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Senior Seminar in Peace and Conflict Studies

PACS 4500-2

Syllabus - Spring 2013

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Revised Feb. April 2
Major Changes: 3rd Map Installment due date delayed until April 18, 9 am.
No class April 16!!

The Basics:


Instructor: Dr. Heidi Burgess   

Contact Info: heidi.burgess@colorado.edu;    Phone: East Campus 303-492-1635; Norlin: 303-492-6708

Class Time and Location:    T/R 3:30 - 4:45 Ketchum 118

Office locations:

  • Main Campus (T/Th pm)  Norlin Library Room S423  It is hard to find--click on the room number to get directions.
  • East Campus (MWF all day; T/Th ams)  ARCE - room A222. (Second floor, south side of building).  It is not that hard to get to--the Stampede bus stops right just east of the building.  See Map. (This is where I am most of the time.)

Course Web Sites:

  • Syllabus and online readings available at:  http://pacs-courses.colorado.edu/pacs_courses/pages/pacs4500-section-2-course-homepage-spring-2013
  • Grades and the dropbox are available on D2L.
     

Course Description:

This course is about the biggest problems facing our communities, our nation, and our world today.  Ones that quickly come to my mind—and probably yours—are the economy (jobs, deficits, budgets, debt ceilings, housing, poverty, etc.), security (freedom from the fear of war and/or terrorism, as well as unmet fundamental needs), social services (health care, education, the justice system, etc.), and the environment (particularly climate change, energy and resources, and air and water quality, etc.). Our communities, our nation, and the world have proven remarkably unable to “solve” any of these problems.  Why?  I assert it is because they are all underlain by a more fundamental problem—the inability to constructively deal with difficult and intractable conflicts.  These conflicts prevent us, as individuals, our governments (at all levels), and our commercial and civil society organizations, from making wise and equitable decisions or taking effective action that will address any of these pressing problems.  We are stuck, in almost every case, in what William Zartman calls a “hurting stalemate” where combatants battle each other instead of the problem, and we all go down the drain (or as recently happened "over the cliff") together.
 
While “traditional conflict resolution” (which, somewhat ironically, was named 30 years ago “ADR” for “alternative dispute resolution,”) is well able to settle or resolve a vast majority of “tractable” conflicts and disputes, there are a significant number of really difficult problems that seem largely unresponsive to standard ADR techniques. Columbia professor Peter Coleman asserts that these are the “5% conflicts” – the 5% that he (and we) call “intractable.” (We actually think the number is higher than 5%.)
 
Many mediators purposely shy away from these conflicts.  Several years ago, the predecessor to the Association for Conflict Resolution then called SPIDR (Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution) put out a “definitive” (for the time) handbook on mediating environmental conflicts.  A large part of the handbook was spent explaining which conflicts could be mediated and which not.  SPIDR members were advised to avoid the ones that were unlikely to respond positively to mediation because it would be a waste of everyone’s time, and a threat to the mediators’ (and the field’s) reputations.  If it can’t be mediated, the implication was, stay away from it!!  Unfortunately, in much conflict resolution scholarship and practice, this attitude has changed remarkably little.
 
That advice long intrigued us, and like an adolescent who refuses to listen to his or her parents,  we were drawn toward such conflicts.  If they can’t be mediated, doesn’t that suggest we ought to be doing something else?  What? Is there really no solution but to suffer through?  Will we ever be able to get to the other side of these conflicts? At what cost? In this class, we will work individually--and together--to address these (and related) questions.

Course Goals:
  • To give you a set of "lenses" and skills that will enable you to analyze complex conflicts effectively.
  • To give you a sense of how difficult conficts can be constructively addressed.
  • To prepare you for further work in this and associated fields--either in grad school, a job, or civic and volunteer activities.

Course Design and Expectations:

This class is taught more like a graduate seminar than like an undergraduate class.  While there will be some lecture time, a fair amount of class time will be spent in small group and full class exercises and discussions.  In order to participate effectively, it is essential that you keep on top of the required readings and come to class prepared to participate actively. As an incentive to do this, many weeks will have required "reading notes" due before class on Tuesday.  These are in lieu of tests, so they are one of three ways that you will show me that you have read and understood the reading assignments.  The other two ways are through active participation in the class discussions and by using the information from the readings in your semester project.

