GLST G110: Conflict Resolution
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Curriculum Committee Approval Date | 12/07/2021 |
| Units | 3 Total Units |
| Hours | 54 Total Hours (Lecture Hours 54) |
| Total Outside of Class Hours | 0 |
| Course Credit Status | Credit: Degree Applicable (D) |
| Material Fee | No |
| Basic Skills | Not Basic Skills (N) |
| Repeatable | No |
| Grading Policy | Standard Letter (S),
|
| Local General Education (GE) |
|
| California General Education Transfer Curriculum (Cal-GETC) |
|
| Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) |
|
| California State University General Education Breadth (CSU GE-Breadth) |
|
Course Description
Formerly: PEAC G110; Nonviolence and Conflict Resolution. This course introduces students to theories and methods used to address modern global security threats. Students will learn about the dynamics of global security, conflict and conflict resolution. They will identify major threats, analyze conflicts and assess methods for preventing and resolving conflicts. From an international level of analysis, students will examine the role of stakeholders and third parties, collaborative negotiation and mediation, and bilateral/multi-lateral diplomacy. Transfer Credit: CSU; UC.
Course Level Student Learning Outcome(s)
- Course Outcomes
- Explain the characteristics of intractable conflicts and how both global and local forces can be involved.
- Describe how conflicts may become a threat to global security.
- Explain how local, national and international actors may be involved in the reconciliation process.
Course Objectives
- 1. Identify major security threats of the modern world.
- 2. Analyze the underlying causes of conflicts.
- 3. Define intractable conflict and how it escalates.
- 4. Assess various methods for preventing and resolving conflicts.
- 5. Evaluate various solutions to a problem involving parties in conflict.
- 6. Examine reconciliation processes and steps that local and/or international actors can take to move conflicts toward reconciliation.
- 7. Define bilateral and multilateral diplomacy in a globalized world.
- 8. Utilize the problem-solving approach to conflict resolution.
- 9. Identify stakeholders and their interests and positions.
Lecture Content
Global Security Traditional threats and the use of military power. Globalization and global security: nuances to modern global security threats. Modern global security threats. Nuclear threat Terrorism, insurgence civil war Environmental security and climate change Energy security Water security Cyber security Poverty and underdevelopment Health and food security Human extinction The U.S. and challenges to its role as the international superpower. New methods of intervention: conflict resolution and conflict management. Definition of Conflict Basic conflict structure Scarcity model Incommensurability conflict formation Existential conflict model Conflict causation Formation: How Does Conflict Come Into Being (emergence of conflict) Formation process Escalation process Identifying forces and actors that shape the conflict Distinguishing moderates, extremeists and spoilers Dealing with extremists Classification: Intractable Conflicts Why intractability occurs Conflict dynamics: how and why conflicts become intense and destructive Global and local forces that contribute to conflict Local and international stakeholders to conflicts and their interests and positions. Common tools for de-escalating conflicts and moving them toward resolution Negotiation Mediation Arbitration Integrative bargaining Confidence building Strategies For Reducing the Intractability of Conflict Prevention Mitigation Nego tiation Addressing the issues Track I – approaches (grass-root, community-level) Track II/III - reconciliation process Diplomacy Bilateral vs. multilateral diplomacy
Method(s) of Instruction
- Lecture (02)
- DE Live Online Lecture (02S)
- DE Online Lecture (02X)
Instructional Techniques
Lectures utilizing new technology. Interactive Discussions. Simulations, role-play.
Reading Assignments
Policy reports produced by non-governmental organization, international organizations and government agencies. Selected experts in the filed of conflict resolution and Track I, II and III diplomacy. The Web handbook of dispute resolution Online reading assignments from a variety of scholarly websites and journals.
Writing Assignments
Written research paper examining one or more case study(ies). Essay (or journal) in which students consistently compose written responses to the issues the class is discussing. Written essays demonstrating their acquired knowledge and information. Participation in written discussions. Essay (or journal) in which students will write an initial understanding of each upcoming topic, and then reexamine their position(s) after concluding the readings and discussions. Through a series of reflections and journaling, students will articulate and explore how they have been personally impacted by various security threats, conflicts and violence --and how an understanding of those conflict resolution methods has empowered their intellectual, emotional, and moral transformations. Written research paper which analyzes a particular conflict, identify a particular problem area within the conflict case, and evaluate possible solutions.
Out-of-class Assignments
Primary research including interviews and attendance at scholarly lectures. Participation in discussions, presentations, and debates. Secondary research utilizing scholarly journals, books, articles, and online resources/databases/. Attendance at an off campus event that relates to the course content. Creation of a visual medium to represent the contributing factors to security issues that leads to conflict, as well as the strategies, tactics and methods to resolve them. View video clips and documentaries.
Demonstration of Critical Thinking
Students will evaluate the validity and reliability of facts and positions related to security issues in the modern world. Students will compare and contrast the different styles of diplomacy, mediation, and negotiation relevant in the international arena. Students will analyze relevant conflict resolution theories and will formulate thoughtful intellectual responses to those theories. Students will examine the dynamics of a particular conflict and identify the factors contributing to the conflicts intractability.
Required Writing, Problem Solving, Skills Demonstration
Research project in which students will utilize course content, appropriate investigative methods and technologies to analyze conflict resolution in different contexts. Written assignment in which students will analyze a particular conflict, identify a particular problem area within the conflict case, and evaluate possible solutions. Oral presentation, discussion and/or debate of their findings and their own interpretation of factual information. Presentation of a visual medium which identifies the contributing factors to security issues that leads to conflict, as well as the strategies, tactics and methods used to resolve them.
Eligible Disciplines
Interdisciplinary Studies: Masters degree in the interdisciplinary area OR masters degree in one of the disciplines included in the interdisciplinary area and upper division or graduate course work in at least one other constituent discipline. Note: The interdisciplinary studies discipline is provided to allow for those cases where it is locally determined that a course must be taught by someone with qualifications that exceed a single discipline. The constituent disciplines can include any disciplines found in the Masters degree list. Masters degree required. Peace Studies: Masters degree in peace studies, peace and conflict studies, peace and justice studies, OR the equivalent. Political science: Masters degree in political science, government, or international relations OR bachelors degree in any of the above AND masters degree in economics, history, public administration, social science, sociology, any ethnic studies, J.D., or LL.B. OR the equivalent. Masters degree required.
Textbooks Resources
1. Required Kerr and Wiseman. Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: Theories and Practices , 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018 2. Required Constantinou, Costas M. Oxford Handbook of Modern Diplomacy, 16 ed. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc.(Latest), 2016 Rationale: In Diplomacy in a Globalizing World: Theories and Practices, Second Edition, twenty-three respected scholars contribute to the debate about the changing nature of contemporary diplomacy and its future theoretical and practical directions. Filling a gap in the diplomacy textbook market, this unique volume balances breadth with depth and theory with practice, using cutting-edge comparisons to show the complexities of twenty-first-century diplomacy.