HUM 123: Introduction to Peace Studies - Saving Civilization

Citrus College Course Outline of Record

Citrus College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Fall 2022
Credits: 3
Total Contact Hours: 54
Lecture Hours : 54
Lab Hours: 0
Hours Arranged: 0
Outside of Class Hours: 108
Strongly Recommended: ENGL 101.
District General Education: C2. Humanities
Transferable to CSU: Yes
Transferable to UC: Yes - Approved
Grading Method: Standard Letter

Catalog Course Description

An introduction to peace and conflict studies, with an emphasis on war's destructive impact on art, literature, and philosophy. The course examines the meanings and reasons for war, as well as strategies for peace. 54 lecture hours.

Course Objectives

  • Critically examine and discuss art, literature, and philosophy in their various forms in the context of cultural destruction through violence.
  • Identify, interpret, evaluate, and analyze the systematic approaches that combatants have historically used to obliterate the cultural heritage of their battlefield opponents.
  • Discuss and analyze the historical reasons for warfare at the individual, group, and cultural levels.
  • Critically examine and discuss the meanings of peace and the hope for peaceful conflict resolution.
  • Consider the role of the humanities in the student's life in a peaceful social environment.

Major Course Content

  1. Cultural Consequences of War.
    1. Destruction of Classical Athens as a Result of the Peloponnesian War.
    2. Destruction of Ancient Knowledge in the Library of Alexandria.
    3. Destruction of Architecture and Cultural Memory.
    4. Destruction of Culture Through the Burning of Books and the Leveling of Libraries.
    5. The Most Infamous Art Destructions of World War II.
    6. SCREENING: The Rape of Europa (2008).  This documentary tells the story of the systematic theft, deliberate destruction, and miraculous survival of Europe's art treasures during the Third Reich and the Second World War.  It chronicles the battle over the very survival of centuries of Western culture.
  2. The Meanings of Peace.
    1. Measuring Peace.
    2. Culture of Peace.
    3. SCREENING:  The Journey of Man (2003).  Geneticist Spencer Wells presents evidence suggesting the "global family tree" can be traced to one African man who lived 60,000 years ago.
  3. The Human Artist.
    1. The Birth of the Imagination.
    2. The Anthropology of Art.
    3. SCREENING: How Art Made the World (2005).  Historian Nigel Spivey presents the epic story of how humans made art and art made us human.
  4. The Meanings of War.
    1. Historical Trends in Wars.
    2. Is War Inevitable?
  5. The Reasons for War at the Individual Level.
    1. Aggressions, Drives, and Instincts.
    2. Sociobiology and Evolutionary Psychology.
    3. Freudian and Post-Freudian Psychoanalytic Theory.
    4. Prejudice, Images of the Enemy, and Human Needs.
    5. The Attractions of War.
    6. Inhibitions Against War.
    7. SCREENING: Gallipoli (1981).  The story of young Australian soldiers recruited to fight for the British Empire during the First World War.
  6. The Reason's for Wars at the Group Level.
    1. Pre-modern and Non-technological Wars.
    2. SCREENING: Dead Birds (1961).  An ethnographic film of warring tribes in New Guinea.
  7. Cultural Conflicts and the "Clash of Civilizations."
    1. Ideological, Social and Economic Competition.
    2. Cultural Cleansing.
    3. Extremism From Robespierre to Milosevic.
    4. The Enemies of Architecture and Memory.
    5. Understanding Modern Biblioclasm.
    6. SCREENING: La Grande Illusion (1937).  Set in a prisoner of war camp during World War I, the film portrays war as a futile exercise.  Directed by Jean Renoir, La Grande Illusion is regarded as one of the masterpieces of world cinema.
  8. Peace Movements.
    1. Popular Attitudes Toward Peace.
    2. History of Peace Movements.
    3. The Nobel Peace Prize.
    4. SCREENING: Gandhi (1982).  This biographical film depicts the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the leader of India's non-violent, non-cooperative independence movement against the British Empire's rule of the country.
  9. Human Rights.
    1. A History of Human Rights.
    2. Promoting Human Rights.
    3. SCREENING: Joyeux Noel (2005).  The story of French, German, and Scottish soldiers punished for singing Christmas carols together in December 1914.
  10. Ecological Well-Being.
    1. Enhanced Environmental Awareness.
    2. Struggling for Sustainability.
  11. Toward a More Peaceful Future.
    1. Transformations of Self and Society.
    2. SCREENING: Who Speaks for Earth? (1980).  This thirteenth episode of astronomer Carl Sagan's PBS series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage discusses the destruction of the Library of Alexandria, one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world.

Suggested Reading Other Than Required Textbook

Readings that provide expanded discussions of topics mentioned in the textbook, such "I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban" and "My Name is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winding Path to the Nobel Peace Prize."

Examples of Required Writing Assignments

A formal essay that involves critical analysis of a primary text as well as support from secondary sources. For example, critically analyze the approach of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines as discussed in "My Name Is Jody Williams: A Vermont Girl's Winding Road to the Nobel Peace Prize" and evaluate the effectiveness of citizen-based action.

Examples of Outside Assignments

Write answers to questions based on reading assignments that will serve as the basis for classroom discussion. For example, list Mohandas Gandhi's Rules for Indian Satyagrahi and discuss whether this approach to nonviolent resistance would work in other situations.

Instruction Type(s)

Lecture, Online Education Lecture

IGETC Area 3: Arts and Humanities

3B. Humanities