DYNAMICS OF PEACE AND CONFLICT: FOUNDATIONS AND SKILLS

Course Description: This foundational course in Peace and Conflict Studies is designed to provide a wide spectrum of professionals with the "must know" elements that constitute this field of study.  The course provides analytical tools and terminology for conflict mapping and analysis, and approaches to peace.  A strong emphasis of the course is on social, cultural, psychological and communication dynamics of conflict escalation and de-escalation.  This is followed by a practical component to provide participants with effective skills in conflict management, resolution and transformation, using hands-on activities related to communication, negotiation and mediation.

Professor: Amr ABDALLA (Egypt)
Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the University for Peace
Prior to his arrival at UPEACE he was a senior fellow with the Program on Peacekeeping Policy, School of Public Policy, at George Mason University. He was also a Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. He holds a law degree from Egypt where he practiced as a prosecuting attorney from 1978 to 1987. His Master's is in Sociology and Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES

Course Description: International migration is growing at an accelerated pace, and it is expected to continue to grow. Currently, there are about 200 million international migrants, around 3% of the world population. The phenomenon of migration is a complex one, and it comes in many guises: labour migration, family reunification, refugees, human trafficking, etc. Moreover, it has a very varying effect in different countries, often igniting profound political crises, ethnic or religious strife, and even violence. It is clear that migration intersects with various other fields, such as race, economics, culture, and demography. As such, it poses diverse challenges which cannot be dealt with in a simple or uniform way.

This course provides a general overview of the various issues posed by the complex phenomenon of migration. Issues such as: labour migration, family reunification, migration and security, combating irregular migration, migration and trade, migrant rights, health and migration, integration, etc. It presents students with insights into how these various issues are analyzed and how they lead to the formulation of various policies. Finally, it looks into the diverse national and regional responses and explores the possibility of a coordinated global response.

Professor:  Juan Amaya Castro (Columbia, The Netherlands)
Acting Head of the Department of International Law
1996 Full Degree (Doctorandus) in public international law, Leiden University, The Netherlands. September 2003-March 2004: Visiting Researcher, European Law Research Center, Harvard Law School. September 1998-March 2004: Assistant in Opleiding (Research Fellow or Ph.D.-candidate), Faculty of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands. April 1997-August 1998: Junior Docent (Junior Lecturer), Faculty of Law, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. July 1994-September 1996: Student assistant, Faculty of Law, Leiden University, the Netherlands.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN LATIN AMERICA

Course Description: The worlds of 'working for the betterment of society' and 'private enterprise' are often seen as incompatible. This course will attempt to break-down that perception in order for participants to see the social sector as a place of opportunity, both to 'do good' but also to innovate and build a financially sustainable social enterprise, whether nonprofit, for-profit, or some combination of the two. The course suggests that the skills to get a socially beneficial idea off the ground, effectively manage and grow it, and make it financially sustainable, requires social entrepreneurs to bring business-like skills and discipline to the area of 'doing good'- but these skills in fact cross the traditional boundaries between nonprofits and for-profits.

This hands-on, dynamic course will expose participants to a number of cases of social entrepreneurs who have converted their desire of building a better world into a reality. The course hopes to inspire participants with an entrepreneurial spirit, help gain an understanding of the challenges of the start-up process, offer space and structure for participants to begin developing their own business plan for a socially beneficial venture, and think about the complexities of growing and managing it.

Professor: Mohit Mukherjee (India)
Is Director of the UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education and a faculty member at UPEACE. Prior to this position, he served as Education Programme Manager of the Earth Charter Initiative, an international nonprofit organization. Before his 4-years in the non-profit sector, he worked both in the private sector and also as a high school teacher in Ecuador. He has a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University and his Master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

