COURSE DESCRIPTION

The aim of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and understanding on the complexity of the economic recovery process and how this should lead to the achievement of sustainable economic development goals in a determined context. To better understand this complex process, it is also important to reflect on aid assistance, its modalities and the actors involved as well as its impacts on the local economy.

The six-week course “Gender mainstreaming and peacekeeping operations” is designed to provide theoretical as well as field-based knowledge on the gender dimension of peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. Throughout the six weeks, the students will be exposed to the major trends that have been used for the incorporation of a gender perspective in peacekeeping and humanitarian fields, as well as in post-conflict reconstruction. Policies, programmes and practical case studies will be shared with the students with the aim of getting a thorough understanding of the positive and negative aspects of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian activities in different environments worldwide. At the end of the six-week course, the students shall be able to understand the cost of ignoring gender in peacekeeping operations and the delivery of humanitarian assistance as well as its long-term consequences, and will be able to analyze current situations with a gender perspective. The last week will sum up the entire course with a focus on post-conflict reconstruction through a gender perspective.

The course in Peace and Conflict Studies is designed to engage online students in an examination of the major contemporary challenges to peace, sources of conflict and violence, and several key nonviolent mechanisms for conflict transformation and prevention. The course is designed to provide a common foundation for UPEACE online students. During the online course, an understanding of the complex and interconnected challenges to peace will be developed, as will an understanding of the need for multi-faceted approaches to meeting these challenges. Students will also engage critically with theories of conflict, and will develop their understanding of the theoretical resources available in the area of conflict studies. The foundation course provides an opportunity to explore connections, sympathies, and synergies between the challenges and approaches identified in all of these areas from a "wide-angle" perspective that will encourage students to continue making such interdisciplinary connections and analyses. An important aspect of the course will also be the introduction to skills integral to the field of peace and conflict studies and to the UPEACE pedagogy at large. These include non-violent communication, appreciative enquiry and dialogue.

Rights of Human Beings form one of the most important branches of international law in the contemporary world. The experience of the 'scourge of war' during and in the immediate aftermath of World War II brought about a new international recognition and focus to the rights of human beings. Today, there are several international treaties guaranteeing a wide range of rights to human beings, both in times of peace and in conflicts. These instruments also impose obligations upon States to respect, protect and fulfill those rights. Under the aegis of the United Nations and regional organizations, several bodies have been established to monitor violations of rights of human beings. Despite these efforts, we continue to live in a world where these rights are rampantly abused. The events of 9/11 have also seriously exacerbated the challenges faced by rights protection. Today, like never before, there is an amplified need for students and professionals from all spheres of life to not only understand and mainstream rights of human beings into their activities, but also to be prepared to meet the growing challenges posed by current and emerging global issues.
 

In the first part of the course we will first look at the Conflict Resolution approach to theorizing conflict, understanding its origins, the vocabularies for speaking of conflict in ways that "get to the heart of the issue" and focusing on the root causes. Then we will move on to a critique of what talking in these ways fails to say - and with what repercussions - about gender, power, privilege, and difference. The second part of the course addresses various responses to conflict. The third part looks at peace processes and the challenges presented by the concept of peace building.

This course presents an overview on sensible issues ranging from parents/children’s duties and obligations, including influences related to socioeconomic status and cultural differences. The importance of education, family planning, child birth preparation and care along with personal hygiene, epidemics, sexual education and drug-related influences will constitute a primary learning component. This will include an overview on the world-wide problems related to drug use and related abuses, along with a focus on HIV/AIDS. The course offers students concrete guidance and skills required to work in creating a more sustainable and peaceful world.

Intrastate wars and low intensity armed conflicts have become the most typical form of violent conflict in the post-Cold War era. The course first examines the role of the modern nation state and its weaknesses that lead to an inability to provide its most basic function: security. In this context, the course will further analyse the causes and dynamics of civil wars, its effects on society, regional and international repercussions, and finally the complicated nature of ending them. Among other themes, the course will look at the greed-grievance debate, resource dependence, the transformation of the rentier state, state formation processes, the use of violence, and the depletion and re-creation of social capital.

