Introduction to Peace and Security Studies

Wayne Lee, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This course is the “gateway” course to the major in Peace, War, and Defense. It is designed as an interdisciplinary introduction to some of the basic principles in peace studies and security studies. Because of my own expertise, it is heavily weighted toward the causes and conduct of war, especially in the past, but it also includes examinations of international relations, peacemaking, and the public perception and representation of war and “security” issues. Fundamentally this course is designed to acquaint you with the complexity of defining and then pursuing "security." There are no hard and fast lessons from the past, but understanding its complexity can give us a greater maturity in our approach to the problems of the present. The readings and lectures for this class are designed to take you on a very wide tour of human approaches to security. By the end of the semester we’ll be focusing rather narrowly on the present problems facing the United States, but you will do best, both in your thinking and in your assignments, if you gather evidence widely, and think carefully.