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Spring 2026 Courses

Any interested undergraduate may enroll in IIPS 20101 Introduction to Peace Studies for the spring term, although seats for juniors and seniors are limited. Students considering a supplementary major or minor in peace studies are encouraged to take the intro course as soon as feasible to help with their discernment. Students are also welcome to enroll in other IIPS courses but seats may be limited in some cases until all initial web registration periods have passed.

Peace studies students can explore the full list of spring courses eligible for the major and minor, including electives cross-listed from other departments, in the forthcoming Spring 2026 Undergraduate Course Booklet. Full details for each course can also be viewed in NOVO or PATH Class Search under the subject "Institute for International Peace Studies" (IIPS). If you need assistance with registering for peace studies courses, please email Anna K. Van Overberghe, Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies, at avanove1@nd.edu.

Introduction to Peace Studies

IIPS 20101 01 (CRN 32813)
Gwendolyn Purifoye
MW 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

IIPS 20101 02 (CRN 32814)
Laura Miller-Graff
TR 11:00 am - 12:15 pm

IIPS 20101 03 (CRN 38534)
Jason Springs
TR 2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

This course is open to undergraduate students from all majors. It carries the WKIN-Integration attribute and counts toward the Liberal Arts 6 requirement in the core curriculum.

Armed conflict and state repression continue to occur across the globe, millions of people face overwhelming poverty, and systemic challenges like climate change imperil collective survival. Nevertheless, we have also witnessed the emergence of sophisticated civil society networks and social movements to address these challenges, as well as governmental and transnational institutions committed to promoting justice and peace at the local, national, regional and global levels. This course introduces students to the various ways scholars and activists define peace and the challenges faced in securing peace. It surveys: (1) the major causes of direct and structural violence; (2) various definitions of "peace" and the conditions under which it occurs and is sustained; and (3) the comparative success of various strategies such as building peace movements and promoting nonviolent social change.

Perspectives on Peacebuilding

IIPS 33101 01 (CRN 33289)
Rashied Omar
MW 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm

This course is reserved for peace studies majors and minors.

This junior seminar is a required course for either the Supplementary Major or Interdisciplinary Minor in Peace Studies. The course focuses on strategic peacebuilding, an analytical framework for investigating the causes and dynamics of conflict, conflict resolution and transformation, and post-conflict reconstruction and justice. The seminar (1) deepens student knowledge of foundational concepts and questions in peace studies; (2) introduces students to a variety of methodological approaches common in peace studies research; and (3) explores the relation between ethical, empirical and practical approaches in the field. The course provides students with the tools necessary to carry out later research in their capstone seminar and encourages a deeper understanding of how their own research interests connect to peace studies.

Peace Agreements: Global Perspectives and the Colombian Experience

IIPS 40300 01 (CRN 41198)
Josefina Echavarría Alvarez
TR 9:30 am - 10:45 am

This course requires application and approval, and spaces are limited. To apply, please complete the following form no later than November 10, 2025: https://forms.gle/MwaRjk4xz2u5F2nXA.

The signing of a peace agreement is often celebrated as the end of conflict, but it is more accurately the beginning of a complex and challenging peacebuilding process. Why do some agreements succeed while others fail to bring lasting peace? In this course, we will critically examine the design and implementation of peace accords through a research, policy, and practice lens. We will explore key themes such as disarmament, transitional justice, political participation, and socio-economic development, drawing on case studies from around the globe. A central component of this course is a deep dive into the 2016 Colombian Peace Agreement. Using the Peace Accords Matrix (PAM) database—a unique resource housed at the Kroc Institute—we will analyze the accord’s provisions and track its implementation trajectory. We will engage with diverse sources, including academic research, policy reports, and the lived experiences of those directly affected by the conflict. This course includes a required experiential learning trip to Colombia during spring break. This immersive experience will allow us to engage directly with local peacebuilders, policymakers, and community members. We will witness firsthand the challenges and successes of peace implementation, bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world application. Through this learning-by-doing approach, we will collectively reflect on the roles that peace agreements play in shaping post-accord societies and our own understanding of peace and war.