This course constitutes an advanced seminar in Gender Theories specifically as it applies to violence and conflict creation and resolution. It examines the complex relationships between gender, race, ethnicity, nationalism, religion, militarization and masculinity both in the domestic and the public spheres. The entire focus of the course is in assessing the possibilities of engendering notions of peace, conflict, justice, reconstruction, reparations and pre-post conflict gender arrangements and in challenging discourses and practices which invisibilize, minimize or justify the domination of women worldwide. It intends to give students a theoretical lens from which to examine Gender and Peacebuilding.
The course will then focus on masculinities, including sexual orientation and identity issues, and their relationship to structural oppression, dominance, violence, especially that directed at women, and militarism. Is masculinity intrinsically related to violence? Can violence at home be separated from violence at the war front?
Femininities, including sexual orientation and identity issues, will also be discussed especially according to their traditional relationship to passivity, militarization and victimization. Are women really more peaceful? Does motherhood and maternal thinking make women more peace loving? Discourses about women's agency and women as victims will be critically analysed.

This course explores the history of efforts to address poverty and environmental degradation on a global scale. Although in the past these issues were often treated separately—indeed, in many cases they were seen as diametrically opposed—today it is increasingly argued that the two dynamics are intricately intertwined in myriad ways and thus must be addressed simultaneously. We will begin by examining the history of international development and conservation interventions, respectively, analyzing the ideology or “discourse” informing their practice, and discussing their contemporary convergence under the rubric of "sustainable development". Then we will explore various practical and conceptual issues involved in pursuing economic and ecological sustainability.  We will finish by reviewing contemporary directions and controversies in the field and brainstorming new possibilities for the future.

Reflecting both the newfound recognition within policy circles of the importance of the complex human dynamics involved in addressing poverty and environmental degradation and the relative neglect of such considerations in the past, this class will emphasize the social scientific study of conservation/development practice, exploring the political, economic, social, cultural, and logistical issues involved in implementing successful measures. Rather than focusing on specific themes or topics within conservation/development (i.e., forestry, ecotourism, bioregional conservation, etc.), we will emphasize the core conceptual issues that cross-cut and underlie all specific foci. We will try to push our understanding of these issues as deep as possible, probing their philosophical roots and cultural consequences.  In this effort, we will also reflect critically of our own beliefs, values, and assumptions in order to develop sensitivity to the types of cultural differences likely to influence interventions’ success in diverse parts of the world.

The Independent Research Project (IRP) is a critical investigation on a particular topic, demonstrating the development of independent thought through original research.  It is compulsory for the completion of the online MA. EXPC 6006 Research Methods is a prerequisite for taking this course.

Instructional technology has been around for centuries.  From the wax tablets used by Roman teachers and students, dating back some 500 years before Christ, to iPads, laptop computers and mobile phones, it sure has come a long way.  Modern-era teaching machines were developed in the XX century by American behaviorists, among them B.F. Skinner, inspired by the pioneering work of Sydney Pressey.  But an important turning point occurred when information technology and cognitive psychology came into the picture.  Today, computers, networks, and mobile devices are the heirs of ancient technologies, all sharing a common goal: to assist people in learning.

This course is about instructional technology and how to use it for the purpose of educating for peace.  Unfortunately, most technological innovations have been triggered by the war and military industry.  But fortunately, we can set that aside and focus on using technology for attaining better goals.  Technology can be our ally for fostering understanding and improving people’s quality of life.  During the course, participants will engage in activities for designing, implementing, and evaluating learning objects based on their own professional and/or personal interests.  We will address contemporary learning theories and use them to design effective and engaging instructional units that can be used in different settings and populations.  We will also experiment with various free software applications and learn how to choose the most suitable ones for our teaching objectives.

The moniker ‘Democratic’ has been adopted by movements, organizations and states of drastically different ideological persuasion, social and political vision. Whether genuinely or rhetorically, the pursuit of democracy and democratization has been a permanent fixture in international and domestic politics since the end of the Second World War. Either through violent or non-violent means, political transition and regime change is always dramatic and never simple. The course explores what this process means and how democratic transitions happen through an overview of theories of change and the analysis of case studies. 

Our global demographics are changing rapidly, and few places remain in the world that is highly homogenous. In many of today's global-oriented organizations and businesses, leaders will often confront culturally challenging situations. It is imperative to understand and be able to work in environments that are fundamentally different from one's own. The objective of this course is to help build the capacity of the learner to be sensitive and respectful of diversity and to learn how to better manoeuvre within different cultural contexts.

