Mission Statement

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The Peace and Conflict Studies Program at Youngstown State University is an interdisciplinary academic component of liberal arts education in the College of Arts and Sciences. It also performs a campus community and public service role in relation to the examination and discussion of issues of international, national, and local importance in areas of political conflict, conflict resolution, cultural understanding, peacemaking, and human justice. The program is concerned with offering students a broader perspective on the nature of human conflict and its management than might be found within any single discipline. To this end, the program also seeks to make its resources and personnel available to community organizations with similar concerns.
The Peace and Conflict Studies coordinator advises interested students who wish to pursue a minor in the program. It is also possible for students to set up an ICP (Individualized Curriculum Program) in conjunction with the program and the College. The program has a special interest in supporting the work of the Global Studies Program, an extracurricular option for students seeking practical knowledge of the role of international organizations. In addition, the program endeavors to bring a major speaker on campus during the year to address issues of contemporary concern, and to develop internship and curricular-related travel options for students. All of the efforts are pursued with the intention of contributing to the development of socially aware and analytically thoughtful citizens who will have to deal with a very complicated and challenging twenty-first century.