The new peace studies minor is one culmination of nearly 20 years of research for Laura Rediehs, associate professor and chair of philosophy. She began her undergraduate studies at the University of Delaware as a physics major, but later transferred to Earlham College, switching her major to philosophy and religion because she wanted not only “to study the physical world, but also to explore questions about how we know what we know, and whether there is more to reality than meets the eye.”  She found herself fascinated by the reasons why different people see the world so differently, spawning conflict. 

In graduate school, she focused on philosophy since it provides a neutral framework from which to compare different worldviews.  Her long-term goal was to learn to bridge different worldviews in order to create peace and justice, a focus that she began to develop more fully after she joined the St. Lawrence faculty in 1999.  Her research and thinking led to the creation of St. Lawrence’s peace studies minor during the 2008-09 year.

Her first-hand experience at St. Lawrence during the September 11, 2001, attacks made her think seriously about teaching peace studies. “The effect of those events on the students was profound,” says Rediehs. “Their image of the world was radically altered, and the events were followed by intense discussions.  I saw through those discussions how few people knew that there were nonviolent ways to solve problems like this, and that nonviolent strategies can be very effective.”

Some faculty and staff suggested that she teach a peace-related course after seeing how passionate she was about advocating peace rather than war, and a First-Year College, taught with University Chaplain Kathleen Buckley, was born.  “We were able to witness a transformation in our students,” Rediehs says.  “We saw what was possible and other faculty joined us in developing the peace studies minor.”