens of social justice, students will learn about immigrant communities in DC and about the myriad of organizations that advocate for them. Students will learn about historical and contemporary immigration in DC, social justice issues in the past and present, and the many organizations that advocate for immigrants. Students will select an organization and create a digital story about what the organization does to promote social justice for immigrants in DC. Should these changes be applied to existing sections?: No Please list the term(s) and corresponding CRN(s) following the example format below:

In this course, students will examine the history of immigration in Washington, DC. We will learn about the various community organizations and agencies that advocate for immigrants and the ways in which immigrants are an integral part of our economy. Using project-based learning, students will create and share a digital story that helps deepen our understanding of a particular aspect of immigration and immigrants’ lived experience.

The objective is to equip students with the skill of compassionate communication, which clarifies feelings and makes concrete requests based on needs. Students will draw from their experience and learn basic theories of nonviolent communication. They will role-play various situations to practice this skill, as they also test, refine, and even develop theory. Students will track and assess their use of nonviolent communication in a personal conflict.

Just Peace calls us to a moral framework that invites us to see the integral relationship between justice and peace. This is particularly relevant for policy issues linked to conflict. Just peace offers a unique way of doing advocacy by challenging us to orient our initiatives by an ever-emerging vision of human flourishing. In turn, just peace provides norms such as virtues, principles, and practices to cultivate a way of being that is better enabled to develop the skills for fruitful advocacy toward just peace policies. The course is intended to introduce participants to the basic practice of just peace advocacy, as well as to support participants in learning and integrating the framework, key components, and skills. Meaningfully learning what just peace advocacy is, why it is relevant, and how to do it calls for an experiential and interactive format. In addition to intellectual exploration, participants will witness, experience, and practice alternative modes of just peace advocacy. They will also draw on their own experience to learn, apply, asses, and refine the practice of just peace advocacy. Oral, written, and experiential forms of assessment will be utilized.

Restorative Justice is a community-based philosophy and approach to preventing and responding to harm with roots in indigenous traditions. It involves facilitated group processes that emphasize accountability through shared understanding and repairing the harm done. It has been used successfully in many contexts, including school and juvenile justice systems. This course is intended to introduce participants to the restorative justice movement, as well as to support participants in learning and integrating key concepts, tools, and skills related to restorative justice through an experiential, interactive, and self-reflective approach. Participants will be asked to think about the role of Restorative Justice in the modern US social context, as well as in their own personal lives.

Recent years have seen more recognition of the impact of interpersonal violence on our culture and communities than ever before. This course will explore models of understanding interpersonal violence, media portrayals of interpersonal violence, the shortcomings of current approaches, and the tools we have to make change on both the local and national levels. Together, we will consider what and whose narratives of survivorship we encounter most often, and generate more inclusive policy and resources. We will hear from professionals working in varied capacities in the field of interpersonal violence response and prevention, both from Georgetown and the DC community. Class sessions will discuss how we can translate the theory from readings into the day-to-day of prevention work, and equip students with the practical ability to facilitate change in their communities.

How does fairness—or ‘just-ness’—define the peace we experience daily, and could it matter more than the traditional notion of justice, which often feels distant? This course invites students to investigate these questions through the lens of the everyday. We start with normative ideas of peace and then explore ‘everyday justice,’ examining how just-ness is lived, perceived, and debated in daily life. Through debates, quizzes, and a brief research project, students tackle contemporary issues such as education, health, housing, communication, the economy, the environment, and spirituality. By the end of the summer, they are able to apply the concepts of ‘justice,’ ‘just-ness,’ and ‘fairness’ across a wide range of everyday settings—on campus, at home, in workplaces, marketplaces, and other social and civic arenas.

This course examines the dynamic nature of conflict and peacebuilding by exploring the personal, relational, social, cultural, and structural dimensions of conflict. Students will learn strategies for achieving positive and sustainable change, blending theoretical frameworks with practical approaches across local, national, and global contexts. The course emphasizes three core aspects: 1) how we perceive conflict, 2) how we analyze conflict, and 3) how we meaningfully engage with conflict, with a focus on peacebuilding. It encourages critical engagement with issues such as violence, oppression, injustice, and difference, particularly within contested spaces for social change. This approach enables students to explore practical ways to advance social justice and build sustainable peace.

