Curriculum: description of UPEACE courses
DEPARTMENT OF PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES:
https://upeace.org/department-of-peace-and-conflict-studies/
The Department of Peace and Conflict Studies (DPCS) at the University for Peace is an integrated grouping of programmes that affiliate, interrelate and synergize around core themes and perspectives in conflict analysis and the challenges to peacebuilding. The programmes share a common goal of providing a critical understanding and analysis of root causes of conflicts and violence in diverse local, national, global and societal contexts, while specifically focusing on various dimensions, strategies, sectors, institutions and levels of conflict resolution and transformation to build a peaceful world.
Over the past several years, Alumni have drawn upon the knowledge, skills, vision and commitment gained from these programmes to serve effectively and creatively in a wide range of peacebuilding-related roles in their societies and in the wider international community.
Gender and peacebuilding
The Master of Arts in Gender and Peacebuilding (GPB) offers critical knowledge and training in gender studies, which is a crucial aspect of any and all peace efforts. The programme deals in depth with the diverse and international aspects of gender as they relate to violence, peace negotiations, peacebuilding and peacekeeping in different locations on the planet. The programme also encompasses the many fields of knowledge in which gender plays a crucial role. The needs and interests of students and professionals are carefully considered in the design and implementation of the programme.
The master’s degree in Gender and Peacebuilding will allow you to delve into a rigorous scheme of studies. This programme has been designed to nurture your critical thinking abilities, foster your research skills, and to provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to be an intersectional scholar who is being mindful of the gendered dimensions of conflict transformation and peacebuilding.
Peace education
The Master of Arts Degree in Peace Education (PE) seeks to develop and strengthen the capacity of formal and informal educators to build a peaceful world on all levels and in all dimensions of life. Through coursework and independent research or internship experiences, complemented with a unique and cooperative learning environment at UPEACE, students will enhance their values formation, knowledge and skills for living in and building cultures of peace. An understanding of the roles education, educators and institutions can play in resolving and transforming conflicts and violence towards holistic cultures of peace is explored.
International peace studies
The Master of Arts Degree in International Peace Studies (IPS) provides an interdisciplinary and critical analysis of the causes and consequences of a wide range of contemporary conflicts and violence that impact on global, international and human security. Topics to be explored include armed conflicts, violent extremism, (de)militarization, economic, social and gender injustices, cultural and religious identity conflicts, and competition over environmental resources. An in-depth understanding of conflict transformation approaches, peacebuilding and peace processes in response to these issues is built.
IPS Specializing in Media, Peace and Conflict Studies
The Master of Arts in International Peace Studies with a specialisation in Media, Peace, and Conflict Studies (IPS-MPCS) provides thorough and up-to-date knowledge of relevant research related to how media contributes to peacebuilding and conflict transformation, as well as to conflict escalation and war.
Throughout the programme, participants acquire expertise in the critical analysis of media’s role in peace and conflict; media best practices in mitigating conflict and promoting peace, including in peacebuilding and humanitarian contexts; as well as professional training for careers in research, policy-formulation, and communication.
Religion, Culture and Peace studies, Indigenous Science and Peace studies
Established by the Dr. ALISSA Fellowship Programme, the M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Peace Studies has been designed to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to engage in contexts related to peace and conflict studies that are entangled with aspects of religious and cultural traditions. Acknowledging the critical role that religion and culture play in being a motivation for or a factor in the resolution of conflicts, this programme takes an interdisciplinary and dynamic approach to deal with a range of issues, including the theoretical and practical aspects crucial to engage with the study of different traditions, and cultivating nuanced insights in the ways in which the ideal of peace can be furthered through relevant resources belonging to the domains of religion and culture. Multiple traditions from across the world will be explored throughout the year using practical cases and diverse perspectives in tandem with aspects such as race, ethnicity, class, women’s rights, and ability, among others.
This programme is co-sponsored by the Muslim World League, the Pontifical Lateran University, and the World Jewish Congress.
