About Peace Studies

peace-studies-garden
Come visit, relax, or meditate at the Radford University Garden of World Peace in Peters Hall on the ground floor. Open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Radford University’s Peace Studies program was founded in 1994 by Department of Philosophy Professor Glen Martin and other faculty members.

Peace Studies at Radford University reflects an appreciation of how students can acquire the knowledge, strategies, and experiences to contribute to meaningful change and are consistent with Radford’s institutional mission to the development of mature, caring, responsible, well‑educated citizens who possess creative and critical thinking skills for analyzing problems and implementing solutions.

Peace Studies at Radford University encompasses the systematic, interdisciplinary study of the causes of conflict & violence and the conditions for peace.  The challenges of promoting peace, justice, and conflict transformation are addressed from the interpersonal to the international level.  The program also examines more equitable, cooperative and nonviolent methods to transform unjust, violent or oppressive situations.

What topics are covered in a peace studies course?

  • Peacemakers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Marshall Rosenberg, and non-violent communication, Ella Baker, Rigoberta  Menchu Tum and Colman McCarthy
  • International institutions such as International Law and the Framework of Peace and Conflict, the United Nations, international military peacekeeping, World Court and the Nobel Peace Prize
  • Religious faiths and the search for peace, also philosophical issues and "just war" theory
  • Psychology, anthropology and social science insights into human behavior
  • Non-violent interpersonal communication and negotiation
  • Non-violent mass communication and peace journalism
  • History of non-violence and peaceful change
  • Art, literature and music of anti-war movements
  • Conflict zones, poverty and resource scarcity