This course explores the role of religion in both fueling conflict and in fostering peace and justice. The rise of extremism and interreligious violence in many places has brought growing attention and concern to the role of religion in promoting conflict. Yet across contexts, religious actors also play critical roles as peacebuilders, including as mediators and negotiators, peace educators, social justice advocates, and in supporting the healing and reconciliation of their communities. For many people in conflict, their religious and spiritual beliefs serve to strengthen their resilience, capacity for forgiveness, and their motivation for peace and justice. By studying this paradox of religion and the dynamic roles of religious identity, ideology, values and faith, students in this course strengthen their analysis of conflict and understanding of how to encourage more effective peacebuilding. Drawing on a diversity of recent and current cases across contexts and religions, this course looks at the peacebuilding approaches of different religious actors, including traditional institutions, interfaith networks, and religious individuals as both official and lay leaders. Particular attention will be paid to gender-inclusive religious peacebuilding as well as inter- and intra-faith approaches to transforming cultures of violence.

When two or more individuals or groups are in conflict, the role of a mediator can be critical in restoring trust, rebuilding relationships, and reaching mutually-satisfying agreements. Mediation happens in international conflicts, peace processes, community centers, pre-court settings, government and labor disputes, schools, human resources departments and ombudsman offices, as well as in less formal ways dealing with family and interpersonal conflicts. Whether aiming for a career in mediation or peacebuilding - or simply wishing to enhance their personal and professional lives - students in this weekend intensive will receive basic concepts, skills, and hands-on practices of mediating conflicts. Both insider-multi-partial and outsider-impartial models, as well as notions of empathy, equity, power dynamics, trauma and the nervous system, and religion and spirituality, may be considered.

Friendship and Community in Film and Media While much early- and mid-twentieth-century film and media naturalized the importance of romantic relationships, this course will explore a recent tendency to frame friendship as a primary relationship. As we analyze American visual media from the late-twentieth century to today, we will ask the following questions: What are the representational strategies used to center friendship and community in film and media? How do film and media negotiate the place of friendship and community in American culture? How are stories about friends legitimized for a culture that emphasizes the importance of romance and the nuclear family? Upon completion of the course, students will be acquainted with textual analysis and some major modes of thought from cultural studies and film theory, with an ability to apply this knowledge to film and media they encounter both in and outside the classroom.

This course will explore ethnographic research that focuses on people who build alternative forms of the social (society) that are not rooted in the nation-state form.

Mass Movements Mass Incarceration This course looks at mass movements & mass incarceration in tandem, exploring their many contestations, confrontations, and connections. Rather than framing mass movements strictly as responses to the U.S. police State, we will consider how groups that were deemed “ungovernable” from the perspective of the State became widely criminalized through pro-white patriarchal tropes produced and perpetuated by people with economic and political power. From this perspective, widespread imprisonment appears to be the engine, and not simply the response, of the U.S. police State. Course materials are organized such that, over the duration of the semester, we will read theories, histories, ethnographies, and journalistic endeavors alongside music, television shows, and documentaries with an aim toward crafting practical tools for understanding formations of collective life and for fighting against technologies of power and punishment in U.S. society today.

Over the first seven weeks of this course on Georgetown’s Hilltop campus, we will explore the roots and impacts of Colombia’s armed conflict from the late 1940s to the mid 2010s. This exploration will ground us as we witness in person during Spring Break how the country and its communities have forged forward through reconciliatory pathways and grassroots to state-wide peacebuilding initiatives. Reflection steeped in Ignatian Spirituality will be one practice that showcases our commitment to pilgrimage and to a spiritual enlightenment that invites us to experience the “felt knowledge” of reconciliation frameworks and theories of peace from individuals who generously contribute to our immersion.

