Courses
Many graduate courses on Conflict Resolution are currently offered at the University of Denver.
Important Disclaimer: Course offerings change frequently. While we make every effort to update the website, latest changes may not be reflected in the list below. Please consult with the relevant academic divisions before you finalize your course schedules!
Core Courses (Take all)
Purpose: To become familiar with basic literature in the field, including concepts and theories; research emphasis and empirical rules; and practical techniques in Conflict Resolution
INTS 4920 Conflict & Conflict Resolution (5 credits)
Suggested First Term Enrollment
A course offered through the Josef Korbel School of International Studies (traditional DU program). Focuses on literature drawn from diplomatic history, sociology, psychology, organizational behavior, and international politics, on theories of conflict and conflict resolution, including holistic approaches, socio-cultural conditioning and norms, and personality influences as alternative means to understand negotiation and bargaining in varying contexts. Applies the practical fundamentals of negotiation and particular problem-solving techniques. Take this course during the first term of enrollment.
CRES 4221 Negotiation Theory and Practice (3 credits)
Suggested First Term Enrollment
The course presents the theoretical groundwork for understanding the nature, strategy and tactics of various negotiation approaches including the role of time, information and power in negotiation situations, and an understanding of the way ethics, perceptions, and communication forms affect negotiation process and outcomes. Teaching methods include lecture, discussion and role-play exercises. Take first term of enrollment – strongly recommended.
CRES 4222 Mediation Theory & Issues (5 credits)
Suggested Second Term Enrollment
A course through the Conflict Resolution Institute (traditional DU program). An analysis and critique of the nature and role of third parties in conflict intervention, including conciliator, arbitrator, facilitator, monitor, and trainer. Theoretical perspectives and case studies are used to understand the situations where third parties operate, what values and resources they bring, and how power issues affect mediator functioning. Ethical guidelines are also considered. Prerequisite: INTS 4920. Take this course during the second term after enrollment.
CRES 4225 Conciliation & Reconciliation (5 credits)
Suggested Second or Third Term Enrollment
A course through the Conflict Resolution Institute (traditional DU Program). Builds on concepts and themes introduced in CRES 4222, including further analysis and critique of the roles of third parties in conflict intervention. Values, motives, resources, and third-party competencies are considered, along with ethical guidelines and the issues of power, neutrality, gender, and culture as they affect third-party functioning. Prerequisite: CRES 4222. Take this course during the third term after enrollment.
COMN 3000 or 4000 Level Course in Communication or Conflict (5 credits)
Review the University of Denver's Course Schedule for HCOM course options. Be sure any 3000 level course is approved for graduate credit (some are not). COMN courses require approval from Conflict Resolution Graduate Director. As a Conflict Resolution student, you are not always guaranteed registration in advance and may be wait-listed.
MGMT 4620 Leadership & Organizational Dynamics (4 credits)
A course offered through the Daniels College of Business (traditional DU program). It focuses on the development of management skills in organizations. This course brings together concepts from organizational behavior, organization dynamics, change management and dispute resolution. Take this course during the first year of enrollment.
Practical Techniques Workshop
Purpose: To learn how to apply and work through mediation processes in a practical setting
COMM 4701 Facilitative Mediation (4 credits)
A course through University College taught as a 5-day intensive workshop, allowing the student practical training and evaluation of their work.
OR
LAW 4803/4430 Mediation and Arbitration Seminar/Clinic (5 credits)
A course through the Law School taught over one semester, allowing the student practical training and evaluation of their work.
These courses concentrate on the mediation process and provide numerous opportunities for hands-on mediation and communication skills-building practice. Students explore ethical issues in mediation and the elements necessary to serve effectively as a mediator in both formal and informal settings.
Methodology Training
Purpose: To learn how to conduct conflict assessments; how to structure an investigation of conflict resolution issues; and how to analyze data
CRES 4111 Reflective Practice and Evaluation (5 credits)
A course designed to teach the tools for making conflict theories of practice explicit - including observation methods and interviewing techniques and preparing a grant proposal; to explore different methodologies for testing theories; and to examine ways that research modifies theory.
Special Topics
Purpose: To expose students to the diversity of conflict resolution topics and innovations in the field whether in new theoretic approaches or practical applications
CRES 4810 Restorative Justice (3 credits)
The course explores four leading Restorative Justice practices—Victim-Offender Mediation, Conferencing, Talking Circles, and Truth Commissions—to understand how needs of victims are addressed, and embracing notions of forgiveness, reconciliation and social healing within a set of principles based on social justice.
CRES 4333 Resolving Contentious Public Issues (3-5 credits)
The course examines the range of processes used to address environmental and public policy conflict, noting the tradeoffs in matters of substance, and resolution procedures. Negotiation and mediation approaches are studies along with ethical issues.
