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Conflict Transformation Studies
Minor
What the Conflict Transformation Studies Minor Is
Conflict surfaces in every profession. This minor equips you with the skills to navigate it productively.
The Conflict Transformation Studies Minor at Goshen College is an undergraduate minor in the Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies (PJCS) department that trains you in mediation, nonviolent communication, negotiation, and facilitation. You study the root causes of interpersonal, cultural, and systemic conflict and learn to respond constructively.
It pairs well with majors such as sociology, psychology, social work, education, and business where the skills carry directly into the work. You study with faculty who are experts in peace building, mediation, and social change, and you graduate with both an appreciation of the transformative power of tension, and the tools to initiate peace and reconciliation.
What You Build in the Minor
Build in concrete capabilities, each one a skill you can name in an interview or an application to law school, public policy, or a graduate program. By the time students graduate, they will be equipped with an appreciation of the transformative power of tension and the tools to initiate peace and reconciliation. You’ll study with faculty who are experts in peacebuilding, mediation, and social change. View the complete program requirements in our catalog.
Goshen College Student [YEAR]
Conflict Transformation Minor
Paying for Goshen
When you take Conflict Transformation, you’ll be eligible for Goshen College’s academic scholarships and need-based financial aid. Additional support may be available for students pursuing service-oriented or intercultural learning paths. To see your own price after aid, run the net price calculator and talk with a real person in the financial aid office.
Common Questions About the Conflict Transformation Studies Minor
It is an applied discipline with concrete methods. You train in nonviolent communication, negotiation, facilitation, and conflict mediation, and study the dynamics of interpersonal, cultural, and systemic conflict. The skills transfer directly into mediation, law, public policy, social work, international relations, and restorative justice work.
Possible courses include Violence & Nonviolence, International Politics, History of Global Poverty, Ethics & Morality, War & Peace in the Modern World, Religion, Conflict and Peace, Biblical Themes of Peace, and Methods of Social Research. The full list lives on the course listing page.
It complements majors such as sociology, psychology, social work, education, business, and political science, where mediation and dispute-resolution skills carry into the work. Students who want to use mediation training, alternative dispute resolution, and communication skills in a specific career path are the natural fit for this minor.
Graduates work as organizers, mediators, and human rights advocates, and as consultants, coordinators, and nonprofit leaders, often in community-focused roles supporting families, youth, and global development. The minor also builds skills valued in law, public policy, education, and international relations, and prepares students for graduate study.
Yes. Scholarships make up a large portion of Goshen College financial aid packages, which average almost $26,000 per student, not including work-study or loans. Because a minor carries no separate tuition, your existing aid applies. See the financial aid page for available scholarships and the application process.
Ready to get started?
Rob Brenneman
Professor of Criminal Justice and Sociology
Regina Shands Stoltzfus
Professor of Peace
Justice
and Conflict Studies
