PAX 120B: Inner Peace and Outer Peace
Offered Spring 2008
WEDNESDAYS 2-5 PM
CASTLE COMMONS
Co-taught by: Reya Stevens & Robin Moulds
** OPEN ENROLLMENT **
Inner Peace and Outer Peace examines the relationship between peace within oneself and the creation of peace in interpersonal relationships as well as in community, national, and global arenas. The course's primary approach to looking at inner peace will be the experiential practice of mindfulness meditation. Students will be guided through a progressive development of mindfulness skills and required to meditate regularly both inside and outside of class. The meditation is designed to develop self-awareness, compassion, and other qualities related to inner peace. Through readings and participatory exercises, students will also explore the key elements and ethical challenges of coexistence and reconciliation processes and practice inter-communal dialogue and facilitation of bi-communal conflict resolution. Throughout the course, the applicability of meditative or contemplative practices to peace and conflict resolution will be examined.
The course will be co-taught by Reya Stevens and Robin Moulds. Reya has been practicing meditation intensively for 20 years and has taught meditation in a wide variety of settings. Robin is a family therapist who has mediated ethno-political conflicts internationally in countries including Bosnia and Cuba.
For more information, please contact Professor Gordon Fellman at fellman@brandeis.edu or 781-736-2642