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International Peace Studies
Overall Description of the Master Programme

The Master of Arts programme in International Peace Studies is designed to enable students from diverse cultures and backgrounds to attain a deep understanding of the central issues of peace and security, which will determine the future of humanity. The programme is intended to educate and train practitioners in international, development and international affairs, mainly for cooperation among countries.

Students of this programme may come from all professional or academic backgrounds. Usually they have a minimum baccalaureate or first university degree in any of the social sciences. For admittance, it is important to provide evidence of exposure to relevant working experience (3-5 years), meaningful motivation to pursue a career in international peace issues vis-à-vis the aspirations and principles proclaimed in the Charter of the United Nations and clear understanding of professional career ahead. English proficiency is a must, and a working proficiency in Spanish is an asset.

Students graduating from this programme are able to have the knowledge and the skills contained in fourteen courses (34 credits), which include foundational courses in peace and conflict studies and research methods, and other courses that enable them to understand the nature of the conflict and contemporary international issues related to peace, security, violence, democracy building, intra- and inter-state wars, peace operations, conflict management, mediation and negotiation, conflict transformation, sustainable development and social entrepreneurship, humanitarian law. As a capstone academic endeavor students  must complete a graduation project that can be one research, one curriculum development, one internship, one project proposal or any other meaningful outcome that demonstrate that the students are able to identify a issue, analyze it and produce a systematic and scholarly report on the project. The graduation project has the recognition of 8 credits. In order to receive the degree, students should complete a total of 42 credits.

The required courses are:

  • PCS 6000 Foundation Course in Peace and Conflict Studies (3 Credits) –  UPEACE Resident Faculty
  • IPS 6022 Aspects of Conflict:  Introduction to a Systemic Approach (3 Credits) –  Prof. Victoria Fontan and Prof. Anne Robert
  • IPS 6020 Research Methods (3 Credits) –   Prof. Josefina Echavarría
  • IPS 6023 The Nation State, State Weakness and Intrastate War (3 Credits) –     Prof. Balazs Kovacs
  • IPS 6030 Political Economy of Conflict and Peace (3 Credits) –  Prof. Samuel Ewusi
  • ELECTIVES (3 Credits) Participants can choose an elective course offered by the UPEACE Institute  –  UPEACE Resident Faculty and Visiting Faculty
  • IPS 6025 Sustainable Development and Social Entrepreneurship (3 Credits) –  Prof. Mohit Mukherjee
  • IPS 6031 Humanitarian Law (2 Credits) –  Prof. Juan Carlos Sainz-Borgo
  • IPS 6035 Peace Operations (2 Credits) –  Prof. Edward Moxon-Browne
  • IPS 6033 Practices of Conflict Management: Mediation and Negotiation (2 Credits) –  Prof. Yael Efron
  • IPS 6034 Be Peace Workshop (1 Credit) –  Prof. Rita Marie Johnson
  • IPS 6028 Capstone Workshop on Peace and Democracy Building (1 Credit) –  Prof. Victor Valle
  • IPS 6032 Peace Building and Conflict Transformation  (3 Credits) –  Prof. Wolfgang Dietrich
  • IPS 6027 Seminar: Mainstreaming UPeace Pillars (2 Credits) –  Prof. Balazs Kovacs, Prof. Ameena al-Rasheed, Prof. Mihir Kanade and Prof. Mahmoud Hamid
  • IPS 7000 Graduation Project (8 Credits)

For complete course description, course calendar and information about the professors, please follow the link http://www.upeace.org/academic/calendar/

Graduates in this MA programme should have the knowledge, skills and attitudes that enable them to work in international organizations -both governmental and non-governmental- leading development and humanitarian programmes; in foreign ministries, performing initial diplomatic tasks; and universities, teaching subjects related to peace, security, and social and international conflict management.

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

  • A graduate from the United States is Director of Communications with the Association of Farmworker Opportunity Programs.
  • An alumnus from Korea is working as a Research Officer at the United Nations Governance Centre in Seoul, Korea.
  • A graduate whose country of origin is Nigeria is employed as an Officer with the Foreign Affairs Ministry in Mexico.
  • A French alumnus is a Consultant with the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, Global Citizenship Department, in Toronto, Canada.
  • An alumni from Romania works for TRANSCEND (A Worldwide Peace and Development Network for Peace by Peaceful Means) and PATRIR (Peace Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania) where she is Director of the International Peace and Development Training Center.
  • A graduate from Armenia is Deputy Director/PR Specialist at the Council of Europe Information Office in Armenia.
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