Coordinators:
Kana Yoshida - 4th year Peace & Conflict Studies and Japanese Language Major
Audrey Lin - 3rd year Interdisciplinary Studies: Morality and Society Major

Faculty Sponsor:
Americ Azevedo - Lecturer, College of Engineering/Peace & Conflict Studies

 Advisors:
Megan Voorhees - Director, Cal Corps Public Service Center
Maura Wolf - Consultant, Shinnyo-en Foundation

 Six Billion Paths:
What does it mean?

There are six billion people in the world (approximately), and each individual has a unique path in their life. This is not the same as six paths with a billion people in each of them, there really are six billion different paths. If each person set the intention and acted to make the world a more peaceful, just, and harmonious place, beginning with their everyday actions and in a way that feels most authentic to who they are, imagine what our world could look like. 

Six Billion Paths is the idea that we must all find and breathe meaning into our individual and authentic paths in life in order to begin creating a more peaceful world, one person and one path at a time. "Six Billion Paths: Finding Your Authentic Voice for Social Change" will be a space where together we can begin contextualizing our individual paths within the larger vision for a more peaceful world, using theories, powerful figures in history, and each other as inspiration.

Overview

Everyday we are learning about injustices and conflicts around the world. Often larger concepts of peace (world peace, peace between warring nations or tribes, peace between different racial groups, etc.) can feel insurmountable, and the acts of one individual inconsequential. This course will provide a space in which individuals can cultivate (and find meaning in) their own paths to peace, realizing their own transformative agency within the context of the larger global community. 

The course will use the peace-making philosophy articulated by the Shinnyo-en Foundation, which speaks to the peace-making process on the internal, interpersonal, institutional, and ideological levels. Students will read and reflect upon different peacebuilding theories, as well as participate in a series of service activities that challenge them to practice peacemaking.

Themes of the Course

There are many different ideas, theories and themes that we will explore in this DeCal. Listed here are a few:

• Transformative Agency within Structures of Violence: What is our role?
• Individual Peace: The science behind it
• Interpersonal Peace & Human Unity: What is service and why do we serve?
• Institutional Peace and Building Cultures of Peace
• Nonviolence: How is it relevant and how can we apply it to our world today?
• Generation Peace: What is unique about our generation's peacebuilding capacity?
• Where do we go from here? What is my path?

Key Learning Outcomes

As a result of this class, students will: 

1. Understand philosophies of peace making that operate on the internal, interpersonal, institutional, and ideological levels.
2. Engage in and become empowered by daily practices of peacemaking (through different types of service, action and reflection), and reflect upon the impact of this practice on everyday life. 
3. Witness the work of past and present peacemakers (through guest lectures, case studies, films), thereby confirming the possibility of their own peacemaking potential.
4. Build deep relationships with their peers and create a community and culture of peace that inspires and supports the individual to develop their own authentic path. 

Methods of Instruction

Throughout the semester, students will build their own paths to peace by integrating the four levels of peace: internal, interpersonal, institutional, and ideological. Structurally, the course will draw from three different methods of learning: theory & discussion, individual discernment & reflection, and service learning:

Theory & Discussion

Students will reflect on a variety of theories and perspectives introduced in the readings by actively engaging in Socratic seminar-style discussions.

Individual Discernment & Reflection:

Students will be encouraged to reflect on their individual paths through various activities or exercises throughout the semester.

Service Learning:

Students have the opportunity to participate in a couple different service events throughout the semester.

Students will:

1.    Attend the Direct Service Event with GLIDE! Memorial Church
       Saturday, September 20th and/or Sunday, September 21st

2.    Attend the “Being what you want to see” Workshop by Jennifer Day
       Evening of Thursday, October 2,  7-8:30pm

3.    Attend the Direct Service Event with the Karma Kitchen
        Sunday, October 26th and/or Sunday, November 2nd