This course will develop student's theoretical knowledge and applied skills in conducting qualitative, quantitative and participatory research in the fields of peace building and conflict analysis and resolution, with a strong emphasis on gender issues and their cultural implications.

The course aims at understanding the impact of climate change on the global environment and on human activity. Climate change increases risks to human livelihoods and as such may endanger the security of individuals and groups. This in turn could increase the propensity for conflict within and between states. Components of the course will include a critical examination of the drivers of climate change, largely induced by human activity, and a review of international efforts to limit the magnitude of climate changes, including those concluded in Kyoto and Copenhagen. Consequences of climate change for human health, for economic activity, for resource use and resource availability will also be examined, as will be the options for adapting to climate change. The examination of climate changes will be viewed within the broader context of the current demographic, economic and political global reality. Introductory comments and discussions led by the instructor will be followed by seminars with broad student input. Examining cases from sub-Saharan Africa, including the crisis in Darfur, will allow in-depth analysis of how climate, environment and governance contribute to conflict. The course will conclude with an exploration of future challenges.
 

Within the general context of gender studies and peace and conflict studies, the course offers elementary knowledge of nonviolent action as a method of pursuing social justice and transformation of conflict. Although the fighting of wars relies on young men in their prime, nonviolent action has no gender exclusions, and women can be as effective as men. An introduction to theories and methods of nonviolent strategic action is broadly connected to both gender and the building of enduring peace. The strategic thinking that underlies the use of nonviolent sanctions is considered, including its fundamental principles and theories of power. Not all conflicts can be mediated or resolved; some require full engagement, yet without bloodshed. In democracies, where the rights of minorities may be ignored, and laws may not provide redress, it is important to have nonviolent methods for seeking fairness and justice.

The United Nations Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, adopted in November 2000, defines trafficking as: “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, or deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs.” This protocol has 105 signatories. In our globalizing world, trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, hasincreased in both magnitude and in reach, becoming a major human rights concern. Trafficking grew enormously. The human trafficking affects vulnerable individuals, particularly women and children, in every region of the world, the criminal nature of human trafficking makes it difficult to know the real extent of the phenomenon.

This course will assess the systemic nature and globalization of insurgencies in terms of the mass communication used by groups to grow, self-sustain, recruit militants, spread their identity and elicit support from their target audience. This will be facilitated by the analysis of five political insurgency networks: the Lebanese Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, the Iraqi insurgency, several Zionist groups that contributed to the creation of the State of Israel, and Kashmiri separatists from India; as well as one social insurgency: the Animal Liberation Front. The course will prepare students to think analytically about terrorism and insurgency, and use various models of mass communication to understand their dynamics and processes. At the end of the course, the students are expected to have a sound knowledge of the field of mass communication applied to terrorism and insurgency.

This course will introduce students to the relations between the environment, natural resources, and peace and conflict, providing an overview and analysis of key concepts related to the environment and natural resources, and their influences on conflicts and peace. The first part introduces the main types of global environmental change and their impacts on livelihood and human security, stressing and analysing the concept of and dimensions on human vulnerability. Some of the key issues are climate change, deforestation, and the resulting loss of biodiversity and environmental services. The second part will look at the integration of development and environment, introducing the concepts of sustainability, limits to growth, sustainable development, and environmental security. Finally the course will analyse specific case studies that give insights into the complex role of environmental scarcity and abundance on conflicts, and critically analyse the issues around poverty, corruption, international markets, governance and policies related to development on peace and conflicts.

The destructive role that media can play has been amply demonstrated during conflicts in Nazi Germany to that in Rwanda in the 1990s. Their (potentially) more constructive role when it comes to fostering a culture of peace, preventing escalation or adding to processes of reconciliation and peace-building, however, has received comparatively scarce scholarly attention.

