PSN had sponsored a course on the politics of nuclear weapons and several public events where guest speakers addressed the dangers of nuclear war. At the same time all around this country on college campuses faculty were teaching courses about the threat of nuclear weapons and starting inchoate programs that would teach young people about alternatives to violence. Peace studies, an academic field that saw tremendous growth during the decades of the 1980s, allows students to understand why there is so much violence on this planet and what can be done to promote peace. Just as in medicine medical students study the causes of sickness in human organisms, students in peace studies study the causes of violence in human societies and seek remedies. On most campuses the academic discipline most often sponsoring peace studies courses is political science with its emphasis upon international relations and the abolition of war.
Students can choose two of three introductory courses.
The complexity of the problems of violence that vary from international terrorism to domestic violence requires allows an interdisciplinary approach to the multi-faceted problems of violence. The Peace Studies Certificate Program at UWM offers courses from 17 different departments. If you would like more information about the Peace Studies program at UWM, call the director, Dr. Ian Harris, at 229-4724. She will be promoting peace on the UWM campus and in the community by attempting to continue the Students for Peace Studies student organization and working with the Friends of Peace Studies to set up public events. In addition, she will help Professor Ian Harris evaluate various peace education efforts in local schools and daycare centers.