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DisRes 603  Advanced Negotiation and Mediation
This is a “changing topics” course. Each semester it examines the resolution of conflict in a different context(s), which is announced prior to registration. The topics covered have included Arab Israeli Negotiation, Women and Conflict, Public Policy Disputes, Organizational Conflict, and Workplace Conflict.

Resolving International Conflict [Spring 2008]

The course begins with an introduction to the nature of conflict in the international system, paying particular attention to the failed state problem and the role of the United Nations in addressing it. We will focus on three primary conflict stages that demand a range of mediation approaches: conflict prevention, conflict or crisis management, and post-conflict peacebuilding. In terms of the post-conflict phase, we will pay particular attention to the question of the international community’s preference for building democracy as the outcome of its interventions. In addressing these topics, we will examine the Former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and a number of cases from Africa

Post-Conflict Conflict:

Challenges of Reconciliation, Reconstruction, and Peace [Spring 2007]
“Happily ever after…” is a defining characteristic of fairy tales but it is rarely true of conflict. Ideally, a conflict’s end segues into peace, reconciliation, and, social reconstruction. In reality, the post-conflict period can be difficult and fraught with challenges at every step along the way and at levels of analysis – for individuals, for families, for subgroups, and for the nation. Disputes that initially gave rise to conflict and remain unaddressed in the post-conflict period can fester and rekindle discord. This theory-building course is intended to stretch students’ knowledge about the post-conflict period. Because much of the research on the post-conflict periods focuses on large-scale conflicts (i.e., intra- and inter-state wars) this will be the focus of our course readings. We will apply analyses of the aftermath of large-scale international conflicts to small-scale local conflicts. The course will take a cross disciplinary approach. Scholarly readings will include conflict studies, psychology, political science, and history.

Organized Labor and Organizational Conflict [Fall 2006]

Conflict in organizations is complex, and resolving it constructively can be challenging. Labor unions are a special kind of organization. In organizations where workers are unionized, this can add new dimensions to conflict, as well as offering specified mechanisms for resolving it. In addition, unions are organizations themselves, and can experience their own internal organizational conflict, which can have unique properties. This course will delve into the special issues involved in working with organizational conflict in the context of organized labor, and will be part seminar, part practicum, part internship. The course will involve hands-on work with live cases, and each student's final project for the semester will be an applied project which that student will take a lead role in shaping. Projects may involve collaborations among members of the class.

Women and Conflict [Spring 2006]

The course examines conflict in women’s lives: women as instigators and recipients of conflict, women as victims and victimizers, and women as makers of peace and war. By examining the concept of conflict broadly and considering many possible sources of conflict in women’s lives, this course seeks to identify ways that conflict is a gendered construct; it will enable students to deepen their knowledge about conflict, to think about conflicts from multiple perspectives, and to consider dispute resolution approaches that recognize the special circumstances that women experience in conflict. Course-related requirements, including reading, writing, making presentations, working collaboratively with classmates, and participating in analytic, theory-generating discussion, are designed to strengthen students’ skills.

DisRes 621  Negotiation
Negotiation is the bedrock skill in the study of conflict. This course focuses on building students' skills as negotiators and developing strong analytic skills. Students learn about alternative strategies available to negotiators and how to choose among those alternatives to achieve a desirable settlement. Negotiation simulations and critiques are a major component of this class.

DisRes 622  Ethical, Professional, and Policy Issues in Dispute Resolution
The process of resolving conflicts raises a number of ethical problems for neutrals (mediators), for advocates (negotiators), and for dispute resolution system designers. The field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) raises a set of public policy questions linked to such ethical problems. In this course students critically examine the philosophical basis of ethical practices in the field; consider and apply ethical standards in diverse, ambiguous, complex, changing circumstances, and reflect on the ethical practices and standards in the field in order to respond to a wide variety of situations with proficiency and sensitivity.

DisRes 623  Theories of Conflict Resolution
This course engages students in a systematic examination of conflict resolution theories. Readings are drawn from a broad range of academic disciplines, including economics, law, social psychology, and anthropology, as well as dispute resolution. Students learn how to critically evaluate the respective bodies of theory and are invited to test theoretical principles against their experiences in managing conflict.

DisRes 624  Cross-Cultural Conflict
A full understanding of cross-cultural conflict requires the integration of knowledge from a range of different fields. This course takes an interdisciplinary look at the special problems posed for conflict resolution by cultural and inter-group differences. We will draw on relevant theory and research from social psychology, anthropology, sociology, business, and other fields. Topics to be considered include the psychology of inter-group relations, definitions of culture, ethnocentrism, cross-cultural communication, cultural differences in attitudes toward conflict, racial and ethnic conflict, and approaches to training in cross-cultural mediation.

DisRes 625  Conflict, Organizations & Systems
The course considers conflict in a variety of organizational settings including formal, voluntary, and community organizations and focuses on the emergence, manifestation, and resolution of disputes. It is designed to deepen students' understanding of open and hidden organizational conflict and the formal and informal dispute resolutions systems that address or obscure these conflicts. Students will examine different kinds of conflict management systems and the criteria for measuring their effectiveness, and discuss the analysis and design of dispute management systems. Readings, discussions, and course projects challenge students to deepen their knowledge and apply theory creatively, appreciating the contingencies of context.

Click here for a video introduction to this course by Professor David Matz.

DisRes 626  Advanced Intervention
This is a “changing topics” course. It applies the principles of mediation and other forms of intervention to a particular context(s), which changes yearly and is announced prior to registration. Possibilities include intervention in environmental, family, organizational, health care, cultural, and international disputes.

