PACS 3700: Communication and Conflict Management
This course examines interdisciplinary concepts and theories enabling students to better understand different types of conflict, sources of conflict, and communication patterns that serve to create, maintain and transform conflict. The course teaches practical skills in areas of interpersonal and intergroup conflict management, including bargaining, facilitation, mediation and negotiation.
Learning Objectives
- Identify key terminology, concepts, and theories associated with conflict analysis and practices of peaceful intervention;
- Compare the strengths and limitations of core theories used to analyze contemporary conflicts;
- Relate theories, concepts, and frameworks of conflict analysis to past situations, as well as those episodes of violence occurring in the world today;
- Deconstruct conflict situations in their personal lives;
- Evaluate the relationship between the analysis of a conflict and the methods of intervention.
In this course, you will
Produce 5 short videos (3-5 minutes) analyzing a conflict in your personal life;
Participate in a series of discussion board exercises in which you engage with a case study and respond to your peers.
Michael English
michael.d.english@colorado.edu
Dr. Michael D. English is the director of the Peace, Conflict and Security Program at CU Boulder and is a specialist in conflict analysis and resolution. He holds a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University, an MS in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University, and a BFA in Fine Arts from the University of Cincinnati. Prior to joining CU Boulder, Michael taught at George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and as a visiting lecturer at the University of Malta’s Mediterranean Academy for Diplomatic Studies. He has also lived in Malta and worked as the program coordinator for George Mason’s dual degree graduate program with the University of Malta in Mediterranean Security and Conflict Analysis and Resolution.
Michael is the author of "The U.S. Institute of Peace: A Critical History," and the former editor of Unrest Magazine. His research explores the interaction between people and social structures that creates and maintains violence-generating systems, as well as opportunities for groups to develop more peaceful social orders. His other interests include political violence, social movements, critical pedagogy, peace history, and the role of the arts in promoting social change. He has also mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students in the production of their research projects and is always willing to meet with students regarding their work.