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Peace, Justice & Conflict Studies
Major
Understand Conflict. Build Peace.
A rigorous, interdisciplinary major for students who want to confront injustice and change it.
Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies (PJCS) examines the complexities of conflict and the pathways to peace. This degree is rooted in a tradition of compassionate peacemaking, combining theory and practice. You’ll build the skills to address injustice and promote reconciliation.
You’ll work through restorative justice, social change, and modern global conflicts. This is the opposite of a small-college bubble: the major points you outward, into real conflicts and real communities, and prepares you for meaningful careers in social work, education, law, mediation, and beyond.
Is This Major Right for You?
This is a major for students who want to be stretched and want their work to matter. You’ll learn analytical and practical tools such as mediation, reconciliation, and social change, putting them to use in the real world rather than leaving them on the page.
If you read outcomes before promises, the PJCS degree prepares you for diverse paths: social worker, educator, lawyer, mediator, and peace worker for service or mission organizations, among others. Many graduates also continue to graduate school. Small classes and close faculty mentorship mean you’re known by name, in a community of passionate learners committed to the common good.
What You’ll Study
The PJCS major covers violence and nonviolence, mediation, reconciliation, and social change, so you graduate equipped to analyze conflict and promote peace effectively. The curriculum blends theoretical frameworks with practical application.
Courses include Violence and Nonviolence, Restorative Justice, War and Peace in the Modern World, Biblical Themes of Peace, and Mediation: Process, Skills, and Theory. For detailed course descriptions and degree requirements check the full Course Offering List.
Real Work, Real Organizations
Real-world experience is built into the major. You’ll have opportunities to intern with organizations like La Casa in Goshen, and the Center for Community Justice in Elkhart, as well as agencies across North America such as Mennonite Central Committee. These placements let you apply what you learn to real situations and sharpen your skills in conflict resolution and social change.
The major also opens onto the wider world: half of Goshen students study abroad through hands-on learning programs, including the Study-Service Term, where you live and work in another culture. For a reader who wants proof a small college engages the world’s hardest problems, this is where theory meets practice.
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Paying for Goshen
It’s worth asking about early. Goshen offers a range of financial aid and merit-based awards that apply across majors. Use the net price calculator and review available scholarships on the financial aid page to see your real number, and a financial aid counselor can walk you through the options and the steps to apply.
Common Questions About (PJCS) Major
The 41-credit major covers violence and nonviolence, mediation, reconciliation, and social change. Courses include Violence and Nonviolence, Restorative Justice, War and Peace in the Modern World, Biblical Themes of Peace, and Mediation: Process, Skills, and Theory, blending theoretical frameworks with hands-on practice so you can put what you learn to work.
The major builds analytical and practical skills that transfer across professions. Graduates work as social workers, educators, lawyers, mediators, and peace workers for service or mission organizations, and many continue to graduate school. It prepares you for meaningful careers wherever conflict, justice, and community intersect.
You can intern with organizations like La Casa in Goshen and the Center for Community Justice in Elkhart, and with agencies across North America such as Mennonite Central Committee. Half of Goshen students also study abroad through hands-on programs, including the Study-Service Term, living and working in another culture.
Goshen offers a range of financial aid and merit-based awards that apply across majors. Use the net price calculator on the financial aid page to see your real number rather than a sticker price, and a financial aid counselor can walk you through scholarships and the steps to apply.
Start your application at the Goshen College apply page, or request information first if you’d like to talk through fit, the courses, and where the degree leads. You can also schedule a visit to meet the faculty. Admission to Goshen is the first step into the major.
Ready to get started?
Rob Brenneman
Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace
Justice
and Conflict Studies