Semester Project:

The semester project is actually a set of materials, all focused on one complex, intractable conflict of your choice.  We will be "mapping" these conflicts in a varitety of ways, documenting and analyzing the maps, and then, at the end of the semester, writing a policy brief or letter of inquiry about a proposed way of intervening in your selected conflict to try to transform it into something more constructive.  These assignments can be done as a team or individually.  Details are provided here.  The semester project, all together is worth 625 points, or 62.5% of your grade.  (The proposal is worth 25 points, the first map set is worth 100 points, the second 200 points, the third 100, and the intervention plan--the last installment is worth 200.)

Reading notes: 175 more points are earned with the weekly reading notes, discussed briefly above.  These are required most weeks, with the exception of the first week, and a few other weeks when other major "deliverables" are due.  The purpose of these reading notes is to make sure everyone does the reading on time (they replace tests).  They also help show me what you are getting out of the reading--so I can clarify, explain, or emphasize key points that might be being missed.  Each set of reading notes should contain about 15 "bullet points"--one to three sentences each--that explain a key idea from the readings that you found particularly important, interesting, relevant to your case study (tell me how), relavent to the news (tell me how), puzzling (tell me how) or something that you think is worthy of class discussion (tell me why).  Some "thought questions" will be provided to help you get started with these notes.

Attendance and Participation:
The remaining 200 points is attendance and participation.  I don't grade attendance per se, but I do keep attendance, and people who miss more than three classes during the semester without a good reason will begin to lose participation points.  Guy is encouraging me to record my classes (as he does), and if I manage to work out the technology, then I will do the same thing for make ups that he does which involves listening to the tape and doing a write up about it.   If I do not pull this off (as yet unclear), talk to me about alternative make up opportunities if you miss class due to a valid excuse. (And PLEASE do not come to the class with the flu! You can make up missed classes without a doctor's note if you have the flu!)

Special Circumstances -- There are a variety of good reasons for missing class besides illness– religious holidays, major field trips associated with other classes, family emergencies, etc.  In these cases, my policy is to provide ample time to do the appropriate attendance makeup assignments.  This includes providing additional attendance makeup opportunities if needed.  Note, however, I do not count the missed classes as having been attended unless a makeup assignment is received.

Individual Participation Grade:  The final element of the in-class activities grade is an individual participation grade, which will bump up the grades of those who are enthusiastic, engaged, and insightful and lower the grades of those who may be just coasting.  There will be major penalties for students who spend class time surfing the web, doing e-mail, working on other classes, text messaging, or distracting other students.  A major feature of the class will be the series of small group discussions, exercises, and other activities.  Since I can't participate in every group, I will generally ask each group to submit group notes indicating what you talked about and who participated.  Your grades on these will contribute to your individual participation grades as well. 


Required Texts:

Classroom Rules: 

We will often be talking about controversial and/or personal subjects (e.g., personal conflict experiences), so respectful communication is essential in this class.  We will discuss what that means early on, but basically it means attentive listening, and caring responses.  We will certainly have differing opinions on topics, but those should be raised as alternative valid ideas, not as competitive "better" ideas.


The use of electronic equipment is not allowed during this class, unless you have a special dispensation from Disability Services. That means no laptops, no cell phones, no texting, etc. If I notice you using such items during lecture or group work, you will get a 50% penalty on your day's group score for the first violation.  Any violations after that are 100% penalties. If we do not do a group that day, I will make a note of the issue, and we will discuss how to handle the problem later.  The only exception to this rule is for the group recorder--if the group recorder wants to take notes on a computer and send those to me at the end of class via email, that is acceptable.


Grading:

In general, I come fairly close to following the standard CU grade distribution, which is:

A 93% and above                             C 73 – 76.5%

A - 90 – 92.5%                                    C - 70 – 72.5%

B + 87 – 89.5%                                   D + 67 – 69.5%

B 83 – 86.5%                                       D 63 – 66.5%

B - 80 – 82.5%                                    D - 60 – 62.5%

C + 77 – 79.5%                                   F 59% or below

That said, I also grade on a curve, and look for "breaks" in the distribution, so these numbers may not stick exactly at the end.  A person with a 91. 5 might get an A; or a person with 93 might get an A-. You are safest if you do as well as you can--don't aim for a "just passing" or "just what I need" grade and then quit working.  That can come back and haunt you!
 

Writing Quality:  It is impossible to earn an A from me on any assignment if that assignment is poorly written and/or proofread.  In general, I grade the ideas, and then if the writing is poor, I will subtract one full letter grade from the "content" grade.  (I am more lenient, however, with people for whom English is not their native language.  If this applies to you, please let me know.)

