The Balkans Semester for the Study of War and Peace

[semester-long program]

The Balkans Semester for the Study of War and Peace is an interdisciplinary program centered around the themes of war and peace, conflict and reconciliation. Students study these themes while learning first-hand from people on both sides of recent wars and genocide who are grappling daily with problems of justice and forgiveness and with navigating a path toward sustainable peace. This program was originally run and implemented in collaboration with Gordon College, in Wenham, Massachusetts, and now continues as an ECSWP program for students from all colleges from CCCU and is accredited through Gordon College. As such, the program upholds the missions of CCCU schools and of higher Christian education in general, allowing students to grapple with Christian notions of peace and response to violence.

The program was personally developed by directors Petra and James Taylor, integrating their love for interdisciplinary and experiential learning, all within a smaller classroom size. The Balkan region is the laboratory within which students are able to delve into the topics of peace, conflict, violence, and reconciliation. Focusing on this specific setting and analyzing it through multiple angles provides students with cognitive distance within which they find themselves better able to grasp a larger vision for the origins of conflict and possibilities for peace, and, in turn, their own lives.

“Being immersed in personal stories and complex philosophy about a matter so serious transformed my academic experience and challenged the philosophies and theologies I didn’t even know I had.”
— Kaylen Wray, Spring '16 alumna

This program has two main locations, Zagreb and Vis, both in Croatia. Students live in apartments in the center of the city and take part in its daily rhythms, walking to class and internships, shopping in farmer’s markets, hanging out in street cafes. The program also travels to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eastern Croatia and Serbia, which allows students to hear diverse perspectives on the Balkans from its multiple ethnic and religious communities.

The Balkans Semester is a full semester, totaling 16-20 credits. All students take the following courses together as well as an elective from a visiting professor. Additionally, students meet with expert guest speakers from diverse disciplines and walks of life:

  1. Introduction to the Balkans: History, Culture, Politics and Religion

  2. War and Peace through Literature

  3. War and Peace: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives

Dates:

March 1 - June 1 (with small variations depending on a semester calendar)

August 8 - November 5 (with small variations depending on a semester calendar)