Insertion, or step one, usually involves sharing the life of people who are experiencing some problem we want to help relieve. These can be (1) people who are oppressed and "on the margin" of society, as well as (2) people who are already working in the areas of justice and peace that most attract us. The most effective way to share their life is to live with them. Short of that, one can talk with them, preferably on their own "turf," and read their narrative accounts. For (2) in particular, we will invite some to visit class and you will interview one or more in an "informational interview" designed to help you with your job search.

The prophetic outrage of justice and peace activists needs to be confronted by careful analysis with the help of history and the social sciences. At the same time, these academic disciplines need to be confronted with prophetic challenges to their claim to be objective. We need to do the hard intellectual work that will convince others that our thought is credible, and we need to understand their disciplines well enough so that their practitioners will have some confidence in our judgment when we claim that their disciplines have been affected by unacknowledged biases and presuppositions.

We also need to be clear about what particular justice and peace organizations or movements are actually doing, what success they are having, and what failures are weakening their effectiveness.

When passing judgment on the current situation, we need to be alert to the fact that different actors and groups may have different worldviews with different norms. We seek areas of agreement on the basis of which a common set of norms may be pursued. For this to happen, we need to help others see that we understand their worldview and its implications.

This is as true of people working for justice and peace as it is of people seeking other goals. Work for justice and peace is often weakened by internal squabbling within the organizations and associations that are supposed to be promoting it. Our text Nonviolent Communication will be helpful as we try to listen to the concerns of people who may disagree with each other – and with us!

Even with good descriptive and normative analysis, nothing will happen unless we can decide concretely who should do what, when, where, and how to change the situation. The "tossed salad approach" ("lettuce all be nice to each other") is ineffective. We need to be very specific about policy and actions, and about ways to induce or encourage people to follow up.

Most of you are at a point in your lives where this fourth point is no longer merely academic. We will be using descriptive and normative analysis to understand what various groups and individuals are doing, but with special attention to where we might fit in. What should we be doing to plan for our future work, when (putting simple, achievable steps into some kind of order), where (choosing concrete people, places and organizations and researching them), and how (planning and trying out necessary skills, such as writing a resume, interviewing, writing grant proposals, and so forth).

As we have said often, this four-step process of analysis is called a circle because once we put step four into operation we change the situation. During the course of the semester, early work we have done may need to be reviewed on the basis of later work. Also work will not necessarily be carried out and posted in numerical order. I would like you to think of your writing and sharing as more "portfolio" than "paper." In effect, you will be putting pieces into folders. Eventually you may want to leave some in, take others out, revise others, and continue adding even after the course is over.

We wish to keep constantly in mind that we are dealing with a circle of praxis. Praxis is activity that is reflected upon and consciously chosen to produce a particular effect, a transformation of society. You are not just trying to get a job. You are choosing to make a difference in the world through which we pass in this great adventure called "life." Your ongoing activity and your continual reflection go together and influence each other – in this class and, I hope, for the rest of your life.