Approaches to International Conflict [spring 2006]

The course begins with an introduction to the nature of conflict and the current international system, developing working definitions of the problems and dilemmas. We will focus on three primary conflict stages that demand a range of mediation approaches: conflict prevention; conflict management, particularly in cases of complex humanitarian emergencies; and post-conflict peacebuilding. We will examine intervention at these various phases of conflict through the analysis of case studies, primarily the Former Yugoslavia, Iraq, and Central Africa.

DisRes 627  Human and Moral Dimensions of Environmental Conflicts
This advanced course offers intensive study of the human and moral issues that make environmental issues so complex. Students select a case study, and examine the way such conflicts interweave economic, political, and public policy with science, social issues, and values, and consider the implications for dispute intervention.

DisRes 631  Family and Divorce Mediation
This course focuses on the legal and negotiation issues raised for mediators by divorcing couples and children. Parent-child issues, unmarried couples, pre-marital agreements, and post-divorce disputes will also be addressed. Through theory, practice, and context-specific readings, students will broaden their knowledge and skills as mediators. Prerequisite: DisRes 690.

DisRes 633  ADR in the Workplace
Mediation and other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) systems now exist in many organizations to address issues such as supervisor-supervisee conflicts, management-union disputes, and team-workgroup problems. Using case studies from a wide range of work environments, this course explores alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems in the workplace, examining their usefulness, their limitations, and their future.

DisRes 635  Research Methods in Dispute Resolution
This course meets three primary objectives. First, it provides students with a basic “literacy” in research methods, enabling them to be critical consumers and reliable producers of research findings. Second, it introduces students to the role and use of research methods in conflict resolution work. Finally, it provides students preparing to undertake the Master’s Project (MP) an introduction to the type of research methodology that they are most likely to use in their MP.

DisRes 636  Conflict in Work Groups
This course provides the participant with an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of the dynamics of work groups, with an emphasis on processes of conflict within them, and to develop skills to deal constructively with intra- and inter-group conflict. Class sessions will deal with conceptual issues in a combination of lecture and seminar-discussion format, drawing from various literatures on groups. Students will also participate in weekly meetings with a small workgroup, consisting of a sub-set of the class, which will offer an opportunity to study group processes in vivo with the aid of a facilitator.

DisRes 690  Mediation Internship
This course combines theory and practice, pairing a field placement in District Court with a seminar designed to provide an intellectual and academic context for the court practice. Topics include theories and models of mediation and negotiation, issues of practice and technique, and constructs such as cognitive bias and mindfulness that affect both parties and mediators. The course provides an opportunity to acquire the ideas, skills and strategies needed to be an effective mediator. In the court placement, students mediate cases, under close faculty supervision, in one of the small claims courts in Greater Boston. Each day of mediation is followed by a debriefing session with the supervisor.

DisRes 693  Master's Project and Seminar
Students design projects that integrate the knowledge and skills acquired during their training. Projects can take a variety of forms; examples include: empirical research, apprenticeships with professionals or agencies, evaluations or analyses of existing practices, creation of new conflict resolution programs or curricula tailored to specific, identified, unmet needs. Each project culminates in a work product, such as a research paper or written account of the applied project that demonstrates substantial progress beyond previous learning. The Masters Project Seminar brings together all students working on Masters Projects to share their field experience, learn new methods needed for their projects [e.g. research skills or intervention techniques], discuss literature covered in previous courses, and plan for their future learning as conflict resolvers.

DisRes 696  Independent Study
With faculty approval and guidance, students have the option of exploring a specific topic of interest, deepening their knowledge of the specialization area, or broadening their range of dispute resolution experience. Research and field placement options may be considered.

DisRes 697 Special Topics in Dispute Resolution

Special topics courses are advanced courses that offer intensive study of a selected topic in dispute resolution.  The course can be used to deepen knowledge of the specialization area, or to broaden a student’s range of dispute resolution experience.

Terrorism & Conflict Resolution [Spring 2008]

This course provides an introduction to current scholarship on terrorism and counterterrorism.Questions we will explore include: What are the dynamics of terrorism and counterterrorism?How do the strategies taken by terrorists and those who oppose them shape some outcomes rather than others? When does terrorism subside? When does it escalate? How can counterterrorist policies and strategies be modified? Particular attention will be paid to examining new and emerging scholarship in the field of conflict management that suggests strategies to reduce or at least contain this problem.Readings, research, reports, films, discussion and debate, case studies, simulations and other class exercises will all be used to help students better understand the concept and origins of terrorism, explore similarities and differences in the way terrorists and counterterrorists organize and strategize, approach the problem of securing support, engage in conflict and, in some cases, resolve their conflicts.

Dispute Resolution and Public Disputes [Spring 2007]

Understanding and managing Public decision-making processes requires a multi-disciplinary approach, calling upon complementary analytical and decision-making tools from the fields of public policy and dispute resolution – and in the global arena – the field of international relations. Tools including negotiation, mediation, joint fact-finding, and consensus-building have become an integral part of the formulation of domestic and international policy-making and the resolution of contentious public disputes. This course will examine several tools, techniques and theories used in decision-making and negotiation processes, as well as some of the theoretical challenges that arise. We will then apply these issues to some of the emerging issues and cutting-edge challenges, particularly in the international arena, including democratizing global governance, indigenous peoples, negotiating with extremists, and energy and global climate change.