While developing critical competencies in strategic analysis of complex conflicts, and deepening our understanding of systemic approaches to conflict transformation, we will gain insights into the growth and transition over the last ten years in Colombia, a living case study of how societies move from cycles of direct, cultural, and structural violence towards coexistence and cultures of peace. Our time in Bogota and Cartagena will surface dissonance and stark contrasts, as well as creative visions of a shared humanity and innovative tools for creating justice. Our hope is that all participants in this course will have space and support for discovering, naming, and acting on what we have learned in light of our ongoing commitments as global citizens.

This class will explore (1) the origins of American jurisprudence as it relates to civil rights laws and rights; (2) the application of civil rights jurisprudence to First Amendment rights, gender, language access, immigration, and criminal justice; and (3) the ways in which the political climate, powerholders, and social justice movements (re)shape and influence our contemporary understanding of civil rights.

This course will examine historical and contemporary international, US, Palestinian, and Israeli efforts to resolve the conflicting issues between the Palestinian national movement and the Zionist movement/Israel over the past century. This course also will delve into the policies established and legislation enacted by the United States in relation to Israel and the Palestinian people to explore whether they have helped or hindered these efforts.

This course will introduce students to the theory and practice of post-conflict justice and reconciliation models including truth commissions, war crimes tribunals, reparations, and related responses to genocide, crimes against humanity, and other mass atrocities. To debate how to adequately deal with the past in newly democratizing countries, exploring the relative benefits of “forgetting” or “remembering” gross violations of human rights. Students will gain an understanding of the constraints on legal theory and practice in the context of the creation of a culture of human rights in post-conflict countries.

We use the terms human rights and justice every day, but what exactly do they mean? What are our human rights? What happens when they are violated? What do we mean when we ask for justice? Furthermore, what happens when our notions of justice clash with core concepts of fundamental human rights? This course will consist of a combination of theoretical and hands-on clinical explorations of domestic and international justice systems and international human rights standards, with the goal of better understanding the interplay between these two intertwined, but often divergent, concepts. Included in the course will be meetings with victims of crime, as well as conversations with justice system professionals, human rights lawyers, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and law enforcement. The course will include a visit to D.C. Superior Court to view a criminal trial and culminates in a mock trial where students will search for the proper balance between human rights and justice.

This course explores the philosophy, practices, and ethics unique to research methodologies in the Justice and Peace field. The course examines mixed methods research frameworks including: participatory action research, gender-sensitive and feminist research methods, ethnographic approaches, community-based research, ethno-methodologies, phenomenology, and participant observation. Students gain knowledge and experience with various techniques appropriate to inquiries in peace studies and social justice, such as active interviewing, working in fragile environments and conflict settings, considering context, constructing meaningful surveys, identifying cases appropriate for study, and utilizing research as a tool for social change. The course also examines the ethical issues involved in such research, from informed consent and IRB concerns to “ownership” of data and responsible use of research results. Additionally, students will acquire the skills necessary for developing a research proposal through theoretical and practical engagement.

This course examines the expression of resistance, dissent, and protest in American literature. A primary goal of protest literature is to convey the impact of oppressive social and legal policies in hopes of prompting reform. This course will consider protest literature from the perspective of multiple marginalized or “outsider” communities, including Native Americans, minorities, veterans, immigrants, individuals with disabilities, drug addicts and prisoners. Outsider narratives create empathy and offer a vicarious experience of the impact of social and legal policies; by drawing attention to injustice, the author hopes to prompt change. Second, we will consider protest literature that concerns itself with gender, environment, and health care—challenges that affect majority as well as minority populations. Protest literature typically conveys private pain and outrage; we will see how effective protest literature seeks to awaken a broader audience to the need for change. Where relevant we will also compare our readings to film portrayals to see how fiction and film work together to communicate protest.

