Conflict is an inevitable part of life. At GC, we believe that conflict can be beneficial when we engage it in healthy ways. If you choose a minor in conflict transformation at Goshen College, you’ll learn to see how conflict can lead to growth, reconciliation and social change.
The minor in conflict transformation studies is designed for students who hope to use conflict and communication skills in a particular profession. You will take classes that will give you practical skills as well as theological, ethical and philosophical understandings of conflict transformation and justice. Course themes include conflict and communication; personal, interpersonal and systemic violence; mediation and facilitation; justice and restorative justice; and power and social change.
By the time you graduate, you will be equipped with an appreciation of the transformative power of conflict and the tools to initiate peace. Your peacemaking skills will make you an indispensable member of your workplace and community. You will learn to identify and work through complex intercultural conflicts and be able to promote dialogue in individual or group settings as a skilled facilitator, mediator and/or negotiator.
Jes Stoltzfus Buller ’08 knows firsthand how messy the process of peacemaking can be. Shortly after graduating from Goshen College, Buller moved to Colombia as a part of Mennonite Central Committee's Seed program.
Khadar Bashir-Ali, a 1985 graduate from Somalia who majored in French, advises the Somalian government on how to improve the education system and oversees national education projects.
Allen Bohnert ('98) is an Assistant Federal Public Defender for the Southern District of Ohio. His work is featured in the recent documentary The Penalty, available on Amazon Video. He looks forward to being left unemployed.
During her time at Goshen College, Liz performed in theater productions, wrote for The Record and Goshen Commons and worked as a barista at Java Junction. She now works at Eyedart Creative Studio in Goshen.