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Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies

To pursue peace, justice and conflict studies at Bethel is to challenge your assumptions about the world around you, to delve into a broad liberal arts curriculum, to view the world holistically. At Bethel you will have the opportunity to combine a peace, justice and conflict minor with any other major or earn a conflict resolution certificate from the college's Kansas Institute for Peace and and Conflict Resolution (KIPCOR). Bethel places such importance on peace, justice and conflict studies that courses have been incorporated into the Common Ground requirement, providing all students the opportunity to explore PJCS issues through classes in multiple departments.

Bethel College has a strong commitment to community development, conflict management and international development that grows out of our Anabaptist heritage. To reflect that commitment, our college takes seriously the idea that peace is an academic discipline, one that should be studied alongside other disciplines. For students aspiring to work professionally in a peace-related career, the combination of a peace, justice and conflict minor with another major provides an excellent preparation for further graduate study and vocational training in the field. Bethel seeks to make the study of peace, justice and conflict management a part of every student’s experience, regardless of religious affiliation or philosophical perspective.

Bethel’s peace, justice and conflict studies minor stands in a long tradition of such programs on campus. Our earliest graduates did voluntary service locally, nationally and internationally and that tradition has continued. From relief work in Germany following World War II to community development in Bolivia, our alumni have embraced the poor and oppressed throughout the world.

The peace, justice and conflict studies program reflects Bethel's pioneering presence in this field, including: establishment of one of the first undergraduate peace studies programs in North America (1972); development of the concept which resulted in establishment of Mennonite Conciliation Service (1976); establishment of one of the first regional peace institutes in the country (1985); and serving as founding host for the Peace Studies Association and the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development (now merged to form the Peace and Justice Studies Association).

Regardless of your major, you can without difficulty add this minor in peace, justice and conflict studies. In its current form, this minor combines selected courses in multiple disciplines and a research project (which may be done in conjunction with a senior seminar in another major or as a separate project). Because the minor requires only 17-19 additional hours from multiple departments, you will have a good deal of choice about which courses to take. If you are interested in a major with a peace, justice and conflict studies emphasis, you can explore the possibility of an individualized major.