GRADUATE PROGRAMS IN COEXISTENCE AND CONFLICT

HS 243f1 – Religion, Identity and ConflictDavid Steele, Adjunct Faculty in Coexistence and Conflict

Class Time: Tuesdays 2:00-4:50Location: Heller School G55

Contact information for Prof. SteeleNo office on campus; Appointments can be made on ad hoc basisEmail: dsteele@brandeis.eduPhone: (978) 897-5303

Course Description

This course examines the role that religious identity can play in both the escalation and mitigation of conflict. Students will study the role that ideology, belief, values, and faith-based relationships can play in developing and legitimizing, or in transforming and resolving, deeply rooted conflict dynamics. The focus of this course will be on both integration of religious identity factors into conflict analysis and an introduction to faith-based interventions skills, used by religious actors to foster coexistence. During the course, we will explore different types of contemporary conflict in which religion functions as a conflict driver, including how to understand and handle conflicts perpetrated by extremist religious groups. We will also explore the diversity of faith-based reconciliation processes (such as hospitality, healing ritual, apology, etc.) as well as the kinds of roles performed by a wide variety of religious actors (education, advocacy, mediation, dialogue facilitation, etc.). Examples and case studies will be drawn from a wide variety of religious traditions and diverse cultures. In addition to those cases presented in the readings and by the professor, each student will be required to select cases on which to make a class presentation and write a paper. The purpose of these assignments, and the course in general, is to provide students the opportunity to assess concrete conflict situations in which religious identity is a factor, know the potential contribution that faith-based actors can make to coexistence, and evaluate how best to function in faith-based peacebuilding roles and reconciliation processes that interest them.

Objectives

Students who take this course will be able to: 1. Assess what role religion plays, in comparison to other identity markers, as a driver of

conflict within specific, concrete conflict situations in a variety of cultures worldwide,2. Articulate a framework for understanding, and responding to, conflicts driven by extremist

religious groups from a variety of religious traditions,3. Understand and appreciate the potential contribution that all faith-based actors can make

toward peaceful coexistence within/among diverse societies ,

The Heller School for Social Policy and

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4. Identify specific, and sometimes unique, reconciliation processes which faith-based actors, from a variety of cultures, can use to assist conflicted parties to develop healthy, peaceful and cooperative relationships,

5. Examine unique conceptions and approaches by which faith-based actors can fulfill traditional conflict transformation roles.

Format

This course consists of seven class sessions, taught once a week for 3 hours per class. Class sessions will include presentation, exercises, role plays/simulations, case studies, and discussion which will draw upon student’s own experience as well as the professor’s 20+ years of experience in the field.

RequirementsAttendance, Punctuality, and Active ParticipationIn order to benefit from experiential learning, you are required to attend every class, barring documented illness. Please also arrive on time at the beginning of class and after the break. If you know you will be absent or late, for a legitimate reason, make sure you warn in advance your instructor, who cannot accept unexcused absences. Should you miss more than two classes, unfortunately, you will not qualify for credit. Attendance is more than just coming to class. You are expected to actively participate.

Assignments and ReadingsIn order to ensure active participation in the best possible conditions, make sure you complete the assignments listed below on time. In preparation for each class session, it is recommended that you make notes from the assigned readings. In some cases optional recommended reading are also listed for some sessions. Please check on website before each class to see if extra readings have been added – or substituted. Based on any required assignments, you will be expected to provide thoughtful contributions to class discussions, share your perceptions, questions and any relevant experience, give periodic short class presentations as part of a small group, participate in exercises and role plays (as well as in assessment of learnings during debriefings). Since you may be assigned roles with confidential instructions in preparation for role plays, you are asked not to communicate before class with students who do not represent the same party as you.

In all class activities, you will of course enjoy complete academic freedom in the classroom, within the limits defined by mutual respect.

Case PresentationEach student will be expected to participate, along with other class members, in one case presentation at the end of the course (during session 7 on Mar. 3). Each presentation group should include 2-4 students who can select their own case. Further instructions, including a list of possible resources will be made available toward the beginning of the course. Each presentation should be made using PPT and is expected to be 10-15 mins. in length. You are asked to:

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Select a conflict situation in a particular country in which there is a clear example of efforts by a faith-based peacebuilder/reconciler

Describe the conflict context Describe this religious actor. What kinds of faith-based interventions have they done in

the past? What faith-based practices, reconciliation processes or peacebuilding roles did this person/group employ in the conflict you have selected?

Describe how their faith influenced what they did and how it impacted the results Give your evaluation of the attempted peacebuilding process Make any recommendations regarding what you think could have been done differently.