Although reports on youth and development often focus on youth involvement and motivations for violence, engagement among youth in proactive peacebuilding is increasingly a reality at the local, national, and regional levels. Such peacebuilding is often initiated by youth themselves, and is supported by local, national and international development and other organizations. This course will explore: evidence-based factors associated with youth engagement in peacebuilding; the wide range of peacebuilding activities and their demonstrated outcomes; and the roles that public and private sector organizations play in supporting and/or presenting barriers to youth engagement in peacebuilding. The course will entail interactive lectures by both youth who have been engaged in peacebuilding and others who have collaborated with youth on their peacebuilding activities and virtual participation in an international conference regarding youth and peacebuilding. Students will write two brief discussion papers; prepare a critical review of a published report on youth engagement in peacebuilding; and design a community-based project for youth engagement in peacebuilding.

Full title Utopia and Dystopia: Peace and Justice in Literature and Film Dystopias portray an imagined society dominated by oppressive power, negative social and political control. This course addresses peace and justice with the reforming agenda of dystopian literature and film—specifically texts that highlight issues related to injustice. The dystopian texts that we will examine raise awareness about racism, income inequality, war crimes and war-mongering, misuse of A1s and drones, surveillance, disease and epidemic, environmental destruction, and the Anthropocene. We will read fiction and watch films that deal with conflict, real-world problems, and crises, couched in imaginative unrealities that point the way to urgent threats and potential solutions.

How do societies deal with the past and the aftermath of historical injustices, genocide, war or periods of mass violence? Should they confront or forget the legacies of past violence? In remembering, should there be focus on unraveling the truth or pursuing justice? What are the philosophical, social, economic, moral and political implications of each? In what way can shaping and ownership of a nation's memory be considered crucial and a tool of political power? What role do museums, commemorative practices, history textbooks and calendars play in memory making and state sponsored representations of the past? This class challenges students to consider the complex challenges in addressing with past historical injustices. We begin with theories and explore cases which led to the advancement in the broader field of transitional justice from an interdisciplinary perspectives. Drawing on readings, narrative, site visits, literature, film and documentaries we will look at various methods of how societies remember and transmit memory of injustices in the past. We consider the diverse pathways taken by societies some with the goal of reconciliation and others in moving forward ranging from amnesties, revenge, forgiveness, truth commissions, memorials, apologizing, and trials.

How does the legacy of violence, atrocities, genocide and mass human rights violations impact individuals and societies? What is remembered, erased and forgotten? Can seeking accountability, truth and justice impact the future of peace? Are there clear categories of victims, perpetrators, deniers and witnesses? In this course, we will explore history, theories, models and practices that have shaped the widely popular field of transitional justice. This includes learning the various forms of memory activism, tribunals, truth telling, monuments, virtual memory museums and reparations. Using a comparative approach starting with Nuremberg, Latin America, Bosnia, South Africa, Northern Ireland and Rwanda we explore mechanisms aimed at accountability, justice and reconciliation. We use literature on peacebuilding, collective memory as well as findings from trials, oral history, testimonies of survivors, photography as witness, artistic work and written narratives.

This course identifies issues of justice in relation to commodification of the environment and the human person. Using multiple disciplinary lenses, we will pay particular attention to issues of inequality and identity in consumer culture. Practices of religious and secular resistance to commodification will be covered and special attention will be given to how dissent itself may be commodified.

This seminar introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of peace education from both theoretical and applied/practical perspectives. The course content and processes will explore a range of conceptual, analytical, and praxis-oriented perspectives and encourage students to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of educating for peace in a world of complex and escalating conflicts and violence. It provides an overview of the history, central concepts, scholarship, and practices within the field, with a particular focus on case-studies of peace education in practice worldwide. Additional focal points include the role of culture, ethnicity, gender, intergenerational relations and religious affiliation on peace education dynamics and non-violent conflict resolution processes. Given the pedagogical focus of peace education, this course requires the active and thoughtful participation of all class members. Seminar-style discussions, lectures, guest presentations and practical exercises constitute the bulk of the course’s structure, supplemented with occasional videos and guest speakers.

