Course Syllabus
HUM____ Historical, Literary and Artistic Perspectives on Peace and War
Fall 2007
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Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the history of violence and peace
movements. It examines the anthropological, political, cultural and technological forces
contributing to the frequent occurrence of war throughout history. The history of movements and
organizations, both religious and secular, intended to minimize warfare and oppression are also
explored. Themes presented in the anthropological and historical sections of the course will be
enhanced and elaborated on through examinations of literature and visual arts.
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General education learning outcomes and course objectives:
COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY
Students will
 Learning outcome: Read and listen with comprehension.
 Course objective: Improve the ability to read and comprehend texts and articles
about war and peace.
 Instructional objective: Analyze, summarize and interpret a variety of reading
materials on topics of war and peace. Quizzes and exams will test
comprehension.
 Listen to lectures, guest speakers, and videos related to the reading materials.
Quizzes and exams will test listening skills.
 Learning outcome: Speak and write clearly using standard English.
 Course objective: Write in clear, organized standard English on topics of war and
peace.
 Instructional objective: Write research paper and essays on topics of war and
peace.
 Course objective: Speak in clear, organized standard English on topics of war and
peace.
 Instructional objective: Participate in group discussions and present oral
summary of research paper.
THINK CRITICALLY
Students will
 Learning outcome: Demonstrate problem solving through interpreting, analyzing,
summarizing, and/or integrating a variety of materials.
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Course objective: Analyze the power relations that lead to group violence in a
society.
 Instructional objective: Read essays, write reflective papers, and/or hold group
discussions about causes of group violence.
Course objective: Analyze non-violent resistance of the past.
 Instructional objective: Read essays, write reflective papers, and/or hold group
discussions about non-violent resistance.
Course objective: Articulate an understanding of art and literature as reflections of
the culture of a particular time and place.
 Instructional objective: Through papers and class discussions analyze and
discuss works of art and literature with particular attention to making connections
between these works and their social and historical contexts.
LEARN INDEPENDENTLY
Students will
 Learning outcome: Apply learning in academic, personal, and public situations.
 Course objective: Examine one’s attitudes, values, and assumptions about war and
peace and consider their consequences.
 Instructional objective: Write reflective papers and hold group discussions
examining attitudes, values, and assumptions.
 Learning outcome: Make choices based upon awareness of ethics and differing
perspectives/ideas.
 Course objective: Reassess fundamental assumptions regarding human motivations,
values, and goals.
 Instructional objective: Take a new look at human nature and violence through
lectures and readings, reaction papers and class discussions.
EXAMINE RELATIONSHIPS IN DIVERSE AND COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS
Students will
 Learning outcome: Recognize the relationship of the individual to human heritage and culture.
 Course objective: Analyze non-violent resistance of the past.
 Instructional objective: Listen to lectures, read essays, hold discussions, and/or write
papers about peace efforts in the past.
 Course objective: Compare and contrast ideas and themes related to war and peace across a
range of contexts, cultures, and areas of knowledge.
 Instructional objective: Compare/contrast ideas and themes through papers and class
discussions.
Textbooks and Materials:
1. Approaches to Peace: A Reader in Peace Studies, David Barash (editor). Oxford University
Press, 2000.
2. The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace, by Dan Smith, Penguin Books, 2003
3. Readings as assigned
4. Access to a computer, as class readings and other information will be posted on the Angel
website. To access the Angel site: go into www.kyvu.org/home.htm. Your username is your first
initial + your last name + the last four digits of your social security number. Your password is the
last four digits of your social security number. You can send messages to other students in the
class or to the professor, via “In Touch.” Class information and assignments will be posted under
“Lessons.”
Course Requirements:
Exam #1
100 points
Exam #2
Class work
Reflective writings
Research Paper
100
100
100
100
Class work may include case studies, collaborative group reports, discussions, quizzes, and short
in-class writings. Reflective writings may take the form of a journal in which students reflect on
lectures and discussions from class. For the Research Paper each student will examine a particular
war in light of the themes presented in the course. Both exams and the Research Paper must be
completed in order to pass the class. There will be opportunities to earn up to 15 extra points.
A=450-500; B=400-449; C=350-399; D=300-349; E=below 300
Course Policies:
1. ATTENDANCE: Attendance will be taken every class period. Students are expected to
attend every class, to be on time, and to stay the entire class period. If you chronically miss part
of the period, you will be penalized. If an absence is unexcused, the student is not allowed to
make up missed work. The combination of excused and unexcused absences cannot exceed onefifth of the class contact hours. If a student misses more than one-fifth of the class, the instructor
will suggest that the student to withdraw to avoid a failing grade. If there is a special
circumstance, the student must provide documentation explaining the absences, and the student
must be in touch with the instructor throughout the semester.
2. WITHDRAWAL: Students may withdraw before midterm without the instructor's permission;
after midterm, the instructor's permission is required and will be given if, in the instructor's
judgment, the situation warrants withdrawal. In that case, a student can reach the instructor
during office hours or before/after class to sign the withdrawal slip. Remember, it is the student's
responsibility to officially withdraw. Students who stop coming to class but do not officially
withdraw will receive a failing grade for the course.
3. CLASSROOM ETIQUETTE: Please keep your cell phones turned off. If you must leave
early, please inform me at the beginning of the class.