CRES 4820 Intractable Conflict (3 credits)
The course is focused on factors that lead to intractability, along with strategies for violence prevention and conflict transformation. Conflict mapping and analysis, sources of intractability, and social, psychological, economic and political dimensions of intractable conflicts are examined.
CRES 4830 Post Conflict Reconstruction – Rebuilding Education (3 credits)
The course explores education in situations of crisis and post-conflict reconstruction, including the historic role of education in promoting peace and violence, how education protects children and increases well-being in conflict situations, and the education issues in contexts of humanitarian intervention and how education impacts the transition from crisis to development.
CRES 4840 Managing Organizational Conflict (3 credits)
A broad study of conflict in organizations that may involve gender, race, age, disability and other issues, using lecture, case studies, group dialogue, and team projects to develop systems of management and evaluation.
CRES 4850 Creating Agreement (3 credits)
Multilateral agreements are as complicated as they are difficult to create. What are the key elements in this process? The history of such negotiations is one of both successes and failures. This course examines the development of criteria necessary for creating satisfactory and acceptable agreements involving multiple parties through a series of case studies that link negotiation theory and praxis.
CRES 4860 Public Forum Facilitation (3 credits)
Diverse democracies require high quality communication and coordination to function well. In the current era, however, polarization, cynicism and apathy have become the norm. They obstruct possibilities for collaborative problem-solving. What are the best processes for making public decisions in a democracy? This course examines the tools of advocacy, debate, dialogue and deliberation through the lens of facilitation in public forums.
CRES 4870 Conflict Vulnerability Assessment (3 credits)
This course guides students seeking to specialize in early warning and conflict prevention approaches at the community, societal, or country level through the contemporary scholar literature and policy-related instruments and models that seek to define and measure "conflict vulnerability."
CRES 4880 Grant Writing: The Research Proposal and Conflict Analysis (3 credits)
A course in social research methods anchored in evidence-based policy, including quantitative and qualitative techniques for building facts and findings from context-free, context-rich, and colloquial environments designed to support informed decision-making. Students learn the mechanics of preparing a research or program proposal for government or foundation support.
Elective Courses by Academic Division
International Studies
(all quarter-hour credits)
INTS 4075 Democracy in Divided Societies (5 credits)
INTS 4192 Intl. Commercial Dispute Resolution (5 credits)
INTS 4390 Decision-Making in Non-profit Organizations (5 credits)
INTS 4462 Ethnic Conflict (5 Credits)
INTS 4504 Culture & World Order (5 credits)
INTS 4505 Clash of Cultures (5 credits)
INTS 4705 Democratization (5 credits)
INTS 4729 Ethics & National Security (5 credits)
INTS 4706 Group & Organization Dynamics (5 credits)
INTS 4806 Global Justice (5 credits)
INTS 4851 Theories of Non-Violence (5 credits)
INTS 4907 Intl. Terrorism (5 credits)
INTS 4925 Peace-keeping (5 credits)
INTS 4931 Intl. Organizations (5 credits)
INTS 4932 Intl. Law (5 Credits)
INTS 4934 Intervention: Shaping the Global Order (5 credits)
INTS 4937 Human Rights & the Intl. Refugee System (5 credits)
INTS 4948 Hatred & Group Conflict (5 credits)
INTS 4949 Intl. Law & Con. Res. (5 credits)
Communication Studies
(all quarter hour credits)
COMN 3020 Conflict Management (5 credits)
COMN 3130 Organizational Comm. (5 credits)
COMN 3140 Intercultural Comm. (5 credits)
COMN 3240 Group Methods & Facilitation (5 credits)
COMN 3245 Building Group & Team Effectiveness (5 credits)
COMN 3300 Principles of Persuasion (5 credits)
COMN 3550 Principles of Negotiation (5 credits)
COMN 4030 COMN Studies: Organizational (3-5 credits)
COMN 4150 Culture, Ethnicity and Comm. (5 credit)
COMN 4220 Intl. Comm.: History and Foundations (arr.)