This course will examine the history, policies, and social forces that have shaped migration to the United States, focusing in particular on the post-1960s period. We will discuss the socio political and economic factors that contribute to the movement of people, and social movements and campaigns to protect migrants' rights. Given the contentiousness of the issue of undocumented immigrants in the U.S., we will focus on understanding the social and legal construction of one's immigration status, responses to past and current waves of migration, federal and local efforts to control unauthorized migration, and the immigration reform debate. As a community-based learning course, students will have the opportunity to study the DC immigrant community and partner with organizations that serve immigrants to learn first-hand of their challenges and aspirations. Class discussions will be based on guest speaker presentations, documentary films, and assigned readings, including books, research articles, reports, ethnographies, and testimonies

In this class, we will explore how social movements emerge, mobilize people, assert structural demands, and spur solidarity. We will assess and compare historical and contemporary movements that advance racial, economic, and gender justice, immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ equality, and climate resilience. Through case studies, movement dispatches, first-person perspectives, and theoretical frameworks, we will explore the phases, characteristics, strategies, and short-and long-term impacts of social movements.

This course investigates the relationship between taste and hierarchies of race and gender. As we discuss television shows, novels, films, and print media like tabloids and magazines, we will ask the following questions: What is the relationship between taste and respectability? What is the history of the distinction between “lowbrow” and “highbrow” cultural texts? How does authorship influence the “value” of different kinds of texts? Upon completion of the course, students will be able to perform close reading and textual analysis in order to consider how cultural texts engage and challenge the broader sociopolitical contexts from which they emerge, be acquainted with some major modes of thought from cultural studies, and also be able to think critically about the stakes of the relationship between taste and identity hierarchies in today’s culture.

This course explores the role journalists, news organizations and social media platforms play in fostering conflict and promoting peace. The rise of misinformation and disinformation, the upheaval of the economic models supporting news coverage, and the surging popularity of new forms of information-sharing has contributed to a growing conversation about the real and the ideal conceptions of this role, including the ethical considerations governing the role of an observer and the tradition of journalistic objectivity in coverage of conflict, from culture and politics to war. Students will gain insight with discussion of real-world dilemmas faced by those reporting on conflict and peacemaking efforts in the United States and around the world, as well as the ethical guidelines currently guiding those processes.

Why is the United States so polarized, and what can be done about it? This course uses interdisciplinary scholarship to examine the structural and cultural forces that fuel toxic polarization, as well as the pathways that can lead toward repair. Students engage both theory and practice; they study the conditions that entrench division and learn dialogue-based approaches capable of interrupting those patterns. Through dialogic methods, students develop concrete skills for fostering understanding across deep differences. The course prepares students to approach conflict with courage, compassion, and intellectual integrity. By the end of the course, students will understand the roots of polarization and will be equipped with practical tools for rebuilding civic relationships in a fractured democracy.

Music, theater, and visual art have been a part of social change movements as far back as we have historical records. Fliers are created both to inform and inspire. Plays challenge the status quo. Films offer us inspiration, or new models of living. Street theater mocks the powerful, inspires the oppressed, and gives shape to resistance. Novels warn us of threats, imagine new worlds, and celebrate forgotten ancestors. Music provides the rhythm of resistance, inspires, and unites. This course will examine these phenomena, starting primarily in the 20th century and attempt to understand some of the most powerful ways that the arts contribute to movements for change. We will look mostly at film, novels, and music, but will also discuss a number of other genres. Students will both experience art and discuss it, both verbally and in writing. The culminating assignment for the course will be to produce something of your own - in any genre - that can be used to contribute to a movement for peace and justice.

Climate Change, Conflict, & Displacement This course explores the relationship between climate change, conflict, and human mobility, focusing on the impacts, challenges, and opportunities associated with this set of interrelated, complex, and dynamic phenomena. We will examine the various types of human mobility, the environmental, social, and economic drivers of climate- and conflict-driven displacement, and the ways in which displaced people are affected by human rights and policy responses. We will also explore how climate change intersects with other manifestations of environmental, national, and human (in)security, and investigate the adaptation strategies and opportunities available to communities and governments to mitigate the negative impacts of displacement while fostering resilience and adaptive capacity. Throughout the course, we will examine case studies from around the world to gain a deeper understanding of the diverse experiences of people on the move, and the policy responses that have been developed to address this increasingly urgent issue.

