Are you looking to learn how to make the world more just, peaceable and humane? Understand the origins, causes and justification of violence, and explore the most successful non-violent strategies for reducing violence and managing conflict? Develop the skills needed to help create cooperative relationships among persons, groups and nations? Siena’s Peace Studies minor offers courses, internships and field research opportunities that will help you meet these goals.
A Peace Studies minor is ideal for Saints looking for a career in criminology, law, politics and advocacy, social work, education, international development, mediation and conflict transformation, violence prevention, immigration services, and many other fields. The knowledge gained through our minor is beneficial for students in any of our three Schools.
Our Saints explore their unique interests with the opportunity to choose courses in fields such as community development, creative arts, economics, environmental science, philosophy, political science, religious studies, sociology, and many more.
Our program is inspired by the values and example of Francis of Assisi, who encouraged humans to be peacemakers not only in their own lives but in the world at large. So understood, peace is not merely the lack of conflict, but the necessary conditions for human thriving. It can be found in many life-affirming religious and philosophical traditions, and has informed the words and actions of many peacemakers, such as Abraham Joshua Heschel, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi.