COMN 4230 Intl. Comm.: Training & Instruction (5 credits)
COMN 4310 Comm. & Collaboration (5 credits)
COMN 4800 Philosophies of Dialogue (5 credits)
COMN 4650 Intl. Comm. (4 credits)
Graduate School of Social Work
(all quarter hour credits)
SOWK 4400 Interventions w/ Families Exp. Problems (3 credits)
SOWK 4430 Drug Dependency Interventions (3 credits)
SOWK 4500 Mental Health Interventions w/ Children (4 credits)
SOWK 4612 Law of Family & Child (3 credits)
SOWK 4700 Brief Practice Modalities (3 credits)
SOWK 4705 Forensic Orientation/Social Work (3 credits)
SOWK 4749 Social Work Intervention w/ Latinos/as (3 credits)
SOWK 4765 Intl. Social Development (3 credits)
SOWK 4780 Con. Res. Strategies for Social Work Practice (3 credits)
SOWK 4900 Methods for Eval. Practice & Programs (3 credits)
SOWK 4901 Applied Practice & Eval. Research (3 credits)
Sturm College of Law
1 semester hour = 1.5 quarter hour credits
3 semester hours = 4.5 quarter hour credits
(course credits below in converted quarter credits)
LAWS 4060 Alt. Dispute Resolution (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4062 Alt. Dispute Resolution Seminar (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4162 Conflict Management Seminar (3 credits)
LAWS 4316 Intl. Con. Res. & Management (3 credits)
LAWS 4430 Mediation & Arbitration Clinic (7.5 credits)
LAWS 4460 Negotiation & Mediation (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4462 Negotiating Natural Reserves Agreements (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4501 Race & Civil Rights Law (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4516 Restorative Justice Seminar (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4820 Advanced Public Interest Clinic (4.5 credits)
Daniels School of Business
(all quarter hour credits - please consult the Business school for other courses)
MGMT 3900 Leadership & Organizational Dynamics (4 credits)
MBA 4020 Negotiation/Dispute Resolution (2 credits)
MBA 4350 Intl. Management Experience (1-8 credits)
Applied Communication at University College
(all quarter hour credits - through University College)
COMM 4202 COMM Overview (4 credits)
COMM 4221Mediation Principles and Practice (4 credits)
COMM 4223 Facilitation Principles and Practice (4 credits)
COMM 4222 Negotiation Principles and Practice (4 credits)
COMM 4208 Arbitration Principles and Practices (4 credits)
COMM 4222 COMM in Education (4 credits)
COMM 4225 COMM: Professional Ethics (4 credits)
COMM 4229 Advanced Mediation (4 credits)
COMM 4226 Managing Organizational Conflict (4 credits)
COMM 4225 Restorative Justice (4 credits)
Other Courses at the University of Denver
CFSP 4304 Family Systems & Diversity (3 credits)
CPSY 4070 Trauma & Crisis Intervention (3 credits)
CPSY 4110 Conflict Resolution (3 credits)
CPSY 4380 Group Interventions (3 credits)
CRES 4333 Resolving Environmental & Public Policy Conflict (3 credits)
Practical Technique Courses
COMN 3550 Principles of Negotiation (5 credits)
COMN 3240 Group Methods & Facilitation (5 credits)
COMN 3245 Building Group & Team Effectiveness (5 credits)
SOWK 4420 Strategies & Techniques of Family Therapy (3 credits)
LAWS 4060 Alternative Dispute Resolution (4.5 credits)
LAWS 4460 Negotiation & Mediation (4.5 credits)
COMM 4204 Mediation Process & Practice (3 credits)
COMM 4205 Facilitation Process & Practice (3 credits)
COMM 4206 Negotiation Process & Practice (3 credits)
COMM 4208 Arbitration Process & Practice (3 credits)
COMM 4224 Facilitation II (3 credits)
COMM 4227 Agreement Writing (2 credits)
COMM 4229 Mediation II (3 credits)
Methodology
CRES 4111 Reflective Practice and Evaluation (5 credits)
INTS 4020 Preparing a Grant Proposal (5 credits)
INTS 4050 Statistics I (5 credits)
INTS 4051 Statistics II (5 credits)
INTS 4966 Applied Field Methods (5 credits)
COMN 4220 Intercultural Comm.: History & Foundation (5 credits)
CPSY 4050 Research Methods (3 credits)
SOWK 4201 Research Methods and Design (3 credits)
QRM 4980 Program Evaluation Theory (3 credits)
Customized (requires advanced approval)
Internship (required, although credit is optional)
CRES 4981 Internship (0-5 credits)
This course enables students to work in a practical setting to acquire experience in an international organization, government agency, or non-profit foundation. The work, undertaken once a student is enrolled in the Conflict Resolution Program, must be approved in advance by the academic advisor or program director as relevant and worthwhile. Credit is determined by actual work time (100 hours = five credits). A grade of "P" (pass) is given after the work is completed, and a report of the experience (3-5 pages) is submitted to the student's advisor. A copy is placed in the student’s file.
Practicum Requirement
CRES 4971 Practicum (3 credits)
A student enrolls for practicum credit only after completing most of the 6 core curriculum courses in Conflict Resolution plus the Mediation workshop. The prerequisite policy is firm. The practicum is offered each year in two terms: Spring and Summer. Students take 2 credits in the Spring and 1 credit in the Summer. A practicum is a culminating experience that allows students to understand how a dispute can be resolved or transformed through non-violent, collaborative means. It includes supervised practice, classroom, preparation for practice and classroom, and supporting activities.
M.A. Thesis (only for students completing a thesis, credit is optional)
CRES 4995 M.A. Thesis Research (0-5 credits)
This course allows a student to receive credit for research and writing undertaken as part of the Master's thesis preparation. Such study is arranged between professor and student. An academic grade is assigned upon completion of the thesis. |
