University of Saint Thomas – St. Paul

Justice and peace studies is an interdisciplinary department designed to prepare students to be responsible critics of contemporary societies and effective agents for positive social transformation. The program offers a general major or minor, along with three optional tracks for major concentrations. The Conflict Transformation concentration prepares students to analyze the dynamics and identify transformative opportunities in conflicts at multiple levels, from interpersonal to international, while developing practical skills in mediation and conflict resolution through partnerships with local practitioners and organizations that exemplify best practices in the field. The Public Policy Analysis and Advocacy concentration develops social analysis skills for public policy formation, evidence-based research and argumentation, as well as communication and networking skills for effective advocacy around issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change, foreign policy and peacebuilding, and economic justice and social welfare. The Leadership for Social Justice concentration helps students anticipate and begin preparing for the full arc of a career in which successful community organizing requires them to institutionalize the changes they seek, through social entrepreneurship and nonprofit management.