Students should be as creative as possible at this point.

The presentation will be followed by a short time of feedback, given by other students and the professor.

Writing Requirement and Academic Integrity

Each individual student will be expected to write a paper of 8-10 pages due on Feb. 6. In the paper you are asked to pick a conflict in which religious identity plays a major role. The assignment is to:

1. Describe the primary factors involved in the conflict2. Identify the specific role that religious identity plays, naming and describing the

conflicted religious parties3. Assess the role that religious beliefs/ideology, values, and relational dynamics play in

exacerbating the conflict4. Identify some actors (religious or secular) which have attempted to intervene (if there are

any) and evaluating their degree of success/failure5. Present your own recommendations regarding the best way this conflict might be

addressed by an intervener (religious or secular)

The writing of the final paper is intended to demonstrate your knowledge of, and ability to address, the challenges of religious identity when it is one of the major drives in a conflict situation. Its purpose is also to encourage you to approach reading materials critically, foster improved research and writing skills, and enhance your ability to conceptualize and advocate for change in a concrete setting. You are expected to devote careful attention to the technical quality of your written work, as well as its substance. A list of possible resources for these papers will also be made available at the beginning of the course.

This assignment must be typewritten, double-spaced, in 12-point font, and submitted electronically via e-mail to the instructor as a Microsoft Word attachment. You are asked to submit your paper on time. The grade for papers may be penalized if submitted late.

You must use the APA writing format, with appropriate endnote references to literature, readings, and lectures as well as a bibliography indicating the necessary breadth of background information and knowledge of the context. All written work for this course must avoid plagiarism and include appropriate citation of the sources used. If you have questions, check the Concise English Handbook, section 56c, on plagiarism and see the following webpages:

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http://www.brandeis.edu/svpse/academicintegrity/index.html - on academic integrity http://www.brandeis.libguides.com/content.php?pid=10580&sid=99216 - in particular

the section dealing with citations

The university policy on academic honesty is also distributed annually, in section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Academic integrity is critical in all that you write and say, and transgressions are treated severely. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the university. If you have any questions about this, do not hesitate to talk to your instructor, and to seek guidance.

Grading

Class participation (including participation in exercises, role plays, and class discussion) 20%Case presentation 40%Paper 40%

Class Schedule and Reading Assignments

Session 1: Contemporary Conflict and the Role of Identity The Nature of identity formation: primary and secondary identify markers, ascribed vs.

acquired identity; individual vs. collective. The role of identity markers in conflict situations: the place and nature of group

boundaries; in-group/out-group relations; the influence of threat; tensions between group loyalty and treatment of the “other;” the need for balance between bonding dynamics and bridging dynamics.

The role that values, spiritually-based or secular, play in identity formation, providing basic frameworks/world views that are distinct; examination of different value systems in different types of cultures – when they are antithetical, challenged, or imposed and how this influences conflict dynamics. How values frameworks relate to events that trigger conflict/violence.

Evaluation of the theory that there is an inevitable “Clash of Civilizations” due to value differences.

Relationship of identity markers (e.g. religion, ethnicity, nationalism) and the value systems which help define them to substantive conflict drivers (e.g. political, economic, resources).

Required ReadingsSteele, David, Creative Approaches to Conflict transformation in Societies Affected by Extremist

Religion, unpublished manual (San Diego: University of California, 2013), pp. 1-12Korostelina, Karina, Social Identity and Conflict (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007), pp. 74-

87 and 134-54Brewer, Marilynn, “Intergroup Identification and Intergroup Conflict: When Does In-Group

Love Become Out-Group Hate?” in Social Identity, Intergroup Conflict and Conflict Resolution, ed. by Lee Jussim, Richard Ashmore, and David Wilder (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) pp. 17-41

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Inman, Patrick and James Peacock, “Conclusion: Ethnic and Sectarian As Ideal Types,” in Identity Matters: Ethnic and Sectarian Conflict, ed. by Inman, Peacock and Patricia Thornton (Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2007), pp. 205-34

Recommended ReadingsHuntington, Samuel, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (New York:

Simon & Schuster, 1996), pp. 40-72. Session 2: The Role Played by Religious Identity in Conflict Situations

The role sometimes played by religious identity in legitimizing and perpetuating conflict: sources of religious identity; links between religious belief/ideology and identity

The role often played by religion as an underlying world view/value system: identifying positive religious values and their impact on society; identifying the negative role religion can play in values conflicts

