New college program will focus on peace, rights issues

Spokane Falls Community College is preparing to launch a Peace Studies program that would be the first for a community college in the state of Washington.

Jim Waller, dean of social sciences and cultural studies, said establishing such a program takes time and planning with task forces, committees and research. By 2011, organizers expect to choose faculty and establish classes.

Interest in establishing the program came from SFCC faculty, Waller said.

“This is more than just me coming and telling faculty, ‘We are going to have an interdisciplinary Peace Studies program here,’ ” he said.

“The teachers here have long expressed an interest in how to connect current world issues on peace, war and human rights within the context of classroom instruction.”

That goes beyond his division, Waller added. There has been interest from faculty in the art department, humanities and deaf studies, the latter hoping to focus on human rights issues dealing with the deaf community around the world.

Part of Waller’s inspiration to establish a Peace Studies program at SFCC came from his research dealing with the origins of conflict.

“Growing up in Georgia, I saw issues with racial tension,” he said. “I always asked myself why people couldn’t get along and why the color of one’s skin caused so much hatred in the community. It didn’t make sense to me and I wanted answers.”

Those questions stayed with Waller over the years and became a basis for research studies in his professional career. A graduate of the University of Kentucky, he taught at Asbury College in Lexington before coming to Spokane.

Waller taught social psychology at Whitworth University for 18 years, leading January-term student tours on “Prejudice Across America.”

He wrote a book on that topic and another on “Becoming Evil: How Ordinary People Commit Genocide and Mass Killing” (Oxford, 2007), explaining why people have perpetrated genocides such as the Holocaust.

“Historically we see that genocide usually occurs under the cover of war,” Waller said.

“It goes back to the origins of the conflict. We need to look at what caused the conflict that led to genocide in the first place.”

Waller hopes these are the types of questions peace studies students will ask, ponder and explore with their professors.

Over the next year, SFCC faculty will convene to set parameters and develop a budget and funding for the program, he said.

Ideas for the program include offering workshops or courses on social justice, conflict resolution and human rights.

A planned service-learning component will give students an opportunity to make connections and have learning experiences through area peace and justice groups.

Given that students who come to SFCC either stay in town or transfer to schools such as Eastern Washington University, Waller said, nurturing and informing their passion for peace and justice will lead to local community involvement.

Waller is helping SFCC research similar programs at other community colleges around the country. He will visit one of those, at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, in the spring to gather ideas.

About 25 community colleges nationwide offer peace studies programs, with the closest in Portland, he said.

“We have had calls from local people asking what we are doing and when we will offer the program,” Waller said.

“The word is out. Even though we are only in planning stages, there is excitement.”

He feels SFCC’s 2009-2010 academic-year theme, “Human Rights: Dignity and Justice for All,” is a good precursor to the Peace Studies program.

Waller sees a depth and perseverance in students committed to peace and justice, having grown up hearing about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“War is such a presence today, and there is the desire among students to look at peace,” he said.

“Students understand what peace and war are and want to do something to bring peace. This is evident through the response we’ve had to our yearly theme. They are choosing and wanting to make a difference in this world.”

He also points out that many of the current war issues center around religious conflicts.

“The role of religion in many of these world problems can be a source of tension,” Waller said. “However in hoping for peace, religion can also bring the antidotes of healing and reconciliation.

“Finding this healing through faith and peace is beneficial to those nations that have been torn apart by war. This is something we need to focus on as well.”