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but the course will also emphasize micro level issues. Students will have the opportunity
to develop research projects designed to extend their understanding of Islam and its
potential as a resource for peace building.
MACS 6656 – Gender, Conflict and International Development
This course provides the student with essential understanding of factors that shape the
social, political and economic roles of women and men in developing countries. The
course covers the concepts of gender in conflict resolution and peace building by
examining women and men's human rights and security, and the consideration of gender
within developmental policies. The course provides an overview of concepts and gender
analysis frameworks from a historical perspective. Students examine specific projects
aimed at integrating women into community development.
MACS 6657 – Conflict Coaching Theory and Practice
This course examines the growing use of conflict coaching as a conflict intervention
process and introduces different models and related theoretical foundations. The
integration of theory and practice will emphasize the various stages including identity
framework, narrative, needs assessment, goal setting, and feedback, utilizing a relational
and systems orientation. The course develops coaching skills, strategies, and knowledge,
and uses a practice-based approach, including role-plays and case studies.
MACS 6658 – Transformational Narratives
Across cultures, people effectively communicate about their conflicts and issues through
narratives. In any helping profession, it is effective to create useful change with a clear
understanding of the strategies of transformational narratives. By understanding what
creates change in stories, we can help people rewrite their own accounts in ways that
redefine their possibilities. This course offers analyses of narratives from traditions of
conflict resolution and other interdisciplinary perspectives, promoting the ability to re-
frame, refocus, and creatively intervene in stories of a personal and social nature to open
useful possibilities for people who carry stories of unresolved struggle.
MACS 6659 – Conflict and Peace Building in Africa
This course examines conflict and peace building dynamics in the African continent. Its
content includes a survey of contemporary macro-level conflicts in Africa and an
examination of their historical and more immediate causes. Class participants will explore
the causes and effects of such conflicts and investigate prospects for constructive
transformation. Past and ongoing resolution and peace building efforts will be discussed,
and class members will propose a peace building strategy for a case of their choice.
MACS 6660 – Conflict Management in Groups: Overt and Covert Dynamics
The purpose of this course is to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and
attitudes to be effective in groups with an emphasis on analyzing and managing overt
and covert conflict. The course also examines issues of communication, leadership,
power and authority in relation to group and interpersonal effectiveness. This course
enables participants to cope with complex issues as they emerge in the natural life of
small groups, large groups and organizations. Learning about group life is gained through
direct experience in a temporary learning organization created in the course. The course
is designed as a living laboratory where members can experience and explore group life
as it occurs.
MACS 6661 – Middle Eastern Conflict
This graduate seminar explores the many different types of conflict found in the Middle
East. It seeks to provide students with the analytical tools and skills required to explain