Keep in mind that group papers need to read like one paper, not 3, papers loosely stitched together. That doesn't mean that everyone needs to write in the same style, nor does the editor need to correct style differences.  But the sections should flow clearly in a way that makes sense, and duplication (and gaps) should be avoided when possible.  You might each proof each other's work, or assign one person the task of doing a final proofing/editing job for the entire work. 

Late papers:  Papers are penalized 10% for each 24 hours they are late, unless you have worked out alternative arrangements with me in advance. I am often willing to negotiate occassional short extentions--I would rather you turn in a quality paper a little bit late than a poor one on time.  And please don't skip class because your paper isn't done.  That said, you MUST ask for an extension before the item is due, and not ask frequently.  Multiple requests are much less likely to be approved unless you have a serious medical or other legitimate issue.

Grade Concerns: If you are unhappy with the grades you are earning in this course, please come visit me so we can talk about it and figure out what you can do to improve your grades before it is too late.  If you wait until the end of the semester, there is little I can do.

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MAJOR ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES AND VALUE (Reading notes are due @ 9:00 most Tuesdays as well.)

Assignment

Due Date

Other Information

 Points Value
Self-Introduction  Fri 1/18  Post to dropbox by 5 pm  - 
Semester project description Tues 2/5

 

Submit  to dropbox by 9:00 am - if team, only one person needs to submit. Other put in "placeholder".

 25

First conflict map installment and analysis

Mon. 2/25

Submit to dropbox by 9 AM - if team, only one person needs to submit. Other put in "placeholder".

 100

Second conflict map installment and analysis

3/18

Submit to dropbox by 9 AM - if team, only one person needs to submit. Other put in "placeholder".

 200

Third conflict map installment and analysis

 4/18

Submit to dropbox by 9 AM - if team, only one person needs to submit. Other put in "placeholder".

 100

Fourth project installment - policy / conflict transformation proposal 

5/6 

Submit to dropbox by 9 am. - if team, only one person needs to submit. Other put in "placeholder".

 200
Reading notes   Submit to dropbox as indicated with the weekly reading listings.  175
Attendance / individual participation score     200
Total points possible     1000



University Policies


Disabilities: If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to your professor a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner (for exam accommodations provide your letter at least one week prior to the exam) so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact Disability Services at 303-492-8671 or by e-mail at dsinfo@colorado.edu.   If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see Temporary Injuries under Quick Links at Disability Services website and discuss your needs with your professor.

Religious observances: Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. Please inform me of any special needs in this regard at least a week in advance of the event and we will work out a suitable solution.  While students can be excused from class for religious observances, they still must make up the work with the same due dates as apply to other excused absences.   
See full details at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/fac_relig.html

Classroom Behavior:  Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at

http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at
http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code

 

 

  Weekly Course Schedule

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PACS 2500, PACS 3800  "Pre-Requisite Readings"
While there are no formal prerequisites for the course, it is assumed that, as the Senior Seminar for the Peace and Conflict Studies program, students will have taken PACS 2500 (the only other required course for the PACS certificate).  It is also understood that many students will have taken PACS 3800 which is an optional, but many of you have taken it.  This course will build off concepts presented in these other courses (2500 more so).  For review and, for students who may not of taken the earlier courses, the most important prerequisite material is included in the reading list and marked with as either PACS2500 and PACS3800 Review Reading.  If you remember the ideas, you can skip these.  If not, you should be sure to include them in your weekly reading assignments.

Required / Optional Readings are indicated as follows: 

  • (R) = Required
  • (O) = Optional

 

 

Week 1: January 15, 17: Course Overview -  What's the Point (of Taking This Class or Caring about Conflict)?

  • Lecture Topics:
    • Course Overview
    • Participant Introductions
    • The evolution of Peace and Conflict Studies:  The Advancing Frontier of the Field
    • Why conflict is The #1 problem of our time
    • What's to be done about it?  Better ways of dealing with complex, intractable conflicts.
    • Systems-based, holistic approaches to conflict; very large-scale peacebuilding
    •  Conflict is an information problem, Beyond Intractability and  the collaborative learning community concept
  • In-class Activities:  
    • Introductions
    • Definitions: "Conflict" and "Dispute" & the Intractable Conflict Continuum
    • Definitions: "Peace," "Justice"
    • Public Perceptions of Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution: Is the problem product or marketing?
  • Required Reading - due before Thursday's class, but no reading notes due this week.  Please do your "personal introduction" (see below) instead.
  • Written Assignments
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:  Note- the ppts will usually be posted the morning of the class; MP4s--If I do them--will be posted after the class.  These links (and similar links in future weeks are "placeholders."  They make it easy to upload these items quickly, but they are not available until the appropriate week. )

Week 2: January 22, 24: Conflict and Peace Around the World - Are Things Getting Better or Worse?