This course explores decolonization as both a historical and contemporary process as well as an ongoing personal, intellectual, and ethical practice. It examines how ideas of history, identity, language, power, and research have been largely shaped by colonial and Eurocentric frameworks while engaging Indigenous, Global South, and other historically marginalized perspectives as equally valuable sources of knowledge and ways of being. In addition to studying liberation movements, students will consider how diverse ways of knowing can transform their understanding of their own future work, their relationships with others, and themselves. They will develop practical approaches for incorporating multiple perspectives and ways of being into their academic, professional, and personal pathways while envisioning more just, relational, and pluriversal futures.

Women, Domesticity, and Social Change This course will examine the changing relationship between women and their homes in American television shows, films, books, and new media. While the idea of showing a woman in her home is deeply traditional—as in, “a woman’s place is in the home”—there are ways to do it that queer the relationship between women and domesticity. As we put such films as Grey Gardens, books like In the Dream House, and shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians in a transnational context, we will consider the following questions: How does the relationship between women and domesticity iterate and change across space and time? How do different kinds of genres (e.g., the domestic novel, and the horror film) grapple with this longstanding relationship? Why are texts that take place in the home often referred to as “guilty pleasures?” What are the political implications of off-kilter depictions of women in their homes? Under what conditions do visual and literary texts allow women to live together or live alone? Upon completion of the course, students will be able to perform close reading in order to consider how visual and literary texts engage with the broader sociopolitical contexts from which they emerge, understand the history of the relationship between women and the home, and also think critically about the stakes of this ever-evolving connection in today’s culture.

This course will examine the international order established largely through US leadership in the post-World War II era, including many of the institutions and conventions that continue to shape this landscape today: the UN, the International Court of Justice, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, etc. Through case studies covering US foreign policy in Latin America, South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, both during and after the Cold War, this course will critically analyze the extent to which the US has upheld or subverted this international order. Case studies will be grouped by theme, including self-determination, decolonization, war, military occupation, apartheid, genocide, transnational justice, humanitarian intervention, etc.

Nonprofit organizations have long been an essential component of democracy and civic life in American society. Yet, in the current moment, nonprofits are facing unprecedented challenges due to funding instability, political threats, and the effects of polarization. In this course, we will examine the roles of nonprofits in community service, advocacy, movement building, and public narrative; analyze how organizations navigate political pressure and efforts to constrain or delegitimize their work; understand the nature of the nonprofit workplace; and explore new and emerging organizational formations. Given the significant presence of nonprofits in the Washington, DC area, we will expand our learning with ecosystem mapping, ethnographic research, and reflective projects that connect classroom concepts to lived practice.

This class examines the historical foundations, frameworks, and contemporary realities of the American criminal legal system. Students will trace the evolution of policing, criminal law, and punishment from their historical roots to modern mass incarceration and post-2020 reform movements. The course investigates how legal codes shape social order and impact marginalized communities. The second half focuses on transformative justice frameworks, analyzing community-led interventions, alternatives to incarceration, and rights-based approaches to public safety. Students will critically assess the outcomes of recent reform efforts and debate future models for systemic accountability, equity, and justice.

This is a course designed to help students who are already engaged in activism in college think through how this might productively fit into the rest of their lives. It is common among those who are active in college to become less so later in life. All sorts of things get in the way – children, career, hobbies, health issues, changing social networks, exhaustion and burnout, etc. Now of course one might consciously choose to do less activist work later in life, and it is not part of this course to tell you what you ought to do. But in many cases the drop-off is not a conscious choice. Indeed, it is frequently something that arises despite one’s intention to maintain activism as a part of life. On a more theoretical level, the long-term activist (radical, oppositional figure) fills an unusual place in society. They are at once living in that society, and at the same time, by virtue of their chosen path, not a part. They can be assimilated neither to the external force, nor to the unproblematic participant. How such a role in society plays out in concrete practice is the central issue we aim to explore in this class. The course will offer lots of different models of ways that people keep their commitment to grassroots political engagement with issues of social justice over the long-haul. Most weeks we will have a guest come to class – someone who has built a life at least partly structured around their commitments. They will give you a bit of a bio, and then you will interview them. We will also do some reading about other examples, as well as work through some theoretical reflections on how to live as a social activist in a society like ours. You will write a number of reflection exercises designed to think through what this all means for you, as well as two more substantive papers. Texts for the course available at Bridge Street Books Towards Collective Liberation: anti-racist organizing, feminist praxis, and movement building strategy; by Chris Crass You Can’t Be Neutral On A Moving Train, by Howard Zinn. All About Love, bell hooks And various readings chosen by class and guests.