Types of contemporary conflict involving religion Characteristics of extremist religious groups Linkages such groups often make with fellow adherents of their wider faith community:

ideological, relational and functionalo The ideological factor: Awareness that some conflicts/tensions are supported by

strong frameworks of religious belief; examination of the kinds of religious imperatives that foster conflict/violence (including concepts of fairness, justice, etc.); evaluation of religious justifications for rebellion and violence; characteristics of extremist religious groups that adopt a violent, confrontational posture; relationship between such groups and the wider faith tradition of which they are a part.

o The relational dynamics: Examination of dynamics that have their roots in a sense of faith-based victimization and grievance; the religious mythologies that have arisen to portray and justify the need for “believer” loyalty; the role religion plays in a resulting identity defined by enmity and a behavior infused with prejudice and stereotyping; the confusion of faith-based justice with a revenge mentality.

o The meeting of functional needs: Examining how some groups solidify religious loyalties by providing basic services of aid and development exclusively to one’s own faith community; the use of religious calls for charity to deepen in-group/out-group perceptions and exacerbate divisions.

Required ReadingSteele, David, Creative Approaches to Conflict transformation in Societies Affected by Extremist

Religion, unpublished manual (San Diego: University of California, 2013), pp. 14-28Appleby, R. Scott, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation

(Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000), pp. 57-63, 81-91 and 117-20Gopin, Marc, Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence and

Peacemaking (New York: Oxford university Press, 2000), pp. 51-64Aslan, Reza, Beyond Fundamentalism (New York: Random House, 2010), pp. 3-33Pinker, Steven, The Better Angels of Our Nature [from chapter on “Inner demons”] (New York:

The Penguin Group, 2011), pp. 529-37 and 556-69Slim, Hugo, Violent Beliefs: Faith, Hope and Violence in Religious Movements (Geneva: Centre

for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2005), pp. 1-5.

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Recommended ReadingNasr, Vali, The Shia Revival (New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 2007), pp. 17-29 and 227-73Appleby, R. Scott, The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation

(Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2000), the rest of cha. 2, pp. 64-80Montville, Joseph, “Religion and Peacemaking,” in Forgiveness and Reconciliation, ed. by

Raymond Helmick and Rodney Petersen (Radnor, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation Press, 2001), pp. 97-116

Session 3: Transforming Entrenched Religious Conflict: Examining approaches to handling the 1st two linkages that extremist religious groups make with fellow adherents of their wider faith communities: ideological and relational

Bridging the Ideological Divide:o Understanding “their” perspective and the limitations of “one’s own” perspectiveo The potential added value of a faith-perspectiveo Building solidarity on the “others” terms

Faith-based Reconciliation Processes: Addressing the Relational Dynamics – concepts to understand and steps to take: o Building trusto Discovering a deeper understanding of a variety of faith-based reconciliation

practices dealing with grief and trauma healing, confronting fears, re-humanizing the “other,” confession/apology/ acknowledgment of wrongdoing, justice, and forgiveness. Examining the complex issues and effective approaches involved in each process/practice

Required ReadingSteele, David, Creative Approaches to Conflict transformation in Societies Affected by Extremist

Religion, unpublished manual (San Diego: University of California, 2013), pp. 30-51 (until subheading “Step 7…”)

Sachedina, Abdulaziz, The Islamic Roots of Democratic Pluralism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 102-31

Amstutz, Mark, The Healing of Nations: The Promise and Limits of Political Forgiveness (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2005), pp. 41-65 and 91-113

Recommended ReadingsPhilpott, Daniel, “Beyond politics as Usual,” in The Politics of Past Evil: Religion,

Reconciliation, and the Dilemmas of Transitional Justice, ed., by Philpott (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre dame, 2006), Cha. 1, pp. 11-44

Hadley, Michael, “Introduction: Multifaith Reflection on Criminal Justice” in The Spiritual Roots of Restorative Justice, ed. by Michael Hadley (Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 2001), pp. 1-26

Volf, Miroslav, Exclusion and Embrace, unpublished manuscript (Pasadena, California: Fuller Theological Seminary, n.d.) pp 1-13

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Hicks, Donna, “The Role of Identity Reconstruction in Promoting Reconciliation,” in Forgiveness and Reconciliation, ed. by Raymond Helmick and Rodney Petersen (Radnor, Pennsylvania: Templeton Foundation Press, 2001), pp. 129-49

Session 4: Comparison of Religious Traditions as Sources and Mitigators of Conflict

Evaluation of several of the major religious traditions, examining the impact of their tradition on both conflict escalation and conflict transformation. Both assets and challenges facing the following faith traditions will be examined: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and indigenous traditions.

