Theology, Ethics and Practice of Conflict Transformation and Peace Building

Required Reading:
1. Peace Skills: Manual for Community Mediators (Kraybill, Evans).
3. Two Case Studies
4. A minimum of one additional reading selected from “Recommended Readings” (These books will be on reserve in the Hartford Seminary Library)

NOTE:  Participants are urged to read the Peace Skills Manual prior to the beginning of the course if possible.

Course Assignments
1. Read the required book: Peace Skills: Manual for Community Mediators prior to the course if possible.(Clean used copies are available on Amazon.com) 
2. Carefully study assigned case studies (posted to participants in advance and handed out in class)
3.  Select one of the three following foci: mediation, teaching or reconciliation.
;A. For those who select mediation we suggest:
The Promise of Mediation (Bush, Folger)
or
Negotiating at an Uneven Table (Kritik)

Writing assignment: Conduct one or more actual mediations.  Select one, describe the situation, and analyze your role (either negatively or positively) [3-4 pages].  Respond to this question: What aspects of Peace Skills and your selected additional reading were most helpful as you facilitated this conflict and why? [3-4 pages].

B. For those who select teaching as a focus:
Peace Skills Leaders Guide (Evans, Kraybill)

On Friday of the course you will have time to present a teaching module to the class on a selected topic. This can be a team effort.

Writing assignment: Develop an outline of a creative peace skills workshop indicating goals, audience, components and timing (2-4 pages).  Reflect on the Peace Skills material and your additional reading, citing the most important elements of these resources as you develop workshop designs and teach peace skills to others.

 C. For those who choose Theology of Reconciliation as a focus:
The Ministry of Reconciliation (Schreiter)
or
The Journey Toward Reconciliation (Lederach)
or  *The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace (Lederach)
      (A beautiful book which would compliment other foci) 

Written assignment: Describe a congregation or community conflict that has clear implications or poses a problem for a theology of reconciliation. (3-4 pages). Reflect on these theological  implications or address the problem using the theological resources in Peace Skills and your additional reading (3-4 pages).

Course Evaluation will be based on daily classroom paricipation and written assignments.

Course Schedule: Monday to Friday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.     January 9-13 , 2012
(Subject to revision based on class needs and interests)

Monday,  Jan. 9           Context: Arab Spring, Jasmine Revolution, Occupy Wall Street; 
Assumptions about Conflict, U.S. based Case Study, Conflict Analysis, Introduction to Group Problem-posing: Listening Skills

Tuesday, Jan. 10          Sacred Text Study and Introduction to Stages of Mediation

Wednesday, Jan. 11     Applying the Stages of Mediation, Personal Maps of Conflict,
                                     and an International Case Study

Thursday, Jan. 12         Sacred Text Study on Reconciliation, Mediation Role Plays,
                                     and Addressing Structural Change

Friday, Jan. 13             Theology of Reconciliation, Participant Presentations, and
Course Evaluation

Reading list:

Book Order/ Library Reserve Form

Required book:

Peace Skills: Manual for Community Mediators.. Ron Kraybill, Alice and Robert Evans. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001)    

Each class participant is required to read a minimum of  ONE of the following books:

Peace Skills for Community Mediators; Leaders’ Guide. Alice and Robert Evans, Ron Kraybill, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001)

The Journey Toward Reconciliation, John Paul Lederach (Scottsdale, AZ: Herald Press, 1999)
The  Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace, John Paul Lederach (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

The Ministry of Reconciliation, Robert Schreiter (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1998)
          
Negotiating at an Uneven Table: Developing Moral Courage in Resolving our Conflicts, Phyllis Kritik (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994).

The Promise of Mediation: The Transformative Approach to Conflict (Revised Edition), Robert A. Baruch Bush, Joseph P. Folger  (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004)