This course seeks to introduce students to the main theories and practice pertaining to the role journalists, and media more generally, (ought to) play in such processes. It will focus on the critiques against contemporary mainstream media coverage, leveled mainly against ‘Western’ media coverage of conflicts in the Global South, and the call for reconsidering the dominant paradigm of what is called ‘War Journalism’. Alternative paradigms for more conflict sensitive coverage seek to incorporate insights from Peace and Conflict Studies to bring about what has been termed an alternative way of practicing journalism: Peace Journalism. We will examine a number of academic case studies of covering different conflicts in the world which seek to operationalize the concept of Peace Journalism and will examine the impact of the “war against terrorism” on mass media narratives of global conflict(s).
Having introduced the idea of Peace Journalism and examined its practice, the course will subsequently consider normative as well as practical challenges that render the concept controversial among many journalists and scholars which may impede the realization of its ambitions in practice. Students will be provided with the most salient arguments, theories and empirical evidence that underpin this ongoing debate and be challenged to position themselves within it.

Most recently, new media technologies have increasingly been hailed for their potential to foster democracy, peace and dialogue. At the end of this course, we will critically examine some of these assumptions and also look at other models that have been proposed in response to the perceived shortcomings of the dominant norms of professional (‘Western’) journalism.

Drawing on ideas, perspectives, and experiences from diverse contexts, this course seeks to provide participants with a holistic and critical understanding of the theory and practice of peace education.  Essentially, the course content and processes will explore a range of conceptual/analytical perspectives and encourage students to reflect on the possibilities and challenges of educating for peace in a world of complex and escalating conflicts and violence.

The course discusses the complex role and functions played by the media, both traditional and new - 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 history of media in conflict and war situations, and draws the distinction between information and propaganda, while explaining the ways in which media work and produce information and discusses the different roles and functions they actually play - and the possible ones they could play. The course is intended as a general introduction on these topics. It analyses dozens of examples and draws lessons from contemporary experience, with an emphasis on new media, social networks and the role they have played in revolutions and contentious politics against authoritarian regimes in recent years.

The 21st century is described as the age of globalization, a phenomenon which is increasingly affecting human beings in every aspect of their lives. While globalization has undoubtedly resulted in significant economic and social integration at the global level, the pace at which it is occurring has also brought with it several unintended consequences for the respect and promotion of human rights at other levels. The principal institutions facilitating this phenomenon such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, have often been accused of keeping human rights issues out of their respective domains. The critical challenge, therefore, facing the present world order lies in ensuring that the vehicles of globalization are oriented towards development and promotion of human rights, through appropriate laws and policies. This course will introduce students to the major themes and debates concerning these different linkages between globalization and human rights and explore the new streams of critique that have enabled a confluence as well as a questioning of the globalization-human rights interface.

This course offers a deeper understanding of the change processes that lead to more effective projects and impacts within organizations. It is intended to increase the students’ capacities to formulate strategies and to design, implement and evaluate projects within a development and conflict prevention perspective. The students learn and critically discuss the theories of change as well as the processes of strategic planning, and project design and evaluation. They apply these notions to the study of concrete cases and to the preparation of their own strategic development and projects. The course delves deeper on such tools as: all the steps leading to the formulation of strategic plans; context, problem and stakeholders’ analysis; project cycle; logical framework; outcome mapping; adaptive management; project implementation; phasing out; project monitoring and impact assessment.

The aim of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and understanding on the complexity of the economic recovery process and how this should lead to the achievement of sustainable economic development goals in a determined context. To better understand this complex process, it is also important to reflect on aid assistance, its modalities and the actors involved as well as its impacts on the local economy.

The six-week course “Gender mainstreaming and peacekeeping operations” is designed to provide theoretical as well as field-based knowledge on the gender dimension of peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. Throughout the six weeks, the students will be exposed to the major trends that have been used for the incorporation of a gender perspective in peacekeeping and humanitarian fields, as well as in post-conflict reconstruction. Policies, programmes and practical case studies will be shared with the students with the aim of getting a thorough understanding of the positive and negative aspects of peacekeeping operations and humanitarian activities in different environments worldwide. At the end of the six-week course, the students shall be able to understand the cost of ignoring gender in peacekeeping operations and the delivery of humanitarian assistance as well as its long-term consequences, and will be able to analyze current situations with a gender perspective. The last week will sum up the entire course with a focus on post-conflict reconstruction through a gender perspective.

