Peace and conflict studies, deemed by some to be the most important topic our generation could study, has popped up in over 130 colleges and universities across the nation. A growing group of conscientious students, professors and Oberlin residents have stepped up to bring a solid peace and conflict studies program to the College.

The idea began in spring 2004, whcn Kendal resident Al Carroll OC ’58 and then sophomore Melissa Heim led an ExCo, “Teaching Peace”, in which Oberlin students designed a six-week course on nonviolence for Langston Middle School sixth graders. After three successful semesters, the group decided that Obies should be “taught peace” as well.

Thus began the uphill road of creating a peace and conflict program — an umbrella term that could turn out to mean a concentration, a minor or a major — here on campus. The group stirred up interest at co-op lunches, met with countless professors, examined programs at other colleges and finally pitched their proposal to professors, President Nancy Dye and the Educational Plans and Policies Committee last May.  The proposal was the product of hours of work by junior Kara Carmosino.

Both Dye and the EPPC were “completely encouraging. They considered the program to be strong, but still needing breadth and depth,” said junior Sheera Bornstein. The development group currently has a laundry list of courses that could fit into a possible peace and conflict studies concentration, which the EPPC sees as too many for a focused, cohesive plan.

According to Carroll, what the program needs to get off the ground are faculty champions to argue on their behalf. Luckily, Politics Professor Steve Crowley and Psychology Professor  F. Stephen Mayer seem up to the task and are currently facilitating the faculty members involved in developing the concentration.

Part of the difficulty in establishing the program’s place here is the question of funding.

“We see that the College is in a tough place financially, and we completely understand that,” said Bornstein. “We would never want to put further strain on the school’s resources if we didn’t think it would benefit the school. We believe that we can create a successful program with very few financial demands.”

The group has networked with the Oberlin Peace Activists League and Community Peace Builders, receiving nothing but positive feedback aside from financial worries. 

Bornstein and Carmosino see their ExCo, “Changing  the World:  Perspectives on Nonviolent Movements,” as a test run for an entry level survey course in peace and conflict studies. The class features a film series — “A More Powerful Force” — and group discussions. Professors from many different departments have come to lecture and lead discussions as well, including Religion Professor Joyce McClure Babyak, whose freshman seminar course, “Seeing War and Peace through Religious Traditions,” is closely linked to the goals of the ExCo.

Half of the students in the ExCo are College students, half are Oberlin community members; Mayer has recently joined with his wife and son.

Another goal of the group is a symposium in the beginning of February that will include guest lectures and panel discussions, featuring famed peace educator and author Colman McCarthy of I’d Rather Teach Peace, among other speakers.

“We are so excited to have McCarthy come speak. We read about him for ‘Teaching Peace’ and we look up to him a lot. We tried to hard to contact him — he currently teaches in seven different colleges and universities — and finally reached his secretary,” said Bornstein.

The group has also consulted peace and conflict studies professors at Colgate University and Swarthmore College in designing Oberlin’s program and has asked them to speak at the symposium.

The future of peace and conflict studies at Oberlin, which will include “examining peace and conflict from the interpersonal to the international level,” looks bright. Many students over the years have already declared it as their individual major, including a current senior and a current sophomore.

“Nonviolence is a very powerful thing, and only a minority of Oberlin students have much of a concept of it,” said Carroll, who has been auditing Oberlin classes with his wife, also an Oberlin alumnus, since retiring three years ago. “That’s what motivates me,” he said.