Peace Studies Senior Seminar

IIPS 43101 01 (CRN 30213)
Gerard Powers
MW 11:00 am - 12:15 pm

This course is reserved for senior peace studies majors and minors. It carries the WRIT-Writing Intensive attribute and counts toward the Writing 2 requirement in the university core curriculum.

This writing-intensive seminar is the required capstone course for either the Supplementary Major or Interdisciplinary Minor in Peace Studies. This advanced course consists of readings and discussions that explore a familiar peace studies theme in greater depth. The centerpiece of the course is a seminar paper that students research and write on a subject of their choice, selected in light of the course theme and drawing on research methods from both peace studies and students' primary majors.

Section Theme: Peace and Public Policy. The focus of this seminar is the central importance of public policy in strategic peacebuilding. The course will examine the elements of quality policy analysis and effective advocacy as foundations for policy engagement on issues of war and peace. It will consider the range of actors (with special though not exclusive focus on U.S. government and UN policymaking) and the range of factors (e.g. political, economic, security, legal, moral, religious) involved in policymaking. Issues to be addressed include: the use of military force; the role of civil society and religious actors in peace processes and other foreign policy issues; and the relationship between peacebuilding and human rights, good governance, and sustainable development. The specific issues and cases will be determined in consultation with the class so that they correspond as much as possible to student interests and capstone papers. Course assignments will help students develop written and oral skills in policy analysis and advocacy through policy memos, newspaper opinion pieces (or blogs), talking points, and video-taped interviews, and class presentations. These practical skill-building assignments will be tied to the capstone paper.

Embodied Knowing in Peace and Conflict Transformation

IIPS 50406 01 (CRN 41199)
Norbert Koppensteiner
R 3:30 pm - 6:15 pm 

Human beings experience peace and conflicts comprehensively, they touch human life in all aspects of existence. While dominant models of inquiry have privileged the use of disembodied reason, this course will consider what new avenues emerge when the role of the body in the production of knowledge is centered. Based on John Paul Lederach’s Moral Imagination and expanding on the Kroc Institute’s approach towards reflective peacebuilding, this course will introduce students to humanistic and decolonial methods to peace building research and practice. Through somatic practice students will actively engage embodied knowing. Following the model of the scholar-practitioner students will study the conceptual foundations and applications of comprehensive embodied practices for peacebuilding. They will engage with the ontological, epistemological and ethical foundations of embodied research and their integration into research designs via qualitative methods. Emphasis will be placed on auto-ethnographic, decolonial, reflective and performative methodologies. Through the practice of dance (conscious dance), theatre (Theatre for Living/Theatre of the Oppressed) and breath (transpersonal approaches) students will come to understand how topics of peace and conflict are held, expressed and transformed through the body. Taught in experiential manner within a facilitated workshop setting, this course also requires openness for embodied self-exploration through dance, theatre and breath as well as openness for group-dynamics. No previous experience with embodied practices required. All levels of physical ability welcome.

Engaging in Mediation Policy and Practice

IIPS 50805 01 (CRN 39354)
Laurie Nathan
W 3:30 pm - 6:15 pm

This skills- and theory-oriented course focuses on mediation policy and practice. It covers the skills of conflict analysis, strategic planning for peacemaking, mediating conflict, and policy development and advocacy. It will address conflict at both the international level and the local level.

Racism as a Social Problem

IIPS 50806 01 (CRN 42259)
Gwendolyn Purifoye
M 3:30 pm - 6:15 pm

This course requires instructor approval in order to register. Undergraduate students interested in this advanced course should contact Dr. Purifoye to discuss their interest and experience.

This course interrogates the production, reproduction, and persistence of patterns of racial injustice that are manifested in many forms including criminal injustice, housing discrimination, food insecurity, health disparities and educational inequalities. The role of power, place, and institutions as ever-present factors shaping the social world and the matrix of social problems will be identified and evaluated to better examine how racism shapes conditions of violence, poverty, and suffering.