  • Lecture Topics:
    • The changing nature of "international" conflict (tyranny, failed states, rogue states, "traditional" international conflicts) 
    • Prospects for future, "perfect storm" conflicts that may be qualitatively and quantitatively different--and worse.
    • Biggest worries
    • Hopeful signs
  •  In-class Activities:  
    • Brainstorming: Are things getting better or worse and why?   
    • What positive trends are to be encouraged?  What negative trends need to be fought?
    • Causes of intractability, war, tyranny, and failed states: a comparative assessment
  • Required Reading: (See Reading Guide; Reading Notes dueTuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)
  • Reading Guide/Thought Questions
    • Peace and Conflict 2012:
      • What kinds of data are used to make the predictions discussed in this document?  What are the advantages and disadvantages of relying on data of this kind?
      • What does this document have to say about the relationship between autocracies, democracies, the democratization process and risk of violence and war?
      • Does this document suggest factors that we should look for as causes of “intractability”?  If so, what are those?
    • Steven Pinker Ted Talk:
      • How do we continue and reinforce the trends that Pinker describes?
      • What are the risk factors that might reverse these trends?
    • Israel, Syria, and Gender Violence:
      • What do these articles (separately and/or together) say about the state of conflict and peace in the world today (as a comparison to the other two readings)?  What, if anything, do they suggest might be done in any of these situations to change the events "on the ground?"
  • Written Assignments:
    • Just reading "bullet points" due this Tuesday (and again next Tuesday)  by 9 am.
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

Week 3: January 29, 31: Conflict and Peace in the US -- Are we REALLY a peace-loving country?

  • Lecture Topics:  
    • Conflict intervention ethics
    • Relationship between domestic & international conflict interventionsl
    • "Conflict," "peace," and "peacebuilding" in the US context.
    • Red, blue gold divide; moral, distributional, status, and identity conflict; mega-worry
  • In-Class Activities:
    • Discussion:  Is the US a "peace-loving" country? How do these attitudes "play out" here?
    • An examination of the big social/political/economic/cultural problems in the US. -- Why are they SO intractable?
    • Description of semester-long project; exploration of interests, team formation
  • Required Reading: (See Reading Guide; Reading Notes dueTuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)
  • Written Assignments:
    • Just reading "bullet points" due this Tuesday (and again next Tuesday)  by 9 am.
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

Week 4: February 5, 7: Complexity and Introduction to Conflict Assessment, Conflict Mapping, and Conflict Analysis (CAMA)

  • Lecture Topics:
    • Dealing with complexity, the central, recurring theme of the course.
    • Complex systems, general systems theory, skeleton of science
    • Engineering versus medical model, complicated vs complex (vs simple)
    • Alternative views of change (See. Figure 4.1 on MPL p. 69)
    • Levels of analysis & action -- micro, [meso], macro (RR: S&A are macro, T micro)
    • Table-oriented vs. "directory oriented" peacebuilding
    • Width and depth of focus (hawk and prairie dog analogy)
    • BI as a systemic approach
    • Ricigliano's "SAT" approach to systemic CAMA.
    • Differentiating between terms:  assessment, mapping, and analysis (CAMA)
    • Linear vs Complex (Systemic) CAMA
    • Introduction to Complexity-Based CAMA 
    • Conflict process market share and the scale-up problem
  • In-class Activities: 
    • Question/answer about readings
    • Full-Class Mapping Exercise I
    • Team / Individual Mapping exercise I
  • Required Reading: (See Reading Guide; Reading Notes dueTuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)
    • R: Ricigliano Chapters 2 - 4 
  • Written Assignments:
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

Week 5: February 12, 14:  Conflict Mapping Basics: Parties, Attributes and Basic Relationships.

