Co-Major in Peace and Conflict Studies

Wayne State's peace and conflict studies co-degree opens the way toward various important and rewarding careers in areas such as diplomacy and government service, non-governmental organizations, social service, law, education, personnel policy, counseling and the arts.

Skills you will learn as a co-major include the ability to understand and resolve disputes, civic awareness of key controversial issues, critical thinking about social problems of our time, organizational ability on themes ranging from violence reduction and international trends to causes and consequences of war.

Our program is designed around a set of core courses that introduce the student to the field, including various approaches to peace studies and the application of conflict management methods, concluding with a senior research seminar project. The curriculum provides a framework useful for careers in legal, educational, governmental, business, labor, social service, scientific and health professions, as well as in graduate and professional education.

Students are offered opportunities for hands-on experience through internships for credit across various organizations and agencies that help build important network connections.

Peace and conflict studies alumni

Among our distinguished alumni are:

• Susan Heintz: Law graduate from Harvard who did extensive human rights work in several world regions
• Anne Shenk: Worked for important public interest law firms and legal advocacy groups in Detroit
• Adam Avrushin: Obtained an M.S.W. degree in human services and has worked with disadvantaged urban communities
• Tom Tarnow: Did legal research for the Supreme Court of Louisiana and is now in public law practice in Vermont
• Jaclyn Cruz: Obtained two subsequent master's degrees and worked for several years in both refugee relief and mine clearing operations in East and West Africa; was also designated as a rotary cultural ambassadorial scholar

Other current and former students are organizing major recycling programs in urban communities, conducting bank evaluations for the FDIC, presenting domestic abuse awareness workshops, working for the U.S. State Department and other federal or state agencies, teaching in K-12 schools and serving in the armed forces and as professional mediators. As you can see the horizon for our graduates is wide open to your innovation and imagination.