Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies

Lee Ann Otto, Ph.D., Program Director Professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations

Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies

The Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies is an interdisciplinary program emphasizing ethics, international affairs, and conflict resolution. The goals of the program are: to produce graduates who are capable of relating disciplinary and cross-disciplinary theories of peace and justice to real world problem-solving involving regional and international conflict; to foster scholarly agendas examining the dynamics of justice and peacebuilding across multi-level conflicts; and to facilitate faculty and student interaction and development across disciplines and academic units at USD, along with outreach to the community and the larger society. The program takes full advantage of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice on the USD campus.
The M.A. in Peace and Justice Studies is designed as a full-time program limited to a maximum of 12 students. Students enter together once a year in mid-August and graduate, upon successful completion of coursework, one year later. Preferential consideration will be given to applicants with proficiency in a foreign language in addition to English, and work or volunteer experience in policy areas relevant to peace, conflict and human rights.

Financial Aid

All students accepted into the Peace and Justice Studies program are eligible to be considered for a Gandhi Fellowship. Application for program admission constitutes application for the Gandhi Fellowship. Fellowship awards are determined by a faculty committee. Students selected for awards will receive a minimum of $11,500 applied to tuition. Gandhi Fellows will be involved in various activities in the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice in collaboration with USD faculty and Institute officials. The Gandhi Fellowships and other sources of financial aid are offered to permit full-time study. Contact the Office of Financial Aid Services at USD for further information regarding financial aid and loans.

Requirements for the Degree

• Full-time status as a graduate student
• Approval of courses by the program director
• 33 units of graduate work with a 3.0 or higher
• Capstone course must be at “B” or better performance, and the grade is Pass/Fail.
• No more than 6 units of coursework at the 300 level or 400 level can be counted toward the 33 units.

The program begins in mid-August with a required pro-seminar that introduces students to the range of cross-disciplinary learning and scholarship which animates the program. The Peace and Justice Studies program emphasizes the integration and use of theoretical and practical materials from ethics, world religions, world history, international relations, conflict resolution and human rights, along with the acquisition of skills necessary for successful pursuit of peace and justice goals. The capstone course facilitates the integration of materials in a problem-solving exercise and case study report which will be shared with the incoming cohort of graduate students at a one-day conference each August.

All students take four courses together in the fall. In the spring semester, students take three courses and each student chooses an elective upon approval of the program director. All students take an Intersession course in Geographic Information Systems to gain competency in computer techniques applied to geographic and demographic data. Every student takes a required course in the summer in addition to the capstone course. With the exception of the pro-seminar and capstone courses, substitutions of the required courses with electives can occur with the approval of the program director if a required course duplicates previous academic work of the student.

Please click on image for a larger view.

Courses and Seminars

Please Note: Course descriptions list the course number, the course title and the number of semester-units in parentheses.

PandJS 500 pro-seminar for Peace and Justice Studies (1)
The seminar is designed to introduce students to the three pillars of the Peace and Justice curriculum — conflict resolution, international relations, and human rights or ethics — through readings and discussion. Orientation to the Catholic tradition that sees peace as inseparable from justice will occur, and background information on the intellectual disciplines represented in the program will be presented.

PandJS 510 Morality, Justice, and Rights (3)
Examination of major moral theories — ethical egoism, virtue theory, utilitarianism and deontological theories — and their relation to justice and rights. Major contemporary theories of social justice including utilitarian, libertarian, liberal-egalitarian, radical-egalitarian and communitarian (and conservative) theories along with feminist and multiculturalist perspectives. The use of such theories to assess social, economic, political, and environmental institutions, programs and policies. Particular application to such problems as world hunger; economic inequalities within and between nations; and inequalities and oppression based on gender, race, ethnicity and/or national origin.

