Peace Studies

The Department of Peace Studies offers a range of courses related to conflict resolution, human security, non-violence, and reflections on global governance.

3 semester credits. Is globalization good or bad? For whom? Will it go away or is it here to stay? Do I need to worry about it? Globalization, free trade, improved communications, travel, and transportation, together with the information revolution have created new moral challenges and intensified existing ones across the planet. In reviewing the pros and cons of globalization, students will consider arguments from philosophers, economists, businessmen, labor leaders, environmentalists, journalists, etc., as they examine north-south relations, economic development, population growth and migration, environmental issues, and the state of international law concerning security and the flow of trade, ideas, and people.

3 semester credits. The aim of this course is to introduce fundamental moral theories and standards and to encourage their application - through mechanisms of moral reflection and judgment - to ethical problems arising throughout the world. The course is articulated through a large number and variety of studies of moral cases drawn from various parts of the world that will require students to consider prescriptive moral theories. The study of matters such as the French legislation against veils in schools, reproductive rights in Italy, U.S. drug laws, and Iranian censorship vs. the value of liberty will inevitably result in meta-ethical reflections in terms of thinking about the nature of morality and the limits of moral judgment.

3 semester credits. In the 20th century the international community has progressively elaborated rules and procedures to state that certain behaviors are crimes and to ensure violations are punished acts. The course will provide an introduction to the birth, evolution, and contemporary challenges of human rights, humanitarian law, and the international systems to maintain peace or restore justice. It aims at offering an overview of the history of human rights from their appearance on the international scene to contemporary debates. Students will analyze the process of definition of crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, war crimes and genocide, and the mechanisms to protect humanitarian law, from the emergency logic of Nuremberg Trials after World War II to the institutionalization of International Criminal Justice and the various categories of humanitarian interventions: peacekeeping, peace-making, and peace-enforcing.

3 semester credits. This course provides a survey of major concepts, theories, and issues in international relations. Course topics will discuss how and why things happen in the international state system. Through the analysis of theories such as realism, liberalism, Marxism, poststructuralism, feminism and postcolonialism, students will become familiar with real-life scenarios and understand the different actors involved in world politics. Key subjects include the effects of the Cold War, decision-making process in foreign policy and world organizations, international security and arms control, international law, global civil society, and global political economy.

3 semester credits. This course analyzes the politics of the Muslim world by tracing the historical origins of Islamic religious doctrine and the spread of religious practice in different cultural contexts from South, Central, and South-East Asia to the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. The course will introduce students to basic Islamic doctrines, the differences between Sunni and Shi'a traditions, Sufi mysticism, and Islamic fundamentalism. Topics will examine the interplay between religion, politics, and international relations, and students will explore the different forms of political institutions that govern Muslim societies and the implications of class, race, gender, and modernism. An important focus will be on the identity of Muslims in Italy through the perspectives of guest speakers and the local Muslim community in Florence.