What do you know about conflict? A big part of resolving conflict effectively lies in our mindset towards conflict and those we conflict with. We will discuss what you think of when you hear the word conflict, and we will come up with analogies to help us see conflict differently.

We cannot achieve peace with others if we do not know how to achieve peace with ourselves first. This week will focus on understanding your personality! We will discuss the Close Relationship Circle and how our deeper unmet needs and dreams can manifest as secondary emotions and behaviors such as anger or anxiety.

Culture is an important part of what makes people who they are, but much of culture is unseen. When we take the time to learn about people and where they are from we can gain a better understanding of their expectations and how they react to conflict.

What does it mean to have a “Heart at Peace” in conflict? How do we choose “Us-preservation” over self-preservation? We will explore the Arbinger Institute’s diagrams and learn how to see others outside of the box. Building trust is essential to achieving peace; we will participate in various trust exercises and discuss how to foster a trusting environment.

The focus of this week is to help you understand how emotional resilience impacts your mental health and in turn the conflicts that you will inevitably face in your day-to-day life. We will participate in some self-soothing activities/techniques that you can use to manage stress.

How can we effectively negotiate with others in conflict? We will pull from resources provided by The Gottman Institute and Crucial Learning to understand how to approach negotiation in both a business and personal setting. This will build upon last week’s emotional resilience lesson to tie in managing emotions during a crucial conversation.

Students, this is your day! Tailored to your specific interests and questions that have come up throughout the course thus far. Submit any questions you have to me prior to this week in the discussion under this module, and I will prepare to answer as many of your questions as possible.

This week will build upon the skills we have learned in the past 7 weeks to provide specific communication techniques such as using “I-statements” and active listening. We will learn mediation skills such as reframing statements to learn how to diffuse a heated situation and keep positivity in the interaction.

This is the week you get a chance to engage in a mock-mediation scenario and implement the strategies you have learned over the course. You will participate in role-play scenarios that will help build your confidence to implement these strategies in the real world.

I want you to walk away from this course knowing your divine worth and learning from the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. We will read scriptures and quotes from church leaders that will help us understand the spiritual foundation of being a peacebuilder.