GSTV Curriculum - Denver Justice & Peace Committee

Global Solutions to Violence In 2003, DJPC introduced a new program, Global Solutions to Violence (GSTV), to teach students in local high schools and youth programs about issues related to peacemaking, nonviolence and globalization. The program curriculum explores conflict, thus creating the potential for a paradigm shift away from physical and economic violence. While DJPC no longer directly offers GSTV, we want to make the curriculum available to as many teachers and students as possible. Lesson plans can be accessed online and include printer friendly versions. Resources are presented in each lesson and an additional resource list is also offered. The lessons are available at no charge, however, we do hope that you will make a donation for the value received. Donations may be made to “DJPC Education Fund” and will be gratefully appreciated.

The GSTV Program encourages students to think critically about issues of nonviolence, globalization and international human rights. The curriculum exposes students to the forces underlying some very complex global issues, engages them in interactive activities and suggests resources and actions for future learning. The hope is that students will become active in their local and global communities and bring new solutions to political, social and economic problems.

By utilizing a participatory popular education approach, teachers are able to explore with their students how situations of economic injustice have arisen and various considerations for their resolution. The interactive exercises engage the students in ways that help them better understand how decisions, as diverse as their personal buying choices and determination of national trade policies, directly affect the lives of families in the developing world and at home. Lessons are designed to challenge prejudices, stimulate critical thought and inform students about issues of social and economic justice. Using maps, readings and simulation exercises, students gain an understanding of their own and others’ roles in our global society. As much as possible, GSTV employs primary sources with articles and videos from American Friends Service Committee, Amnesty International’s Human Rights Education program, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, Witness for Peace, as well as local and international media.

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