• Regular MA Programmes
• Environmental Security and Peace
• Environmental Security and Peace, specialization in Climate Change and Security
• Gender and Peace Building
• International Law and Human Rights
• International Law and the Settlement of Disputes
• International Peace Studies
• Media, Peace and Conflict Studies
• Natural Resources and Peace
• Peace Education
• Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development
• Sustainable Urban Governance and Peace
• Special MA Programmes
• Distance Education
• Educación a Distancia
• Special Programmes
• Training
• Second Degree for UPEACE Alumni

Media, Peace and Conflict Studies

Overall Description of the Master Programme

This MA programme is designed to enable students coming from diverse cultures and academic backgrounds to develop skills to manage the many complex ways in which media interact with conflict, peace and security. The new thinking about media coverage of conflict on international and local level is also studied and students can develop critical thinking around issues such as objectivity and ethics in news reporting and news gathering. In this programme students can 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 42-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 do provide the students with a focus on media and their 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, especially in communications or journalism-related areas. All the courses are taught in English in 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 in the many ways media interact with peace, conflict and security. They will be able to go on to work in communication, post-conflict assistance or peace building through international organizations such as the UN or national governments, as well as in the media and academia. They will also have the skills to do 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) – Prof. Samuel Ewusi
• MPS 6022 Ethical Media Production and Peace (3 Credits) – Prof. Daniela Ingruber
• MPS 6027 Networks and New Media (3 Credits) – Prof. Anne Robert and Prof. Julia Hoffmann
• ELECTIVES (3 Credits) Participants can choose an elective course offered by the UPEACE Institute –  UPEACE Resident Faculty and Visiting Faculty
• MPS 6030 The Role of the Media in the Rwandan Genocide (2 Credits) – Prof. Gerald Caplan
• MPS 6040 Media, Terrorism and Insurgency (3 Credits) –  Prof. Victoria Fontan
• MPS 6028 Media, Peace and Reconciliation (2 Credits) – Prof. Julia Hoffmann
• MPS 6026 Advanced New Media in the Arab World: the Jasmine Revolution and beyond (3 Credits) – Karim El Mantawi
• MPS 6014 Working in Conflict Areas – Field Training (3 Credits) –  Prof. Alvaro Sierra
• MPS 6013 Practicum (3 Credits) – Prof. Julia Hoffmann
• MPS 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/

Participants who have successfully completed the programme will have acquired wide, systematic knowledge of the field of Media, Peace and Conflict Studies, its main theories and debates and the many ways in which media interacts with peace, conflict and security. They will have a firm grasp of the different roles the media play in different conflict situations. They are likely to work in information, 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 as journalists or editors, and designing and implementing media interventions in the field.

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.

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