This course examines family structures from a global systems perspective, illustrating the impact of war, migration while defining the many ways that family structures are re-defining themselves. Healthy birthing practices as well as positive models for feminine and masculine identities are addressed in order to educate in ways that create a healthier foundation for peace. Family health is also impacted by health conditions and drug use The focus on health examines poverty and its impact on resources such as clean water, nutrition and overall health and also sexual education, contraception and sexually transmitted diseases. Drug use, history, abuse and treatment are discussed from an in-depth perspective. Overall, all of these things impact the human family. The course offers students concrete guidance and skills required to work in creating a more sustainable and peaceful world.

In the first part of the course we will first look at the Conflict Resolution approach to theorizing conflict, understanding its origins, the vocabularies for speaking of conflict in ways that "get to the heart of the issue" and focusing on the root causes. Then we will move on to a critique of what talking in these ways fails to say - and with what repercussions - about gender, power, privilege, and difference. The second part of the course addresses various responses to conflict. The third part looks at peace processes and the challenges presented by the concept of peace building.

The Independent Research Project (IRP) is a critical investigation on a particular topic, demonstrating the development of independent thought through original research.  It is compulsory for the completion of the online MA. EXPC 6006 Research Methods is a prerequisite for taking this course.

Adam Baird is from the UK and has a PhD, MRes and MA from the Peace Studies Dept at the University of Bradford. He is a specialist in urban insecurity and has worked substantially with gangs and processes of male youth inclusion. He has over a decade of experience in Latin America and is currently writing a book on urban violence prevention. In 2011-2 he was a Drugs, Security and Democracy postdoctoral fellow with the Social Science Research Council / Open Society Foundation. He is currently Assistant Professor at the University for Peace in Costa Rica.He is contributing editor to Paz Paso a Paso: Una mirada desde los Estudios de Paz a los Conflictos Colombianos (2012). He is also an ‘Associate Expert to the UNDP in the area of Crisis Prevention and Recovery’ in Latin America and the Caribbean. A selection of his academic publications include:

BAIRD, A. (2012 - forthcoming) ¿Héroes Olvidados? Activismo de la sociedad civil y las políticas de juventud en Medellín en BAIRD, A. & SERRANO, J.F. Eds, Paz Paso a Paso: Una mirada desde los Estudios de Paz a los Conflictos Colombianos, Pontifica Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá

___________ (2012). “Negotiating Pathways to Manhood: Rejecting Gangs and Violence in Medellín’s Periphery”. Journal of Conflictology, 3 (1), 28-39. Campus for Peace, UOC

___________ (2012) Youth, Masculinity and Violence Reproduction in Medellín’s Periphery, Safer Communities, 11 (4), London

___________ (May 2009) Methodological Dilemmas: Researching Violent Young Men in Medellín, Colombia. IDS Bulletin. Violence, Social Action and Research, 40, 72-77.

Ameena Alrasheed Ph.D candidate at Leeds University the UK, worked as Teaching Assistant at the Department of Political Science, Khartoum university, Sudan, TA at Leeds University, Middle Eastern Studies, Trainer and consultant with the UN and international organizations in Kosovo, Iran, Indonesia. Researcher on women’s refugees and immigrants in the Netherland and women and domestic violence in the UK at the National probation centers, West Yorkshire.

Dr. Abdalla is Professor and Vice Rector at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace (UPEACE).  Before arriving at UPEACE, he was a Senior Fellow with the Peace Operations Policy Program, School of Public Policy, at George Mason University, in Virginian, USA.   He was also a Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia.
 
Both his academic and professional careers are multi-disciplinary.  He obtained a law degree in Egypt in 1977 where He practiced law as a prosecuting attorney from 1978 to 1987.  He then emigrated to the U.S. where He obtained a Master's degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.
 
He has been teaching graduate classes in conflict analysis and resolution, and has conducted training, research and evaluation of conflict resolution and peacebuilding programs in several countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas.  He also authored, and co-authored, several research and evaluation teaching manuals including: Doing What You Want With Your Data, A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning and Implementing Evaluation Strategies, and Qualitative Evaluation: The What and Why.

He has been an active figure in promoting effective cross-cultural messages within the Islamic and Arabic-speaking communities in America through workshops, T.V. and radio presentations.  He has also been actively involved in inter-faith dialogues in the United States.  He pioneered the development of the first conflict resolution training manual for the Muslim communities in the United States titled (“…Say Peace”).  He also founded Project LIGHT (Learning Islamic Guidance for Human Tolerance), a community peer-based anti-discrimination project funded by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).
 

