Upstanding for Justice: Expanding the Conceptions of University Honors Students

• In Event: Students and Youth in the Peace Context: Complexities and Interrogations

Abstract

This paper shares findings from a qualitative case study of a university honors course that attempted to ground conceptions of upstanding in theories of justice. The course content focused on historical and contemporary cases of upstanders. Data collection methods included course assignments and written reflections. Preliminary findings suggest that initial student conceptions of justice were narrow, equating to rule of law and punishment, which limited students’ ability to articulate reasons for upstanding for some causes and not others. Additionally, the process of historical contextualization seemed powerful in deepening students’ understandings of the risks associated with upstanding, furthering their own self-reflections as potential upstanders. Student-created heuristics, the final assessment, demonstrated more complex visions of justice and specific actions associated with upstanding.

Authors

• Jennifer Farley, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Jennifer Lynn Gallagher, East Carolina University