PEACE STUDIES AT DAWSON Peace Studies is an interdisciplinary, values-based, engaged field of study that integrates scholarship and application, theory and practice. Peace Studies invites and inspires a commitment to exploring violence prevention and the practice of nonviolent approaches to transforming and resolving conflict. The Peace Studies Certificate encourages students to reflect critically and creatively on the complex roots of violence, nonviolence, and peace, their consequences, and their roles in our world. The Peace Studies Certificate aims to prepare students to work for justice and to build peace in any context, whether in their personal or professional lives, their communities, in society, or on a global scale. The Peace Studies Certificate is a collaborative initiative of the General Education departments (English, French, Humanities and Physical Education), the Dawson Centre for Peace Education (also known as the Peace Centre), and other academic departments of the College.
Certificate Requirements To complete the Certificate over the course of their DEC studies, students will need to complete: • One (1) required Foundational Peace Centre Activity – offered once per semester, and ideally taken in the student’s first semester of college studies. • Two (2) additional Peace Centre Activities – see Peace Centre webpage for details. • Three (3) courses of the students’ choice from the courses offered in the Certificate – see course listings on the following page and in the Dawson College Timetable & Registration Guide available from the Registrar’s Office, or online. These Peace Studies courses do not add any additional course load to a student’s college (DEC) program. They are designed to serve both the student’s DEC requirements and the Peace Studies Certificate requirements.
Students in any program can take the Peace Studies Certificate
Peace Centre Activities The Peace Centre Activities are designed to engage students in applied learning, and will offer an opportunity to participate in and contribute to a community of peacebuilders. This active Dawson community made up of students, faculty, and staff will serve as peace advocates and will be encouraged to reach beyond the borders of Dawson College to share their skills, values, and knowledge for transforming conflict and building peace.
Peace Studies Certificate Learning Objectives
The collection of courses and activities offered in the Peace Studies Certificate provide students and teachers with the opportunity to: KNOWLEDGE • Explain the nature of peaceful societies • Identify the various forms of violence, nonviolence, and peace • Analyze the social and psychological roots of violence • Describe the potential of nonviolence as both a principled and practical alternative SKILLS • Practice and model nonviolent communication skills • Demonstrate skills in resolving conflict nonviolently ATTITUDES • Develop greater self-awareness • Recognize one’s own capacity for peacebuilding • Care for themselves, their relationships, their communities, the environment, and beyond • Be a catalyst for positive change
The Ecological Peace Garden at Dawson College