Ari Hahn Courses
The Ari Hahn Peace Endowment allows us to regularly teach a course that is fundamental to this program. The endowment also provides funding for occasional speakers, films, and conferences that align with the PAX program.
This course builds from a cutting edge issue in the field of peace studies: the relationship of the inner state of the peacemaker to the outer conflict s/he is helping to resolve. At one extreme, if would-be peacemakers bring inner turmoil and hatred to the conflict setting, they may exacerbate or even undermine peacemaking efforts. Peacemakers aware of their own inner issues of conflict and anger as well as empathy and compassion can better control the inner complexity they bring to the peace table in such a way as to maximize their effectiveness in helping broker peaceful resolutions to conflicts. Taught annually every Spring semester.
International Nonviolent Initiatives
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of nonviolence theory and practice. This course was successfully taught for three years by one of the major experts in the field.
Religions and Peace
Religious texts and practices range from those that support and promote compassion, openness, and peace to those that promote and support violence, demonization, and war. PAX considers it unwise simply to praise religion for its peaceful inclinations or to condemn it for its war propensities. As religion plays a central role in the consciousness and behavior of so many people around the world, it behooves peace scholars and peacemakers to engage in critical analyses of the complex and often contradictory tendencies in and uses of religions. Taught as scheduling allows.