Balázs Áron Kovács is an instructor at the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at the UNmandated University for Peace. He holds a Juris Doctorate from the Faculty of Law and Political Science, Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary and a Master’s Degree in International Peace Studies from the University for Peace. Since the beginning of 2007 he has been working with the Dual Campus Master of Arts in International Peace Studies programme in Manila, the Philippines and San José, Costa Rica. Prior to his appointment at UPEACE he worked as a programme officer at Freedom House Europe, Budapest. He also worked as a civil servant in the Hungarian Ministry of Justice on good governance and taught European and Hungarian history at FEB’93, a foundation engaged in education in Hungary.

MA in Education, University of Texas, at Austin, USA; BA in Mathematics, Alverno College, Milwaukee, USA; BA in Teaching, National University of Education, Peru. Training: in Human Right and Gender Studies at the International Institute of Human Rights, Rene Cassin, Strasbourg, France. Certificate: Building Capacities for Peacekeeping and Women’s Dimensions in Peace Processes, European Union-Latin American Office, Santiago, Chile. Director of the Educational Area:  Inter-American Institute of Human Rights, San Jose, Costa Rica. Director: Center for Educational Resources (IIDH), San Jose, Costa Rica. Consultant; Secretaria de Estado do Planejamento, Brasilia, Brazil. Programme Officer, Ministry of Education, Lima, Peru. Disciplines: Human Rights Education, Gender and women’s Studies, Education for Peace.

Edgar Salgado-García has a professional doctorate in psychology, a Master of Science in behavior analysis and therapy from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and a post-graduate degree in psychology from the University of Costa Rica (UCR).  He received his Bachelor of Science degree with a major in psychology and a minor in anthropology at Florida State University.  He is also certified in e-learning project management and online teaching from the National Technological University of Argentina, and in computer technology from the Latin American University of Science and Technology (ULACIT).

During the past 15 years, he has been an instructor in psychology and education at different universities in Costa Rica.  Currently, he is a professor in the University Curriculum and Teaching Masters program at ULACIT in San José, Costa Rica.  He has been a consultant for the National System for Higher Education Accreditation of Costa Rica in the writing and validation of the Official Manual for Accreditation of Distance Education Programs, and has taught numerous online courses for universities and international organizations in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador.

Jacobo Schifter , PhD in History from Columbia University (1983), is Emeritus Professor at Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica. He has published several controversial books on Costa Rican-US relations and on Costa Rica’ s Civil War. He has also published several books on AIDS and sexuality, including Lila’s House. A Study on Male Prostitution in Latin America (Haworth, 1998), Macho Love. Sex Behind Bars in Latin America (Haworth, 1999), From Toads to Queens. Transvestim in a Latin American  Setting, (Haworth, 2000), Public Sex in Latin America (Haworth, 2000), Truckdriver’s Trade (Haworth, 2001).

Assistant Professor in the Department of Environment, Peace and Security, University for Peace. MSc. Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University and Research Center, The Netherlands. BSc. Tropical Forestry, Technological Institute of Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica. He teaches Forestry, Agriculture, the San Jose Environmental Seminar and the Natural Resource Management Field Trip. Prior to this, he worked as a Student Research Assistant in Wageningen University and Research Center, WUR, at the Sociology Department, inside the Environmental Policy Group. Research interests: Payments for Environmental Services, Forest Conservation, Sustainable Rural Development, Community Forest Concessions.

Juan P. Hoffmaister is a specialist on international governance and law, with expertise adaptation, disaster risk reduction, and development and cooperation policy. He is associated with Third World Network and the Stockholm Environment Institute, and serves as negotiator for the Group of 77 and China in multiple UN forums. Mr. Hoffmaister has completed extensive field work on implementation of adaptation and disaster risk reduction activities and has spoken to international audiences on the strengthens and drawbacks on community-based adaptation. He has served in research, assessment and policy advice to governments and multilateral organizations on climate change, particularly in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process, and is also knowledgeable of international governance processes on biodiversity (Convention on Biological Diversity), trade (World Trade Organization), and sustainable development (Commission on Sustainable Development). He has training in adaptation and resilience from the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden (Msc) and ecology and environmental policy from College of the Atlantic, USA (BA).