In-depth look at a few specific faith-based reconciliation processes: in Islam and Judaism

Required ReadingVendley, William and David Little, “Implications for religious Communities: Buddhism, Islam,

Hinduism and Christianity,” in Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, ed. by Douglas Johnson and Cynthia Sampson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 306-315

Cox, Harvey, et. al., “World Religions and Conflict Resolution,” in Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, ed. by Douglas Johnson and Cynthia Sampson (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), pp. 266-82

Gopin, Marc, Between Eden and Armageddon: The Future of World Religions, Violence and Peacemaking (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), pp. 167-93

Lang, Sharon, “Sulha Peacemaking and the Politics of Persuasion,” Journal of Palestine Studies XXXI, No. 3 (Spring 2002), pp. 52-66

Hanh, Thich Nhat, Being Peace (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 200), pp. 77-82 and 90-106 [Available as e-book at Goldfarb Library]

Recommended ReadingsKalin, Ibrahim, “Islam and Peace,” in Crescent and Dove, ed. by Ul-Huda, Qamar ul-Huda

(Washington: US Institute of Peace, 2010), Cha. 1, pp. 3-37,Endredy, James, Beyond 2012: A Shaman’s call to Personal Change and the Transformation of

Personal Consciousness (Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn Publications, 2008), pp. 51-67, 87-107 and 115-34.

Bondurant, Joan, Conquest of Violence: The Gandhian Philosophy of Conflict (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1958), Cha. 2, pp. 15-35

Cabezon, Jose, "The UNESCO Declaration: A Tibetan Buddhist Perspeective,” in Buddhist Peacework, ed. by David Chappell (Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 1999), Conclusion, p. 183-188

Assignment

The paper, as described in the “Writing Requirement” (above), is due on Feb. 6, the Friday following this session.

Session 5: Adaptation of Peacebuilding Roles Used by Faith-Based Peacebuilders: Who are considered to be faith based actors

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The reasons why faith-based actors often can play an important role When in the life cycle of a conflict it is most effective to perform which role or function What distinct functions faith-based actors can perform, including (1) observation and

witness, (2) education and formation, (3) advocacy and empowerment, and (4) intermediary intervention. Examination of the complexities, difficulties and advantages involved in performing each peacebuilding role

Meeting basic needs: Addressing the functional linkage problem

Required ReadingsSteele, David, Creative Approaches to Conflict transformation in Societies Affected by Extremist

Religion, unpublished manual (San Diego: University of California, 2013), pp. 51-63 (beginning with subheading “Step 7…”)

Steele, David, "An Introductory Overview to Faith-Based Peacebuilding." Pursuing Just Peace. Ed. by M. Rogers, et al. (Baltimore: Catholic Relief Services, 2008), pp. 22-33 (beginning with sub-heading “Roles that Faith-Based Actors Can Play”

Bock, Joseph, Sharpening Conflict Management: Religious Leadership and the Double-Edged Sword (Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 2001), pp. 63-99

Bouta, Tsjeard, S. Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana and Mohammed Abu-Nimer, Faith-Based Peace-Building: Mapping and Analysis of Christian, Muslim and Multi-Faith Actors (The Hague: Netherlands Institute of International Relations ‘Clingendael; and Washington: Salaam Institute for Peace and Justice, 2005), pp. 15-46

Session 6: Examination of the Place of Ritual and Case studies of Faith-based Actors Video of interfaith reconciliation in Nigeria Examination of the role of ritual in transforming worldviews and relationships Participation in a role play based on a real life conflict scenario in which religion is factor

and faith-based interveners are the primary actors

Required Readings Schirch, Lisa, Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding (Bloomfield, Connecticut: Kumarian

Press, 2005), pp. 97-121 and 137-59 Background readings will be assigned for each participant in the role play, depending on

the exact role to be played. These readings will be sent by e-mail to the respective students.

Session 7: Case Presentations on Faith-Based Peacebuilding RolesEach student will be expected to participate (with one or more other class members) in a class

presentation during this session. Each presentation is expected to be 10-15 mins. in length. After each presentation, the class will provide feedback. During the presentation, you are asked to: Select a conflict situation in a particular country in which there is a clear example of

efforts by a faith-based peacebuilder/reconciler Describe the conflict context Describe this religious actor. What kinds of faith-based interventions have they done in

the past? What faith-based practices, reconciliation processes or peacebuilding roles did this person/group employ in the conflict you have selected?

Describe how their faith influenced what they did and how it impacted the results

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Give your evaluation of the attempted peacebuilding process Make any recommendations regarding what you think could have been done differently

Review of themes/topics from the entire course: Time for final questions/discussion

Required ReadingsA list of possible readings will be distributed in advance that students might use to prepare case

presentations on a variety of situations