Media, Peace and Conflict Studies

Overall Description of the Master Programme

This MA programme in Media, Peace and Conflict Studies is designed to enable students coming from diverse cultures and academic backgrounds to develop the skills necessary to manage the many complex ways in which media interact with conflict, peace and security. New thinking about media coverage of conflict on the international and local level is also studied, and students are encouraged to develop critical thinking around issues such as objectivity and ethics in news reporting and news gathering. In this programme, students also discuss how free, responsible media can help prevent conflict and build peaceful societies - and in so doing, provide the international community and employers with informed individuals.

Courses in this 40-credit MA programme are taught by UPEACE resident faculty and visiting professors who are prominent professionals and scholars in media affairs.

Students enrolling in this programme are expected to have some professional experience in media and related matters, because the MA provides them with limited practical journalism training. The courses provide students with a critical focus on media and its role in the areas of peace, conflict and security; therefore, though a first degree in any discipline is acceptable, a degree in the social sciences or humanities is an advantage. All the courses are taught in English, for which a high level of fluency is expected, but competence in a second language is also an advantage.

Students who have completed the MA in Media, Conflict and Peace Studies will have acquired wide, systematic knowledge of the many ways in which media interacts with peace, conflict and security. They will be able to go on to work in communication, post-conflict assistance, or peacebuilding with international organizations such as the UN, national governments, media organizations, or academia. They will also have the skills to work in media monitoring and content analysis with a media watchdog.

The required courses are:

PCS 6000 Foundation Course in Peace and Conflict Studies (3 Credits) - UPEACE Resident Faculty
MPS 6010 The Role of the Media in Conflict -Prevention and Peace Building- Introduction (3 Credits) - Prof. Alvaro Sierra
MPS 6016 Research Methods (3 Credits) - TBD and Prof. Alvaro Sierra
MPS 6060 Media and Ethno-Cultural Conflict (3 Credits) - Prof. Clyde Sanger
MPS 6030 The Role of the Media in the Rwandan Genocide (2 Credits) - Prof. Gerald Caplan

ELECTIVES (3 Credits) - UPEACE Resident Faculty and Visiting Faculty

MPS 6018 The New Media and Women in the Arab World (3 Credits) - Prof. Mona Eltahawy
MPS 6040 Media, Terrorism and Insurgency (3 Credits) - Prof. Victoria Fontan
MPS 6019 Workshop on Soliya Facilitation Project (1 Credits) - Prof. Alvaro Sierra
MPS 6021 History of Propaganda (3 Credits) - Prof. Randal Marlin
MPS 6014 Working in Conflicting Areas - Field Training (3 Credits) - Prof. Alvaro Sierra
MPS 6013 Practicum (2 Credits) - Prof. Alvaro Sierra
MPS 7000 Graduation Project (8 Credits)

Here are some examples of the professional involvement of our MPCS graduates:

• An alumnus from Kenya is working as a Program Coordinator for Pact, Kenya. Cross Border Areas of Northern Kenya. He coordinates program work in North Western Kenya, South Omo zone of Ethiopia, Eastern Equitoria state in Sudan and North Eastern Uganda.
• A graduate from Canada is a Communications Officer for the United Nations Development Programme in Namibia, Southern Africa.
• A graduate from Cameroon, founded Fonlon Pictures which is a film production house. He is the managing director.

For a more complete description of the courses and the professors' bios, please follow the link http://www.upeace.org/academic/calendar/