4. Plagiarism and Cheating: These academic offenses will be severely punished. For definitions
of these academic offenses and the punishments for students charged with them see
Student Rights and Responsibilities, which is available on
the Web at http://www.kctcs.edu/student/code.htm
5. REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: If you have a special need that may require an
accommodation or assistance, please inform the instructor as soon as possible and no later than
the second class meeting.
Course Outline
I.
Weeks 1, 2
Anthropological Perspectives on Competition and Cooperation.
A. The Anthropological Perspective
1. The Science of Studying Socio-Cultural Phenomena
2. Adaptation: Socio-Biological and Socio-Cultural Behavior
B. Human Behavior
1. Competition as an Evolutionary Adaptation
2. Cooperation as an Evolutionary Adaptation
3. Film: Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees
C. Understanding War from a Socio-Cultural Perspective
1. Environmental Circumscription
2. Social Circumscription
3. Creating Social Distance
D. Understanding Peace from a Socio-Cultural Perspective
II.
III.
Weeks 3, 4, 5
History of Violence
A. Types of War
1. “Just” vs. “Unjust”
2. Conquest
3. Liberation
4. Civil
B. Generations of Modern Warfare
1. The Age of Absolutism
2. The Age of Democracy and Industrialization
3. Asymmetrical Warfare
Weeks 6, 7, 8
History of Peace Movements
A. Types of Anti-war Movements
1. Religious
a. The Christian Tradition
b. The Eastern Tradition
2. Secular
a. Internationalists
b. Trans-nationalists
B. Major Individual Activists
1. Gandhi
2. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
3. Dorothy Day
IV.
V.
Weeks 9, 10, 11, 12
Literature of War and Peace
A. Glory and Honor: The Case for War in Literature
1. Ancient and Medieval Literature
2. Modern Literature
B. World War I: The Change in Attitude
1. Poets at the Beginning of the War
2. The Use of Propaganda and Reaction to It
3. The Poet as Dissenter.
C. War as Oppression: The Opposition to War in Literature
1. War as Absurd.
2. War as Madness.
Weeks 13, 14, 15
Artistic Expression of Violence and Peace
A. Historical Context: Commemoration of Experience.
B. Social Context: Raising of Social Consciousness and Protest of Injustice.
This schedule is subject to change. Readings will be assigned on a weekly basis.
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Reference List
Ackerman, Peter, and Jack Duvall. A Force More Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent Conflict.
New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2000.
Brock, Peter. The Quaker Peace Testimony, 1660-1914. York, England: William Session Ltd.,
1991.
Bruckner, D.J. Art Against War: 400 Years of Protest in Art. New York: Abbeville Press, 1984.
Chatfield, Charles, ed. Peace Movements in America. New York: Schocken Books, 1973.
Dellinger, David. Revolutionary Nonviolence: Essays. Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Books,
Doubleday & Company, 1971.
Douglass, James W. The Non-Violent Cross: The Theology of Revolution and Peace.
York: The Macmillan Company, 1969.
New
Evan, W. M. War and Peace in an Age of Terrorism: A Reader. New York: Allyn and Bacon,
2005
Gara, Larry, and Lenna Mae Gara. A Few Small Candles: War Resisters of World War II Tell
Their Stories. Kent, Ohio: The Kent State University Press, 1999.
Hallock, Daniel. Hell, Healing, and Resistance: Veterans Speak. Farmington, Pa.: The Plough
Publishing House of the Bruderhof Foundation, 1998.
Hammes, Colonel Thomas X. The Sling and the Stone: On War in the 21st Century. St. Paul, MN:
Zenith Press, 2004.
Harris, Ian M. Peace Education. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Co., 1998.
Isaacs, Arnold R. Vietnam Shadows: The War, Its Ghosts, and Its Legacy. Baltimore: Johns
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Keegan, John. A History of Warfare. New York: Vintage, 1993.
King, Dr. Martin Luther, Jr., A Testament of Hope : The Essential Writings and Speeches of
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Krieger, David, and Frank Kelly. Waging Peace II: Vision and Hope for the Twenty-first
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McCarthy, Colman. I’d Rather Teach Peace. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2002.
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Merton, Thomas. The Nonviolent Alternative. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1980.
Merton, Thomas, ed. Gandhi on Nonviolence: A Selection from the Writings of Mahatma
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Nagler, Michael N. The Search for a Nonviolent Future. Berkeley, Calif.: Berkeley Hills Books,
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Preston, Richard. Men in Arms: A History of Warfare and Its Interrelationships With Western
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Seeley, Robert. The Handbook of Nonviolence: An Encyclopedia of Pacifism. Westport, Conn.:
Lawrence Hill & Co., 1986.
True, Michael. An Energy Field More Intense Than War: The Nonviolent Tradition and
American Literature. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1995.
Vanderhaar, Gerald A. Active Nonviolence: A Way of Personal Peace. Mystic, Conn.: TwentyThird Publications, 1990.
Weeks, Dudley. The Eight Essential Steps to Conflict Resolution. New York: Tarcher, 1994.
Zinn, Howard. Artists in Times of War and Other Essays. New York: Seven Stories Press, 2003.
Zinn, Howard. Declarations of Independence: Cross-examining American Ideology. New York:
HarperCollins Publishers, 1990.