  • Lecture Topic:
    • Maximizing the promise of mapping while working within its limits.  (The TMI / Analysis Paralysis / Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility)
    • Things to map:
      • Parties 
      • Disputants
      • Lederach Triangle
      • Conflict 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th parties w/ heirarchies and arenas
      • Parties' attributes (self-identity, values, positions, interests, needs, frames, grievances) and basic relationships (allies, opponents) 
      • Excuses, reasons, cooperative vs. competitive cultures
    • Ways to map
      • Ricigliano - SAT approach
      • G Burgess approach
        • Zoom Levels (Macro, Meso, Micro), Layers, & Time Series, Risks
      • Statics and dynamics
        • Feedback loops
        • Changes over time
        • Ricigliano's Process (T) elements.
  • In-class Activities:
    • Question/answer about readings
    • Power Point Based Mapping Primer
    • Full-Class Mapping Exercise - II
    • Team / Individual Mapping Exercises - II
  • Required Readings:(See Reading Guide; Reading Notes dueTuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)
  • Written Assignments:
    • Just reading "bullet points" due this Tuesday (and again next Tuesday)  by 9 am.
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

Week 6: February 19, 21: Conflict Mapping Continued

  • Lecture Topics:  
    • We are now running about a week late, so the lecture topics for this week were close to those listed for last week, and the ones originally listed for this week have been moved to week 7.
  • Readings: 
    • Just read about your chosen case and work on your maps.
  • In-Class Activities:  
  • Written Assignments due this week: none.


Material below here Revised Feb. 24


Week 7: February 26, 28: Conflict Mapping Part II:  Mapping Relationships and Structure

  • Lecture Topics:  
    • Mapping Relationships:
      • Alliances, hostilities
      • Consideration of Ricigliano's attitudinal/relational elements
        • History of violence vs tradition nv dispute res.
        • Rigid group identities vs porous social boundaries
        • Voice participation/engagement vs. isolation
        • Openness to change vs. inflexibility 
        • Level of trust
        • Compatibility of frames (HB)
        • Relative negation (into-the-sea framing)
        • Nature of differences (fundamental, non-negotiable, vs. negotiable) (HB)
        • victim-oppresser relationship
        • competition for scarce resources
      • Consideration of Structural Elements
        • Governance structures
        • Security structures
        • Economy
        • Rule of Law / Human Rights
        • Environmental/Natural Resource issues
        • Media Role
        • Civil Society role
      • Consideration of pathologies 
      • Consideration of positive elements & dynamics  
  •  In-class Activities:
    • Question/answer about readings
    • Full class mapping exercise
    • Team / individual mapping exercises
    • Begin looking for "hubs, energy centers, and leverage points" 
  • Required Reading:  None this week.
  • Written Assignments Due:
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

 Week 8: March 5 and 7: Conflict Mapping Part III:  Mapping Power and Dispute Episodes

  •  Lecture Topics:
    • Sources of power (of disputants and potential third parties)
    • Power strategies (of disputants and potential third parties)
    • Power contest heirarchy, theory of ripeness
    • Dispute episode history
  • In-Class Activities: 
    • Power analyses
    • Comprehensive Advocacy Planning
    • Dispute episode mapping
  • Required Reading: (See Reading Guide; Reading Notes due Tuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)  Note:  it had said Thursday earlier--this was a mistake.  But I will not start assessing late penalites until Thurs 9 am because of the confusion.
  • Written Assignments Due:
    • Reading notes due Tues, 9 am.
  • Class PowerPoints/Audio:

Week 9: March 12, 14: Justice, Empowerment, and Nonviolence


Week 10: March 19, 21: Conflict Transformation and Theories of Change

  • Lecture Topics:
    • Lederach's "circle of conflict transformation"
    • Theories of Change
    • Transformational "practices"
    • Ethics of intervention
    • Elicitive versus prescriptive strategies
  • In-Class Activities:
    • Question/answer about readings
    • Application of Lederach's conflict transformation approach to real conflicts
      • Full class
      • Project teams
  • Required Reading: (See Reading Guide; Reading Notes dueTuesday 9:00 am--please put in proper dropbox)  (Sorry, I know this is doubling up, but this reading is REALLY important for the in-class work and CMDA #3.)
  • Written Assignments: CMDA #2 due 9 am Monday, March 18. 


March 26, 28 Spring Break


Material below here revised April 2.


Week 11: April 2, 4: Unrightable Wrongs and Conflict Healing


Week 12: April 9, 11 Democratization / Civil Society

Week 13: April 16- NO CLASS, April 18   Many Ways to Make a Difference: The Multiplicity of Peacebuilding / Advocacy Roles


Week 14: April 23, 25   The Spread of PACS: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Week 15: April 30, May 2