The interdisciplinary minor in human rights and conflict resolution will explore the different ways in which peace and justice can be achieved. Core issues studied include: the legal, cultural, social and political basis of human rights; the causes and nature of violence, societal conflict and war between states; and methods of conflict management, peace implementation and reconciliation on the personal, group, national and international levels.

The minor facilitates the discovery of ways to overcome conflict and work toward peace. Critical thinking and interdisciplinary approaches link issues of conflict, conflict resolution and peace with human rights, the rule of law and social justice.


For more information, please visit: cnu.edu/academics/areasofstudy/minor-humanrights

Every fall, the Reiff Center hosts a lecture on the topic of the Israeli-Palestine conflict and offers the $1,000 Borgenicht Fellowship Prize for the best essay written in response to the lecture. The essay must reflect an important aspect of Israeli-Palestinian relations as discussed in the lecture, and must not exceed 2,500 words.

Every spring, the Reiff Center holds an the Santoro Prize essay contest. The $1,000 prize is awarded for the best scholarly or creative student project related to human rights, genocide or conflict resolution. All enrolled undergraduates are eligible to participate, and the contest is usually announced in February. 

The prize is awarded to a scholarly paper that excels in originality, argumentation, depth of analysis and writing style, or to a creative submission that shows great originality, depth of insight or theme exploration, and disciplinary integrity.

TBD