Indigenous Science and Peace Studies
The confluence of cutting edge Western and Indigenous science and knowledge has opened the doors to a new paradigm of peace and development. The Master of Arts in Indigenous Science and Peace Studies (ISPS) brings these two ways of knowing together to challenge a failing framework with time-tested methodologies that sustain life and create transformative opportunities amidst the global catastrophes we face right now. The transformation of policy, diplomacy, development models, and innovative technologies in ways that respect the interconnections of people and facilitate stronger and more sustainable solutions across all sectors of society, is at the core of the programme. Taught from the perspective of indigenous science and wisdom,
ISPS offers students the opportunity to be immersed in exchanges with Indigenous knowledge keepers, community leaders, scholars and scientists from around the globe. They will be required to conduct research into one of their ancestral lineages to deepen the understanding of their earth-based connections. Students will learn about indigenous science methodologies, decoloniality, and the legacies of modernity and colonialism. Throughout the programme, students will be challenged to learn more about their own identity. This approach enables students to embody life-sustaining principles in their work on behalf of people’s sovereignty, self-determination, and peace. ISPS will focus students’ determination and skills, igniting a clear fire vision for Earth’s renewal.
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT: https://upeace.org/department-of-environment-and-development/
The Department of Environment and Development (DED) focuses on analyzing environmental issues from a social justice perspective. We emphasize deep critical analysis to ensure that we address the root causes of environment and development challenges and to guarantee that solutions discussed are rooted in equity, justice, intersectionality and human and nature rights.
Our approach to analysis is grounded in political ecology, an interdisciplinary perspective that highlights the importance of political economic structures and inequity in access to resources as key drivers in environmental conflicts and environmental change. In our classrooms, we link theory to practice.
We have a diversity of guest speakers and field visits within our unique location in Costa Rica to situate our learning in on the ground realities. Our professors come from both inside and outside of academia. Our invited professors are a mix of international academic experts, Indigenous leaders, practitioners, and activists.
Lastly, we include perspectives of a diversity of sectors (state, company, and community organizations), to ensure solutions analyzed are in-line with complex global realities.
Environment, Development and peace
The Master of Arts Degree in Environment, Development, and Peace (EDP) provides comprehensive training in issues of sustainable development, environmental governance, natural resource management, and environmental conflicts from both ecological and social justice perspectives. It encompasses a broad range of subjects and themes, including Food Systems, Water Management, Indigenous perspectives Forestry, Coastal Resources, Climate Justice, Urban Sustainability, Gender, and Social Movements. The programme focuses on the human dimensions of the environment-development nexus, highlighting the connections between local perspectives and broader processes at the national, regional and global levels and emphasizing the importance of political economic structures and inequity as a key driver in environmental conflict and global environmental change. The programme prepares students for a wide range of careers in both environmental and development policy and programming in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.”
In our programme, you will learn contemporary frameworks and tools to analyze and address key sustainability issues from a social & environmental justice perspective. You will become skilled researchers and communicators on environmental and development challenges and solutions. Specific skills include: 1) critical social justice analyses of environmental topics, 2) social research methodologies (including critical approaches to research, feminist, Indigenous, decolonizing), 3) data analysis, 4) applied research and publication skills, 5) gender analyses and more. Furthermore, you will build large international networks of collaborators to help you further your professional goals.
Ecology and Society
The Master of Science Degree in Ecology and Society (ES) has been designed in response to the currently recognized global need for Master’s-level trained Ecologists to address local to international level environmental issues. Students will gain the knowledge and skills to characterize, understand, restore, manage and maintain the planet’s ecosystems, and determine the correlations between healthy, sustained habitats and the ecosystem services they provide to benefit society and the rest of the biosphere, all while being able to explain/describe these concepts from the scientific, quantitative, societal, political, temporal and spatial perspectives, all of which are required of the next generation of fully engaged Ecologists.
Natural Resources and Sustainable development
What are the root causes of environmental degradation and poverty? The dual-degree M.A. programme in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (NRSD) builds on your passion for social justice and ecological sustainability. It provides you with the knowledge and skills needed to work in government, environmental NGOs, or sustainable development organizations around the world. Our interdisciplinary perspective highlights inequalities in access to resources, which are key drivers of environmental conflicts and global environmental changes.