War, armed conflict, political crisis, and forced migration have direct consequences on the livelihood of people. Humanitarian action, as a philosophy and practice, has emerged as a new moral imperative to respond to such crises in a timely manner to alleviate suffering. But what does help and helping others mean? How does our understanding of humanity and our relationships in what we consider a community affect the notion of help and care? Is aiding others a responsibility, a duty, or an act of charity? What are the challenges and ethics of this practice and action? This course begins with the history and emergence of humanitarian action, exploring legal frameworks and key ethical and policy debates from multidisciplinary perspectives. We explore the network of local, national, and international aid actors in this field. Using multiple case studies, including current issues such as emergency relief, intervention, responses to famine, poverty alleviation, forced migration, education, and health crisis, we broaden our scope and understanding as well as the challenges of humanitarian action.

The wealth gap in the contemporary United States, as in other developed nations, is vast, unprecedented, and growing, making it clear that economic inequality is a major social justice issue of our time. This class starts by examining some major recent grassroots responses to economic inequality, Occupy Wall Street and the broader Occupy Movement, the Solidarity Economy Movement, the Poor People’s Campaign, and the Movement for Black Lives—as windows onto discourses and practices of the multi-faceted economic justice movement in the contemporary US. We will then situate recent events in the long history of people’s movements for economic justice, looking back at important milestones in that history (e.g., Abolitionism, the beginnings of the labor movement and first wave feminism in the mid-nineteenth century; the Populist movement of the 1890s and Progressive-era labor reform; the fight to establish of the New Deal welfare state; the Civil Rights Movement and the War on Poverty of the 1960s; the second-wave feminist movement of the 1970s); we will also examine neoliberalism and globalization as the context for our current situation. Along the way we will address various ideologies and political and cultural traditions (the idea of the “commons” and a “moral economy”; humanitarianism and human rights; various theological traditions (e.g., Jewish ethical traditions, especially tikkun olam (healing the world) and Catholic liberation theology); communitarianism and principles of distributive justice; socialism and communism; Land Back and Reparations) that have inspired, anchored and legitimated the pursuit of economic justice. Finally, throughout the course, we will pay special attention to the role of cultural productions—specifically, literature, film, and music--in publicizing forms of economic inequality, class exploitation, and “economic violence,” in imagining more just worlds, and in mobilizing individuals and communities in pursuit of social change.

Reconciliation in Comparative Contexts

'Yeah, right', say the skeptics: dream on, all you pacifists. But are the pacifists dreaming? This course, taught by longtime peace educator and former Washington Post columnist Colman McCarthy, examines a wide range of the time-tested alternatives to violence—from military and governmental violence to domestic, sexual, and environmental violence. The course will be largely discussion-based, with all viewpoints welcomed and appreciated. Course texts include “Strength Through Peace” and --skeptics take note -- “Peace Is Possible."

Venture to a cosmopolitan city that is still emerging from decades of apartheid, and is marked by its history of legal and racial discrimination, inequality and oppression, but is all a hub for community organizations working on issues related to human rights and social justice. You will be working with community organizations and through discussions, lectures, site visits and meetings with community leaders, you will gain insight into the history of South Africa and the system of apartheid and extend this understanding to analyze the ongoing impact of past injustices on present policies and social movements. In addition to lectures and discussions led by faculty and site visits to historical places, you will be working and immersed in local cultural contexts through a placement at a community service organization where you will observe and participate in community struggles for economic, education, and social equality.