Introduction
Generalizations about conflict and warfare claim that conflict is inevitable in human organizations. Yet there is a dearth of scholarly attempts to understand the nature, causes, course, and the varied impacts of conflict, or of ways to bring about peace in the context of an internationally accepted legal regime. The study and practice of managing conflict resolution and peacebuilding in all societies is probably the most important intellectual pursuit in humanities and social sciences. In this context, the programme on conflict resolution and peace studies will prepare practitioners and students to be effective in building enduring peace and resolving conflicts at family, national, regional, and even global levels. The graduates from this programme will also have skills in restoring and managing post-conflict situations.
Rationale
- The international system is today facing a number of challenges emanating from both human constructions and natural disasters resulting in conflicts among actors. As a result, the field of peace studies and conflict resolution helps produce the needed human resources and theoretical and policy tools to manage peace and resolve conflicts.
- The programme meets the needs of students and other stakeholders by providing training that is well-targeted to the individual educational requirements and goals of global development. The students are also exposed to learning processes that build their cognitive and practical skills through classroom interaction, internship, and fieldwork. Other stakeholders like the industry are provided with readily available sources of employees.
- The programme enables students to examine current debates on the nature of everyday peace and hybrid forms of peace, related questions about `local agency', and forms of resistance, activism, and social mobilization. Consequently, new knowledge that contributes to a stable international and many emerging issues in the national and global environment is generated.
Aims of the programme
The aim of the programme is to enable students to acquire and apply practical approaches in resolving conflicts and promoting peace. Specifically, students will be able to show a critical understanding of:
- Key issues and debates related to the theories of peace and practices of peacebuilding, state building, conflict management, resolution, and transformation.
- The range of social science topics that influence peacebuilding, state building, conflict management, etc
- Students will become familiar with the methodological and normative underpinnings of these disciplines.
- The analytical and policy literature concerning peacebuilding, international governance structures, state building, and the role of key actors and institutions including NGOs and military and other security actors.
- An understanding of local approaches to peacebuilding, including an awareness of the problems and critiques associated with `bottom-up' approaches.
- The development of a range of academic and professional/transferrable skills through both independent and group-based work.
Objectives of the programme
At the end of the programme graduates are expected to:
- Show in-depth understanding of peace studies and conflict resolution
- Analyse and explain the various theoretical and policy tools in the context of the recent history of peacebuilding and state-building since the end of the Cold War
- Apply various social science scientific methods in peace studies and conflict management and resolution.
- Improve awareness and knowledge of current issues in the field of peace studies and conflict resolution
- Evaluate new developments in the field of peace studies and conflict resolution.
Courses