The structure and content of Juniata College's model peace studies program was the topic of two informational workshops held at the University in recent months by Juniata peace studies associate professor Andrew Murray.

The workshops, attended mainly by faculty, offered assistance and information to community members interested in developing a peace studies program here.

"We are faced with many complex problems that cannot be answered by a single discipline," said Tonia Devon, peace studies advocate.

"Having a cluster of courses from a variety of disciplines, taught by faculty who share the normative assumption that violence is a problem, would enhance the education of those who wish to understand it in depth," said Devon, coordinator of students programs.

Nationally, the Peace Studies Association includes 80 members and 100 peace studies programs at American universities, Devon said.

Juniata College offers a program in peace studies through the Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, said Jose Nieto, professor of religion and history. Students can obtain an undergraduate and graduate major and minor, he said.

Nieto said the program's loose structure allows students in other disciplines to incorporate an emphasis in peace studies into their own curriculum.

There is no fixed core of mandatory courses required of peace students, he said. In Juniata's program, professors from a variety of disciplines teach courses related to their field, ranging from engineering to humanities.

Students of peace and conflict studies often find career involvement in movements against the exploitation of nature or diplomacy, Nieto said.

Robert Walker, assistant professor of science technology and society at Penn State, said he is working to develop a method for peace studies.

Walker said he divides peace study methodology into three broad areas: the search for peace within one's self, through meditation or other spiritual means, teaching negotiation skills, and studying global conflict and peace.

"Many of them are highly funded, for example Notre Dame just built a multi-million dollar peace studies building," she said.

Juniata history professor Klaus Kipphan has a long-standing involvement in peace studies. A self-described "catalyst," and "convener" in the mid-1970s explosion of peace studies at Juniata, Kipphan said the end of the Vietnam War and Juniata's religious roots made the it ideal for peace studies.

According to an editorial in the Nov. 23, 1988 Chronicle of Higher Education, William J. Byron, president of the Catholic University of America, said of the cynic's questioning the practicality of peace studies,"Yet, after giving it some thought, who can question the practical value of promoting more co-operation and less violence among human beings?"