The NRSD programme, offered by the Department of Environment, Development, and Health within the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C., is a dual M.A. degree programme. Students have the unique opportunity to study at both American University and the University for Peace (UPEACE), earning degrees from both institutions.
At UPEACE, NRSD students will take courses within two programmes (M.Sc. in Ecology and Society and M.A. in Environment, Development and Peace). Our courses provide comprehensive training in issues of sustainable development, environmental governance, natural resource management, and environmental conflicts from both ecological and social justice perspectives. It encompasses a broad range of subjects and themes, including Food Systems, Water Management, Indigenous Perspectives on Environment & Development, Forestry, Coastal Resources, Climate Justice, Urban Sustainability, and Gender. The programme focuses on the human dimensions of the environment-development nexus, highlighting the connections between local perspectives and broader processes at the national, regional and global levels and emphasizing the importance of political economic structures and inequity as a key driver in environmental conflict and global environmental change. The programme prepares students for a wide range of careers in both environmental and development policy and programming in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.
In our programme, you will learn contemporary frameworks and tools to analyze and address key sustainability issues from a social & environmental justice perspective. You will become skilled researchers and communicators on environmental and development challenges and solutions. Specific skills include: 1) critical social justice analyses of environmental topics, 2) social research methodologies, 3) data analysis, 4) applied research and publication skills, 5) gender analyses, 6) applied ecological research methods, 7) the application of sustainability frameworks, and more. Furthermore, you will build international networks of collaborators to help you further your professional goals.
Programme graduates will have the knowledge and skills to manage eco-development issues in a global context and build ties that bridge the Global North and Global South. Our graduates are visionary leaders in stewarding the Earth for the benefit of all.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL LAW https://upeace.org/department-of-international-law/
The Department of International Law (DIL) at the University for Peace is home to a series of M.A. programmes that provide students with a rigorous understanding of the role of law in today’s complex global society. Though international law has a long history, the last century has seen an impressive expansion of the role of law and legal institutions in international and transnational relations, involving not just states, but an increasing array of various types of actors.
Our programmes provide an introduction to this dynamic field as well as the opportunity to gain a solid and critical understanding of public international law and its various underpinnings. Aside from a focus on the foundational principles and values of the international legal system, various courses deal with the broad range of international institutions that play a pivotal role in the development of international law as well as in its implementation and enforcement.
Our courses are taught by faculty with rich international experience, as well as by visiting professors from prestigious universities and key international organizations Our faculty has long-standing experience in teaching both lawyers and students from different disciplines. The in-class experience offers an exciting and diverse environment, with students hailing from all over the world and a broad range of backgrounds
International Law and Human Rights
The Masters Programme in International Law and Human Rights is a comprehensive educational path that equips students with in-depth knowledge and understanding of the intersection between international law and human rights in today’s complex global society. Here are the key features of this program:
Global Perspective
Attracting students from around the world, this highly interactive and stimulating program is designed for both lawyers specializing in international human rights law and non-lawyers working in various dimensions of human rights protection. It ensures that graduates are well-prepared to work with inter-governmental, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.
Four Stages of Learning
- Transdisciplinary Foundations: The first stage focuses on foundational knowledge through UPEACE common courses, covering topics such as Conflict Resolution and Dispute Settlement, and the United Nations System.
- Core Foundational Courses: In the second stage, students delve into core courses related to international law, including public international law, human rights law, law related to armed conflicts, and humanitarian law.
- Specialization in Human Rights: The third stage allows students to gain expertise in thematic areas of human rights such as the protection of vulnerable persons and groups such as refugees, indigenous peoples, human rights defenders, amongst others. They gain skills in human rights monitoring, explore regional systems, and the intersections of human rights with environmental law, sustainable development, among others.
- Final Projects: In the fourth stage, students complete a final graduation project in the form of either an thesis, an internship with an international organization, or a capstone project.
