History of Peace Studies at Xavier University

At the initiative of the Department of Programs in Peace and Justice,  Fr. Harold Bradley , S.J., visited Xavier campus on March 15 , 1983 to talk about his experiences with peace studies at St. Louis University and Georgetown University. Dr. John Minahan, the Academic Vice- President of Xavier, convened an Ad Hoc Peace Studies Committee which held its first meeting in June, 1983. Benjamin J. Urmston, S.J., was chosen as chairperson. Members of the committee were Albert F. Anderson, Jr.; Paul Colella; Richard Garascia; John Getz; Richard Gruber; Christine Gudorf; Jon Moulton, and David Weinberg.

A proposal for a peace studies minor was submitted to the Board of Undergraduate Studies and eventually approved. The first peace studies courses were taught in the Spring Semester, 1984.

The proposal called for fifteen hours: a three-hour introductory course, three three-hour electives from different disciplines, and a three-hour concluding course. The criteria for courses were established. Particular courses were to be approved on an on-going basis by the peace studies committee.

In 1988 a peace studies scholarship was begun at the initiative of Fr. Benjamin J. Urmston, S.J., since his parents were the primary donors. A secondary but significant donor to the scholarship fund has been the Xavier Jesuit Community. The criteria for the scholarship are academic excellence and integrating the ideas and values of Peace Studies into activities outside the classroom.

In 1991 the Peace Studies Committee wrote and adopted the document "Peace Studies: A Working Definition" in an attempt to make the purposes and terminology of the program more coherent. The document defines peace as the absence of war and the presence of justice. (See below)

Peace Studies: A Working Definition

Peace Studies is an interdisciplinary field that has as its central concern the achievement of a peaceful and just world. Its work includes both theoretical and practical aspects.

On the theoretical side, Peace Studies first of all seeks to understand the nature of peace. One possible definition of peace is "the absence of war" (negative peace). Although the absence of war is certainly one of the criteria for the existence of peace, understanding peace as simply this is inadequate. To achieve peace fully, both positive and negative peace are needed. In a situation of positive peace, all human beings would have basic economic, political, and civic rights ensured, and protection from the threat of exploitation, oppression, and violence. Freedom is relative and admits of degrees, but we can achieve the exercise of fundamental rights.

One of the tasks of Peace Studies is to examine criteria for attaining positive peace. It asks questions about what values are necessary for peace to exist and possible sources of these values. It discusses the relation between peace and social justice. It examines questions concerning the nature of human rights and potential conflicts between them. Such discussions are inevitably interdisciplinary, involving perspectives from disciplines in the humanities, arts, sciences, and professional studies. Specific questions dealt with in Peace Studies courses might include: How is economic justice connected with peace? What role does religion play in peace and justice? Is ecology a concern of Peace Studies? Is it desirable and/or possible to move toward effective and comprehensive international law and order? What do we mean by "human rights"? How can we resolve conflict in peaceful and nonviolent ways?

Because the world is far from peaceful, an important area of concern for Peace Studies is the critical analysis of violence, both direct and structural. Direct violence is overt physical injury or the infliction of pain, as in the cases of war and assault. Structural violence may exist even in situations of negative peace. It consists of the conditions of oppression that are built into social and cultural institutions. Society brings violence upon human rights and dignity when it forcibly stunts the optimum development of each human being, whether because of race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, or any other cause. Under systems of structural violence people often unconsciously collude in perpetuating the violent conditions. A white person who dismisses a cross-burning as "just a prank", for example, contributes to the underlying racism of the culture by failing to comprehend that even a prank burning sends a threatening message to African-Americans. Individuals can rationalize direct violence in terms of structurally violent cultural values: a rapist or batterer may claim that women "ask for it." In structurally violent societies, intrasocietal conflicts are often reflected in interpersonal and domestic conflicts. Peace Studies examines these conflicts and the possibility of their resolution, as well as the issues surrounding intersocietal conflict. It studies the connections between personal and family conflicts and tensions in our larger society.

Finally, the theoretical work of peace education can be completed only if it encourages its students to become actively engaged in contributing to peace. Field experiences which involve contact with the materially poor are invaluable learning complements to abstract principles.

Peace Studies attempts to integrate what is studied in individual disciplines and shows connections.

For further reading:

• David Barash and Charles Webel, Peace and Conflict Studies, 2nd ed. (2009)
• David Barash, ed., Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies (1999)