The Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies course (PLSC 291) is an examination of how human beings get into and out of violent conflicts, and how conflicts transform. The course is interdisciplinary, drawing together perspectives from political science, global and international studies, cultural anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, military history, and war game theory. The course engages with diplomacy, terrorism, nonviolence, genocide, ethnic struggle, the role of gender in conflict, psychology and sociology of human aggression, economics of war and peace, climate change and conflict, and cyber warfare.

Effective Speech (CAS 100A) explores how people use techniques of oral communication to address practical, professional and civic problems. It is designed to introduce students to principles of effective public speaking, implemented through the design and presentation of individual speeches. CAS 100A fulfills 3 credits of the writing and speaking requirement for general education.