Assistant Professor, in Human Rights, Media, and Peace; Vice Rector Office
Ph.D., University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2009. LL.M. in International Public Law at Amsterdam Law School, 2007, and M.Sc. in International Relations and Communication Science, University of Amsterdam, 2005.

Before obtaining her first Master’s Degree, Julia Hoffmann studied Media Management at the Institute for Journalism and Communication Science in Hanover, Germany, and Political Philosophy at Hong Kong University.

She has been working as an academic lecturer since 2006 and as a free-lance consultant, speaker and trainer for a number of NGOs in the field of media, human rights, peace and conflict.
 

Karim El Mantawi is a Cairo/Vancouver based consultant. Previously serving at Soliya, a partner of the UN Alliance of Civilizations, Mr. El Mantawi used new media technologies to facilitate a media literacy-based dialogue between western and Middle Eastern universities. He also served as field producer for documentary films in Egypt, and as project manager at Sarmady, a Vodafone company specialized in digital communications.

Kerri Drumm has extensive experience in both the educational and peace and conflict fields.  She has worked as an educator in the traditional classroom and in various non-formal settings.  She has substantial experience in the creation and implementation of educational materials and diverse curricula, creating training material for UNHCR, school districts across the United States, and various NGOs including Mental Health America, United Way, The Spot and Denver Kids, Inc.  She has implemented Peace Education programing for re-settled refugee youth, at risk adolescents, and teachers. Additionally, Kerri has written curricula for the University for Peace and the Peace Operations Training Institute.  Ms. Drumm holds a B.A. in Comparative Literature from the University of Colorado and an M.A. in Peace Education from the University for Peace.

Political scientist and prize-winning author Mary King is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, University for Peace. She has served as an Academic Adviser to the Africa programme, among other roles. She is also Distinguished Scholar with The American University Center for Global Peace, in Washington, DC, and a fellow with the Rothermere American Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom.
King has been a practitioner of international relations for 30 years—requiring personal contact with heads of state and government ministers of more than 120 developing countries. While a presidential appointee in the Carter Administration, confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she had responsibility for the Peace Corps (60 countries), VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), and other national volunteer service corps programs. Since 1984, she has served as a special adviser to former president Jimmy Carter. 
As a young student, she worked alongside the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (no relation) in the U.S. civil rights movement. She was one of what the New York Times called a “tiny handful” of white, female “heroic, unsung organizers of the Southern civil rights movement.” Her book on that epochal four-year experience, Freedom Song: A Personal Story of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, won her a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award in 1988. 
In 2002 the second edition of her book, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr: The Power of Nonviolent Action, chronicling nine contemporary nonviolent struggles and originally published by UNESCO in Paris in 1999, was brought out in New Delhi by Mehta Publishers and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations. 
Her latest book is A Quiet Revolution: The First Palestinian Intifada and Nonviolent Resistance (New York: Nation Books, 2007; London: Perseus Books, 2008).
Next to come is a reference book: The New York Times and Democratic Transitions in Eastern Europe, 1977-2005 (Washington, DC: C Q Press/Sage, 2009).
She is currently completing a book project, Conversion and the Mechanisms of Change in Nonviolent Action: The 1924–25 Vykom Satyagraha Case, a study of an historic nonviolent struggle against untouchability in Kerala, India, in 1924?25, with a grant award from the United States Institute of Peace.
King was co-author, with Casey Hayden, of “Sex and Caste,” a document published by the War Resisters League in 1966 that served as kindling for second-wave feminism. The Americanist historian Ruth Rosen in The World Split Open: How the Women=s Movement Changed America says this article makes her a central figure in starting the contemporary U.S. women=s movement.
Her doctorate in international politics is from the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. In 1989, her alma mater Ohio Wesleyan University bestowed on her its highest award for distinguished achievement.
In November 2003, she was given the Jamnalal Bajaj International Award, which recognizes the promotion of Gandhian values. In receiving this prize in Mumbai (Bombay), India, she joined the ranks of such previous winners as Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat of the United Kingdom, and Professor Johan Galtung of Norway.

