Dr. Jon Lange, Coordinator

Britt 204

lange@sou.edu

The SOU Certificate in Conflict Resolution consists of a 36-credit, interdisciplinary curriculum–grounded in the Communication discipline–designed to prepare students with knowledge and skills in the fast-growing and increasingly important field of Conflict Resolution. The certirficate enables students to understand the breadth of the study of conflict, develop skills in its productive management and resolution, prepare for work, either directly (e.g., mediation, law, criminology) or indirectly (e.g., management, collaborating groups and partnerships) associated with resolving conflict,and generally participate in negotiations and conflict with excellence and integrity. Realizing these goals will assist students in their professional and personal lives. The specific objectives:

1. Students will develop a broad understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of and multiple applied approaches to conflict resolution.
2. Students will learn the vocabulary associated with state of the art conflict resolution practices.
3. Students will critically apply conflict resolution precepts to one or more challenging negotiation and conflict contexts that are either local, regional, national or international in scope.
4. Students will develop an understanding of the ethical responsibilities and cultural and co-cultural variables associated with productively managing conflict.
5. Students will develop skills associated with productively negotiating and managing their own conflicts.
6. Students will develop skills associated with intervening in others’ conflicts.
7. Students will develop skills associated with facilitating agreement-seeking processes for groups that have both common and opposed interests.

In size and scope, the certificate is between a minor and a major. This format allows the student to build an area of strength in a preferred field of focus. All courses taken for the certificate must be completed with a grade of C or better. A minimum GPA of 2.5 must be maintained in all courses taken for the certificate. At least 24 of the elective credits must be taken at SOU, including the capstone, internship or practicum.

1. The 36-credit certificate curriculum must include classes from at least three different departments (excluding cross-listings).
2. Students completing the certificate will be disallowed from attaining a minor in Conflict Resolution.
3. Students applying any of the elective courses below for certificate completion may also count them toward their major or minor.
4. The certificate will consist of the following required and elective courses (all courses are four credits) (Any exceptions to these requirements must be approved by both the Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution Certificate program and the Chair of the Communication Department.)