Peace and Justice Studies

The Peace and Justice Studies minor challenges you to explore some of the most urgent questions of our time: What constitutes a just society? How do individuals and communities build lasting peace? What responsibilities do we have in addressing injustice? An expression of the Jesuit educational commitment to the values of peace and justice, this program invites you to think critically about power, inequality, conflict, and social change. You will explore how justice shapes lasting peace, engage diverse perspectives, and examine real-world challenges. Through reflection and action, you will connect ideas to practice in pursuit of a more just and peaceful world. 

Student Learning Outcomes

Students completing the Program will have the opportunity to:

  1. Identify the injustice, inequity, or oppression that is embedded in particular social, political or economic structures.
  2. Explain how the concept or practice of activism is integral to peace and justice.
  3. Demonstrate skills in oral or written communication regarding critical social issues.
  4. Analyze critical questions about assumptions, biases, and worldviews.
  5. Apply knowledge, awareness, or skills to problems of inequity and oppression.
PJST 2400  Community Engagement, Social Justice, and Social Change  3 Credits  
Course Tags: Peace and Justice Studies  
This course will introduce students to frameworks for responsible and ethical community engagement, including assets-based approaches and strategies for contributing to social justice and social change. Students will challenge and problematize the paradigms of community service, charity, and volunteerism, while exploring participatory and justice-oriented strategies for social change. Students will design a community-engaged project or initiative as a part of the course, with guidance and coaching from their peers and course instructors. Junior standing.
PJST 3980  Internship  3 Credits  
This internship provides students in the minor with the opportunity to understand, through direct participation, how citizens organize to empower their communities and promote policies that will benefit them. Interns are placed with community and governmental organizations in the greater Bridgeport area; some placements include advocacy work in the state legislature in Hartford. The internship requires a journal and final reflection paper based on analysis of the site experience and its relationship to peace and justice. Enrollment by permission only
PJST 4999  Capstone Research Seminar  3 Credits  
This course creates a context for integrating and reflecting on experiences and knowledge acquired in the program by providing students the opportunity to examine how their major connects to the values and practices of peace and justice. Students undertake a major research project focused on applying their practical engagement with peace and justice issues to broader theoretical frameworks with attention to contemplating a vision for change in the future. The course is built around student-led discussion and an in-depth research project that analyzes an issue from the student's major area of study through the lens of peace and justice.

Director

Melissa Quan (Center for Social Impact)

Coordinating Faculty

Adair (History)
Canuel (Center for Social Impact)
Cook (Sociology & Anthropology; International Studies)
Labinski (Philosophy)
Purushotham (History)
Quan (Center for Social Impact)
Williams (Religious Studies)

Contributing Faculty

Berrett-Abebe (Social Work)
Biasi (International Studies)
Butorac (Politics)
Farrell (Modern Languages & Literatures)
Garcia Iommi (Politics)
Hohl (History)
Jackson (Applied Ethics)
King (History)
Kris (Nursing)
Rodrigues (Sociology & Anthropology)
Stevenson (Philosophy)