Faculty and Diversity
The program boasts internationally recognized human rights scholars and practitioners as resident and visiting faculty members.
ONLINE MASTER DEGREE PROGRAMMES https://upeace.org/online-ma/
The Distance Education Programme at the University for Peace prepares competent professionals to resolve pressing and complex global problems that concern humanity and to create new approaches to old problems through various levels of analysis and action.
Whether you are looking for training or obtaining credits take one of our many graduate-level courses in Peace and Conflict studies, we have a variety of options in different modalities to fit your needs.
The deparment programme offers:
- The Online Master of Arts in Sustainable Peace in the Contemporary World;
- Individual online courses for credit and training purposes;
- Online Certificates and Diplomas for credit and training purposes; and
- Automated Courses (self-directed) for training purposes
- Online MA Sustainable Peace in the Contemporary World
The online Master of Arts in Sustainable Peace in the Contemporary World programme engages competent professionals and researchers to resolve pressing and complex global problems that concern humanity. Every course in the programme shares a commitment to ethics, fundamental human values, gender sensitivity and multiculturalism.
The content of the online M.A. moves from a study of the origins of conflict at the personal, local, internal, and international levels to the promotion and practice of peace. The programme discusses the responsibilities and capacities of all social sectors, including key political and economic institutions, as well as civil society and individuals, and their potential impact on the environmental and social aspects of peace and conflict. Skills for the maintenance of peace are emphasized throughout the programme, including analysing and understanding conflict from multiple perspectives.
This is an interdisciplinary online programme, drawing on scholarship and methodologies from across academia. The complexities of today’s world, and the developments of the last thirty years in understanding peace and conflict, demand an approach that crosses boundaries while seeking to create new progressions in the main field of study.
All courses are well-integrated within the programme, bringing together modern theories, and concepts, in-depth case studies, best-practices from
around the world, sound methodologies, and the valuable contributions of course-takers.
Development Studies and Diplomacy (online)
Programme Overview
The Master of Arts in Development Studies and Diplomacy (online), offered by UPEACE in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), is an interdisciplinary and holistic programme that will broaden student’s knowledge in the field of development studies, sustainability, and diplomacy, and equip them with the required soft skills for a successful international career in any of these areas of expertise.
Offered in an Online Format, students in this programme will analyze the different dimensions of development, including environmental, social, economic, and human dimensions, as well as the theory and practice of diplomacy in the 21st century.
Students will also attend skills development sessions and coaching sessions that are designed to support their professional careers and employability. Careers in this field can be very broad, with prospective employers including governments, international organizations, development agencies, academia, and the private sector.
Students will have an opportunity to participate in an optional field visit to Geneva (Switzerland) and/or The Hague (Netherlands), immersing themselves in the heart of diplomacy and international law.
Click on the image below to see the full programme brochure.
International Law and the Settlement of Disputes
Programme Overview
The Master of Arts in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes (onsite, hybrid, and online formats) is a graduate programme that offers students an understanding of the role that international law and institutions play in the settlement of international and transnational disputes. This specialization examines the role of national and international courts and tribunals in contributing to the settlement of disputes.
As international and transnational adjudication has acquired a more prominent role in international relations, it is essential to understand how these global and regional courts are responding to the challenges of the early 21st century.
Students will examine the role of international law in the settlement of disputes in a wide array of fields such as human rights, armed conflicts, territorial and maritime border issues, environment and climate change, multilateral trade, and investments, amongst others. Students will learn the traditional legal processes employed in international and transnational adjudication, as well as alternative forms of dispute settlement prevalent in international law.
In addition, students will attend skills-development sessions and coaching sessions designed to support their professional careers and employability.
Students will have an opportunity to participate in an optional field visit to Geneva (Switzerland) and/or The Hague (Netherlands), immersing themselves in the heart of diplomacy and international law.
This programme is offered in an Onsite Format (face-to-face on the UPEACE campus in Costa Rica), in a Hybrid Format (asynchronous classes online and face-to-face on the UPEACE campus in Costa Rica), and an Online Format (within the UPEACE Virtual Learning Environment).