Peace and Justice Studies
A distinctive feature of Quakerism is its peace testimony and
its concern for social justice. Theological education in a Quaker seminary
should awaken students' awareness of and concern for these issues in daily
life, both in our local communities and the global village of which we are a
part. Peace and Justice Studies serve to sensitize all students to the social
and political issues which surround human need in the world, help students
integrate Biblical, historical, spiritual and theological studies with these
social and political issues, and enable students who have a vocational interest
in social change to prepare for a ministry of peace and justice. The ESR
program is supplemented by the Peace Studies offerings of Bethany Theological
Seminary as well as Earlham College. For Bethany Peace Studies course
offerings, see Bethany's Interdisciplinary Studies course descriptions, page
60. For the Earlham College courses in Peace and Global Studies, consult the
Earlham College catalog.
PJST 101 and 101EA Introduction to Peace and Justice
Studies in Religion
This foundational course in the Peace and Justice
program explores contemporary conflict by applying each of ESR's four core
areas of religious studies: Bible, Theology, Church History, and Spirituality.
This course serves as the introduction to the four core courses in the Peace
and Justice program. (See PJST 330, 351, 366, and 370)
3
semester hours
PJST 201 Peace Studies Seminar
The Seminar is offered each semester in conjunction
with a non-credit weekly Peace Studies Forum. It offers opportunity for common
reading of peace-related materials, presentation and discussion of papers,
sharing from peace ministries, and dialogue with visiting peace theologians,
activists, and leaders. Students may take the seminar for credit a maximum of
two times.
3 semester hours
PJST 221 Religious Responses to War and Violence
The major world religions are surveyed for their
approaches to several forms of violence and their attempts to limit or
eliminate such violence. The course examines selected primary texts as well as
contemporary views on violence within the world religions.
3
semester hours
PJST 223 Christian Reconciliation: Conflict Resolution in
Church and World
This course combines the theoretical and practical
study of reconciliation. We will study a variety of models in conflict
resolution and begin to construct our own models of reconciliation. Students
will also be introduced to practical experience in seeking to resolve
conflicts. In this way, we seek to address theoretical issues with practical
concerns.
3 semester hours
PJST 224 Moral and Faith Development
See ATST 224.
PJST 330 The Bible and Violence and Nonviolence
Biblical studies are here applied to discerning what
the biblical tradition has to say about violence and nonviolence. Those
passages which portray varieties of violence and which uphold peacemaking are
examined through the usual tools of biblical exegesis as well as literary
criticism.
3 semester hours
Prerequisites: BIST 101/101AC or B 102/102AC
PJST 351 History of Friends' Peace Witness
This course studies the responses of the Society of
Friends to peace and justice issues past and present. What is sought is the
history of the actual Quaker practice during such conflicts as well as what
Quakers said about their practice. Examples of such issues would be war,
slavery, sexism and oppression of women and people of color. We will also look
at the methodological issues present in the historical analysis of those
practices, as presented by Quaker historians such as Rufus Jones, Hugh Barbour,
John Punshon, Peter Brock, and Wilmer Cooper.
3 semester
hours
Prerequisite: A course in Quaker Studies
PJST 366: Liberation Theologies
See THST 366
PJST 370 The Spirituality of Peacemaking
Those religious figures that have stressed their
experience of God's presence have often been perceived as those least concerned
with the things of this world. However, this course seeks the impact that
spirituality has had on efforts to change this world. We attempt to see a
connection between such spiritual concerns as prayer, ascetic discipline, encounters
with the divine with such worldly concerns as peace, justice, and encounters
with our neighbor.
3 semester hours
Prerequisite: PJST 101/101EA
PJST 400 Independent Study
See ATST 400.
PJST 500 Master's Thesis
See BIST 500.