Mihir Kanade is the Director of the UPEACE Human Rights Centre and is an Academic Consultant to the Department of International Law and Human Rights at UPEACE. Prior to the present position, Mihir practiced for 6 years as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of India and the Bombay High Court, focusing on issues of fundamental human rights violations. He holds a LL.B. from Nagpur University and a Master’s degree in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes from UPEACE. He has served as a legal advisor to many human rights organizations in India and has represented them before different courts and tribunals in criminal, constitutional and labour cases. His principal area of academic research and study is Human Rights and International Trade Linkages, on which he has also worked as a consultant with the United Nations University, Tokyo.

Former Coordinator of the RMSED Programme at the University for Peace, Costa Rica from 2009 to July 2011. She Owns a Msc in Post-war reconstruction, graduated with distinction in 1999, University of York (UK). Bsc in Economics, graduated Cum Laude, 1992, University La Sapienza of Rome (Italy). Technical Diploma in accounting and foreign Languages, graduated in 1986, (Italy).

Olivera Simic is a lecturer with the Griffith University Law School, Queensland, Australia. Originally from the former Yugoslavia, Olivera has lived and studied in Eastern and Western Europe, the USA and South America. Her research engages with transitional justice, international law, peacekeeping, gender and crime from an interdisciplinary perspective.Olivera has published in journals such as Law Text Culture, Women’ Studies International Forum, Journal of International Women Studies, International Peacekeeping as well as in books and book chapters. Her book Regulation of Sexual Conduct in UN Peacekeeping Operations will be published by Springer in June 2012.

Assistant Professor of Natural Resources and Sustainable Development in the Department of Environment, Peace and Security at UPEACE. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Barbara with an emphasis in Global Studies. Dr. Fletcher has conducted ethnographic research in Chile and Costa Rica concerning the cultural dimensions of ecotourism as a strategy for environmentally-sustainable economic development. In addition, he has worked for many years as a professional ecotourism guide and planner in a variety of locations

Dr. Rolain Borel is an Emeritus Professor at the Department of Environment, Peace and Security at UPEACE.

Dr. Borel worked at UPEACE for 23 years, first as a volunteer, implementing research and training activities in environmental conflict management and as an international consultant for bilateral cooperation agencies and from 2001 to 2011 as a full time faculty and Head of the Department. Born and raised in Switzerland, Dr. Borel is married and father of three (and proud grand father of one); he has made Costa Rica his residence home for more than 30 years.

Sharon G. Mijares is a licensed Psychologist, trained in family systems, substance abuse and prevention. As a Psychology professor, she has taught in the marriage and family therapist licensing programs, including courses on human sexuality with an emphasis on prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS. She also teaches master-level behavioral research courses related to personal, social and organizations issues. Dr. Mijares is the author/editor of five books, including published articles and book chapters in her areas of expertise, including The Root of All Evil: An Exposition of Prejudice, Fundamentalism and Gender Imbalance, co-authored with an Egyptian Muslim woman, an Israeli Jewish woman and a new age American woman. Her sixth book (unpublished) is titled A Force such as the World has Never Known: Women Creating Change. This book includes women from around the planet, working with political and environmental change, nutrition, health, gender balance and other areas of transformation. She also has a Black Belt (Shodan) in the martial art Aikido, a way of harmony through response and movement.

Toh Swee-Hin is Distinguished Professor and long-term Consultant, Office of the Vice-Rector, University for Peace. He graduated with a Ph.D. in International/Intercultural Education & Sociology of Education, and a Master of Education in Educational Administration from the University of Alberta, Canada after undergraduate studies in Chemistry & Education at La Trobe University in Australia.  Prior to his UPEACE appointment, Prof. Toh was the founding Director of the Multi-Faith Centre, Griffith University, in Australia, which seeks to promote inter-faith dialogue towards a culture of peace. Born in Malaysia, he has taught in universities in Canada and Australia and served as visiting professor in the interrelated fields of education for a culture of peace, human rights, justice, multiculturalism, sustainability and interfaith dialogue in North and South contexts. He has contributed to several international networks and organizations including UNESCO, the International Institute on Peace Education, World Council for Curriculum & Instruction, Asia- Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding, and the Parliament of the World’s Religions and Religions for Peace. In 2000, he was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.