Conflict Resolution
CNR 610 Syllabus
COURSE NUMBER: CNR 610
COURSE TITLE: Conflict Transformation : Reconciliation and Healing
CREDITS: 3 SEMESTER CREDITS
PREREQUISITES: None
FOR WHOM PLANNED: This is a second semester course in the six course core theory and skills sequence required for the master's program in Conflict Resolution. May also be taken as a general elective.
INSTRUCTOR INFORMATION: Dr. Cathie J. Witty, Program Director, 5900 Summit Ave., Brown Summit, NC 27214, Office Hours: 10-12 Monday, Wednesday or by appointment, 217-5100, cjwitty@uncg.edu
TIME AND LOCATION: Tuesday, 6-8:45 pm, 5900 Summit Avenue, North Campus
CATALOG DESCRIPTION:
Nonviolent responses to conflict and violence that are oriented
to the restoration of relationships damaged by crime, war,
community and workplace violence. Offered in the Spring.
STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
- analyze conflict from a "systems" approach
- assist conflict parties in creating new conflict stories
- design restorative justice programs at the individual, group and social levels
- understand the advocacy planning process in communities
- understand the cycle of the transgenerational transmission of trauma through protracted violence
- explain the differences between elicitive and prescriptive approaches to conflict transformation
- discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the truth and reconciliation model as applied in South Africa and other cultural settings
TEACHING STRATEGIES
This course explores nonviolent responses to violence that
are oriented to the restoration of relationships damaged by
hate, crime, family or community violence or prejudice. The
seminar will explore process skills that move away from the
strict resolution of conflict toward the restoration of self
and the rebuilding of relationships.
The semester is divided into three sections: internal, personal change; interpersonal change; and intergroup change. In Part 1 we explore how individuals change, and how intervenors can facilitate personal change in transformative ways; we will explore systems theory, problem deconstruction, first and second order change and language transformation systems.
In Part II, we look at the paradigm of restorative justice, introduced the first semester in Concepts and Processes of Conflict Resolution. How can we meet victims' needs to regain an appropriate sense of control and justify their rights to avoid the experience of prolonged victimhood? What do grief and loss have to do with conflict? How can we understand and validate the needs of a community in terms of safety, trust, confidence, a threatened sense of order and stability, and an eroded sense of personal and cultural values?
Finally, in Part 3, we explore the issue
and violence from a community perspective, locally, nationally,
and internationally. We focus on core issues in such situations:
truth, as the longing for acknowledgment of wrong and validation
of painful loss; mercy, as the articulated need for acceptance,
letting go, and creating new beginnings; justice, as a search
for individual and group rights, for social restructuring,
restitution, and sustainable human rights; and peace, as a
need for interdependence, well being, trust, and security.
Students must do the reading prior to coming to class discussion.
The aim of the class discussion is to help all of us identify
and absorb the nuances and implications of the readings, and
build a body of knowledge based on sharing ideas, experiences
and feelings, and on consistency and continuity of individual
and team work.
EVALUATION METHODS AND GUIDELINES FOR ASSIGNMENTS:
To determine final grades, students will be evaluated on the following:
Class Participation 30%
- raising and answering questions related to the issues
- sharing ideas, feelings, personal experiences and observations
- relating and synthesizing the ideas of others
- providing constructive feedback on the learning process
- helping other develop their view and ideas
- participating actively in role play exercises, with intelligent questions and feedback to fellow students and instructor
- take the lead at least one week in opening the discussion of the readings for the group as student faciliator
Two Thought Papers 40%
- students will write two short papers of 8-10 double spaced pages during the semester
- papers will synthesize theoretical discussions of the preceding weeks, and
- reflect a critical analysis of the reading assignments
- paper are due the 6th and 11th weeks of the semester
Final Research Paper 30%
A 15-20 page research paper which analyzes political, theoretical, practice, and program related aspects of the transformational project described in the video The Dragon’s Egg.
Students will be asked to analyze and evaluate specific aspects of the film as a case study in conflict transformation in communities, drawing on their knowledge of the field gained in this course. Students may also draw on outside sources, and use other case studies included in the e-resource reading materials in comparative discussion.
You will also use your own journaling experience from Part 1 as a case study in internal change. Students will keep a journal of the change exercises from the Kegan and Leahey readings. This journal will not be collected or evaluated, but will provide notes and insights on the student’s own experience with the languages of changes.
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REQUIRED TEXTS
Conflict Transformation Collected Readings (CTCR). Drs. Cathie Witty and Ružica Rosandic (Eds.) Packet on reserve in library and via Blackboard.
How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work. Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahley. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, San Francisco, 2001.
Changing Lenses: A New Focus for Crime and Justice. Howard Zehr. Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 1990 (or latest edition).
Between Vengeance and Forgiveness. Martha Minow. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998.