PandJS 515 Comparative Religious Ethics (3)
A comparative study of the bases and processes of character formation and moral action in selected major religious traditions. Emphasis will be placed on the role that narrative, symbol, doctrine and ritual play in behavior in cultures in which thinking and feeling are embedded in religious worldviews. Attention will be given to arguments over whether and to what extent any moral values — particularly those embodied in Western human-rights discourse — can be said to have universal validity. The course will aim at providing students with tools for understanding the impact of religious values on contemporary issues of peace and justice with special attention to the contributions of Catholic social teaching.

PandJS 556 Conflict Analysis, Prevention, and Resolution (3)
This course will examine how conflicts are identified and analyzed, from low-level political violence to major armed conflict, and what theories and tools exist to resolve these conflicts. Students will read classic works in this interdisciplinary field, gaining an understanding of the different scholarly approaches taken to prevent and resolve armed conflict. Students will work in teams on particular case studies, applying theories learned.

PandJS 560 Diplomacy and Decision-Making (3)
This seminar is designed to teach students to think historically about the uses of diplomacy, the peaceful and non-peaceful resolution of crises, and the development of U.S. foreign relations. Themes to be addressed in the readings and discussion include negotiating tactics such as coercion and concessions, comparisons of realist vs. idealist motivations, alliance politics, Advisory processes, the role of individuals, historical analogies, national security interests, and political, ideological, cultural, social and economic environmental factors. Although this class takes a comparative approach in examining American influence on the world and vice versa, we will focus on a number of case studies in U.S. foreign relations to allow for a more in-depth evaluation of the foreign policy of one country. There exists in the United States a widespread and often controversial belief in the exceptionalism of American institutions and policies. The course will assess how the United States has attempted to export this belief to other nations and how these countries have responded.

PandJS 565 Peace and Justice in World Politics: Theory and Practice (3)
An analysis of the theoretical literature on the causes of war and conditions of peace and justice focusing on issues of sovereignty, global governance, military and non-military aspects of security, human rights, and positive and negative peace. Seminar format with extensive student-centered discussions of readings.

PandJS 566 International Negotiations (3)
This is an analytic and skills training course offering advanced training in the theory and practice of negotiations. Simulated negotiations of increasing complexity are carried on both inside and outside the classroom. In the course, students are introduced to various negotiation contexts including cross-cultural and cross-gender issues. Course participants from the Peace and Justice program will be integrated into the law school course which is composed of a mixture of U.S. law students and non-U.S. lawyers who are enrolled in USD’s LLM-CL program.

PandJS 570 Environmental Justice (3)
Examination of environmental justice and its relationship to sustainability and the protection of the non-human world. Local, national, and global issues and cases will be considered. Multidisciplinary pedagogical approaches grounded by political and environmental philosophy will be used. Particular attention will be drawn to environmental, social, political, and economic inequalities, injustices and oppression based on differences of gender, race, ethnicity, class, national origin and species membership.

PandJS 580 International Justice and Human Rights (3)
A consideration of theoretical foundations, historical development, and applications of human rights in different parts of the world. The seminar will focus on contending approaches to human rights.

PandJS 594 Special Topics in Peace and Justice Studies (3)
A specialized course focusing on a topic in international affairs, conflict resolution, or ethics and human rights. The course can be repeated if the topic changes.

PandJS 595 Peace and Justice Capstone (2)
A case study of a current or a developing problem that threatens or prevents peace and/or justice. The case study will integrate skills and perspectives acquired in the program. Student reflection on the Catholic tradition that sees peace as inseparable from justice will be expected. Assessment of learning outcomes in the program will be conducted. Prerequisite for the course is approval of a case study prospectus. Grading for the course is on a Pass/Fail basis.

Department of Environmental Studies
ENVI 312 Introduction to GIS (3)
An overview of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), including its history, role in complex spatial analysis projects, and geographic data management. Related technologies such as global positioning system (GPS) and remote sensing also will be introduced. Laboratory exercises will emphasize digital cartography using ArcView software. Prerequisite: MATH 115.