MEDIA, PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES: AN INTRODUCTION

Course Description: This two-week course discusses the complex role played by the media - and the problems they face - in conflict situations, whether before, during and after the actual conflict. It also addresses the clashing relationships that often occur among media and governments, the military, other armed players and NGOs, international agencies and humanitarian organizations in these circumstances. The course provides a broad understanding of the modern history of media in conflict and war situations, addresses the specificity of the different media (newspapers, tv, radio, new media) and their roles in peace and conflict and draws the distinction between information and propaganda, while explaining the ways in which media work and produce information and discusses the different roles they actually play - and the possible ones they could play. The course makes a particular emphasis in the paramount changes technology is introducing, the challenges they imply for traditional media, the new paths and possibilities the so-called new media represent and how this technical-communications revolution can affect the role the media play in conflict, conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction. The course is intended as a general introduction on these topics. It analyses dozens of examples and draws lessons from contemporary experience.

Can the media be a tool for peace in a broad sense? What kind of role can media play in an escalating conflict, in preventing any greater explosion, in helping in peacekeeping or peace building situations? Do the media offer a simplified view, centering its coverage on some issues, countries and conflicts while bypassing other? Should media and journalists have a "peace agenda" and try to save lives, or should they stick to the business of informing and doing it accurately and independently? What are the differences between covering a war in which their own country is involved and covering "other's wars", i.e., wars where media are just observers? Does the advent of new, internet-based, user-generated media affect the way people are informed during conflict times? How should media intervention or media development projects be designed and implemented in post conflict environments? These are among the questions to be addressed at the course.

Professor: Alvaro Sierra (Colombia)
Associate Professor, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies
Alvaro Sierra has been a journalist for more than 25 years and has worked for the past years as a senior editor and editorial adviser of the respected daily El Tiempo, Bogotá. He was president of the board of Medios para la Paz (Media for Peace), a major Colombian NGO of journalists that designs and teaches courses and seminars for journalists working in conditions of armed conflict. For the past eight years he has designed courses and trained local journalists in Colombia, and also in Haiti, Mexico, Ecuador. Mr. Sierra has also played a key role in designing and teaching this IMPS introductory course to the MA on Media, Peace and Security. He helped produce it in three versions: M.A., short professional training seminar, and online. He also developed a Spanish-speaking online version of this course for the University for Peace and the Knight Center at the University of Texas at Austin. He has extensive experience covering armed conflicts both as a local reporter and a foreign correspondent. In the past 20 years he has worked in Nicaragua, the former Soviet Union, Russia, the Baltic States, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, China, Hong Kong and Colombia, among other places. He speaks and writes in Spanish, French, Russian and English. Since September 1st 2008 he is an Associate Professor at UPEACE.

HUMAN RIGHTS, WOMEN, AND ISLAM: THE CASE OF SUDAN AND IRAN(to be confirmed)

The main objectives of this session are: to raise awareness about the gender perspective and the concepts of religion, and human rights and to discuss the integration of human rights aspects and it's intersection with Islam and women living in Sudan and Iran. It aims at encouraging further studies in the fields of women, religion and human rights. And it addresses the concepts of patriarchy and power relations.
The framework of the course would tackle 1- definitions and reviews, of the concepts of human rights, gender and women, as well as concepts of masculinity, femininity, and power relations in brief. The concept of patriarchy will be addressed in details, relating it to religion as an institution- patriarchal and male biased -and addressing the cultural implications that affects the religious text and in turn influence the concept of women and human rights.
Platforms to discuss issues of religion, patriarchy, dominance and women's rights will be facilitated; an interactive debate will stimulate students to reflect on their perceptions and ideas of patriarchy, women, religion and human rights.
Main concepts:

• Human rights
• Women across-culture
• Patriarchy
• Gender
• Masculinity
• Femininity
• Power relations
• Islam

Professor: Amina Alrasheed (Sudan, The Netherlands)
Assistant Professor, Department of Gender and Peace Education
PhD Candidate at the Centre of interdisciplinary Gender studies, Leeds University, UK. A Master in Gender and Culture, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. MA Public Policy and Administration, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, in the Netherlands. BSc. (honours) Department of Political Science. University of Khartoum

CREDITS AND DATES