The Synod of Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church (1971) reported that "actions on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel…". The 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (1974-75) established a pedagogical norm for its own institutions of higher education when it determined that the practice of faith was inextricably linked to the promotion of justice. In this vein the University's Peace and Justice Studies Program was instituted to bring academic studies, including classes, community service, and interdisciplinary research into the process of building a more just and thus more peaceful society.
The Peace and Justice Concentration will be an attractive complement to the academic programs of students planning careers in law, international relations, human services, ministry, and teaching - to name only the most obvious. However, any students who have a personal interest in the problems of peace and justice, regardless of career goals, can benefit from its multi-disciplinary concentration of courses. It is open to majors from all undergraduate schools of the University. Eight courses (24 credits) must be taken by students in order to have "Peace and Justice Concentration" added to their transcript. Courses may be taken as part of the cognate requirement (with permission of the chairperson of the major) or as part of the general-education requirements.

The following courses will provide students with the opportunities to reflect critically on the social, economic, psychological, political and structural issues impeding the establishing of a just & peaceful society:

A. Requirements in Theology (any two of thefollowing):
Church and Contemporary Social Issues (T/RS 326)
Faith and Justice (T/RS 236)
God and the Earth (T/RS 316)
Jesus and the Moral Life (T/RS 338)
John Paul II and Catholic Social Thought (T/RS 232)
Politics: A Christian Perspective (T/RS 237)
Prophets & Profits (T/RS 236)
Social Ethics (T/RS 231)
Twentieth-Century Peacemakers (T/RS 234)
Wealth and Poverty in the Biblical Tradition (T/RS 328)

B. Electives (any five courses listed below can be counted; others may be included with approval from the program coordinator):
College of Arts & Sciences:
Responsibility in Communication (COMM 220)
Political Communication (COMM 311)
Colonial & Post Colonial Fiction (ENLT 348)
Novels by Women (ENLT 226)
Race in Anglo-American Culture 1600-1860 (ENLT 228)
Cultural Geography (GEOG 217)
The Third World (HIST 211)
Race in American History (HIST 216)
Ethnic and Racial Minorities in N. E. PA (HIST 224)
Energy and the Environment (PHYS 106)
Environmental Ethics (PHIL 213)
Feminism: Theory & Practice (PHIL 218)
Literature of American Minorities (LIT 207)
Political Philosophy (PHIL 227)
Philosophy of Culture (PHIL 410)
Women, Authority and Power (PS 227)
Women's Rights & Status (PS 216)
Social Psychology (PSYCH 220)
Law and Society (S/CJ 210)
Community Organization (SOC 116)
American Minority Groups (SOC 224)
Topics in Latin American Culture & Civilization (SPAN 314)
Interdisciplinary Courses:
Science and Society (CHEM 104)
Science and the Human Environment (NSCI 201)
The Holocaust (INTD 209)
Kania School of Management:
Organizational Social Responsibility (MGT 473)
Urban and Regional Economics (ECO 462)
Development Economics (ECO 465)
College of Professional Studies:
Multiculturalism in Human Services (HS 333)

C. Integrative Capstone Course: (required in Jr./Sr. year)
Toward a Just and Peaceful World (T/JP 310) 3 credits
This course will reflect on the various issues and problems raised by peace and justice study. It will consider the relationship of religion, moral philosophy and the social/political concerns embraced in the quest for a human world order. Faculty from several disciplines will make presentations. Each student will write a paper from the perspective of his/her major area of concentration.

For further information, please contact Coordinator Prof. Stephen Casey (x7590 or caseys1@scranton.edu)