COURSE DESCRIPTION

It is designed to engage 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 provides a common foundation for UPEACE students from all of the different M.A. programs (as its name suggests). During the 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. During the course of their studies at UPEACE students will engage in increasingly specialized inquiry into various dimensions and issues in their specific MA areas. 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 throughout their tenure at UPEACE and after. 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.

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 Peace Building.

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’s as victims will be critically analyzed.

This course examines issues related to gender, and economic development, and the relationship between gender and the economy and development.  The course begins with basic conceptions of gender and then we focus on the theories of economics, and development theory.  The course addresses issues of poverty, economic reform, employment, and globalization.  We will examine in detail the impact of the all on gender.

The GPB Seminar is an open academic space organized with and for students across the year by the Department for Gender and Peace Education. The Seminar is arranged in 5 sessions distributed in the two academic semesters. . During these periods the Head of Department and students will have the opportunity to discuss relevant scholarly issues in the Gender and Peacebuilding programme, as well as any other issue related to the Programme’s development.

The seminars serve the purpose of enabling students to expand their knowledge, learn more about Costa Rica and make connections among courses and activities. To sustain the Programme’s objectives and students’ interests, many supplementary topics and discussions will be introduced in each session of the Seminar. Students will be motivated and are encouraged to bring a positive contribution to the sessions and to exercise the culture of peace values.  Consultative and participatory methods will be an integral part of the Seminar.
 
Five seminar sessions have been scheduled all year long, which will include, in-class discussions, a few visits to relevant institutions in Costa Rica, academic presentations by in-house professors, as the group agrees. The in-class discussion sessions will be an interactive forum where students exchange ideas on how best they can improve on their academic and environmental adaptability and progress; it will also be the time to critically reflect upon the ongoing process of either the Independent Research Project. Suggestions on how they can be helped ease the adjustments and learning experience will be encouraged.

Seminars dates are:

October 11, 2012

December 6, 2012

February 4 & 5, 2013 (Field Trip)

April 4, 2013

May 16, 2013

Sexual rights are a new phenomenon, people historically have had rights in their sexual behavior but not until modernity they came to believe that sexuality was a dimension of rights, in a similar manner to political or religious rights. These “rights” have been understood in different ways throughout Western history. We will in this course attempt at identifying the major changes and perceptions in Western history that affected our perceptions and the rights of sexuality. The evolution from one sexual culture to another will be explained by the paradigms that have prevailed. Special attention will be given to the factors that help to explain change and different attitudes toward sexuality.  Three major historical paradigms and its historical dimensions will be studied: Premodernity, Modernity and Post Modernity. Sex became to be perceived very differently in each of these times and these paradigms will help students comprehend how different sexual personalities, sexual minorities and sexual rights’ movements emerged in the West according to the sexual paradigms that prevailed. Despite the emphasis on Western Europe, the course will pay attention to world variations. Finally, current controversies, such as abortion, gay marriage, sexual mutilation, sexual minorities´ rights, birth-control and gender reassignments will be analyzed.

The three-week course “Gender mainstreaming in peacekeeping operations and in humanitarian assistance” is designed to provide theoretical as well as field-based knowledge on the gender dimension of peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance. Throughout the three 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. 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 three-week course, the students shall be able to understand the cost of ignoring gender in peacekeeping mission and the delivery of humanitarian assistance and its consequences, as well as to analyze current situations with a gender perspective.

To develop students’ theoretical knowledge and applied skills in conducting qualitative, action and participatory research in the fields of peacebuilding and conflict analysis and resolution, with a strong emphasis on gender issues and their cultural implications.

In addition participants can choose an elective course (3 credits) offered by the UPEACE Institute or other UPEACE programmes.

For UPEACE students, the Institute offers the elective courses that have to take as part of their corresponding plan of studies at UPEACE. During these courses, UPEACE students can share learning experiences with students of all UPEACE MA programmes and non-UPEACE students as well.

Human rights are the basis for peace, justice and development, and there can be no peace and human rights  without justice, and that is why gender, perspective is crucial to the idea of justice and human rights. Human rights are a guide for good governance, and it based on principles of equality. The course will discuss, human rights theory, its origin and gender bias within the theory. Gender and human rights as concepts are challenging to cultural diversity, national security and the issue of sovereignty

Human rights theories, are basically male created, and have required gender perspective over time and with development.
The course will stimulate critical   thinking, and will help students, in formulating a holistic view on issues of justice, human rights and gender.

The course combines discussion and exercises guided by the professor, who uses lectures, films, class discussions, and class exercises for specified learning objectives.

Readings develop knowledge. They come from both contemporary and classic texts, partially based on a case-study method, allowing a sweeping review of the subject, touching most regions of the world.

With afternoons free for study, an average of 50 pages are to be read each day. The readings are correlated to the class discussions and films. The load grows lighter as the course proceeds.

Several 30-minute documentary films are shown in class, and short film clips, for gaining knowledge.

Three feature-length documentary films are assigned for knowledge, and required for the course, to be viewed together in organized showings:

The Singing Revolution, by James and Maureen Tusty
Bringing Down a Dictator, by Steve York
The Orange Revolution, by Steve York

All films are teaching materials, to be viewed as if published essays or books.

All examinations, pop quizzes, essays, and the final examination are intended for exploring ideas, developing a capacity to understand the theoretical basis of nonviolent action, analyzing new-found knowledge, evaluating insights, deepening and reinforcing the learning experience, and making innovative ideas operative in the student’s life and work.

Drawing on theories, perspectives, and experiences from diverse contexts, this course seeks to provide students with a holistic and critical understanding of the linkages between gender, environment and sustainable development. The course includes:

(i) gender analysis as an analytical approach used to understand the relationships between men and women, the constraints they face relative to each other and how to reduce the inequalities in access to and control over the resources; gender mainstreaming as “the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in all areas and at all levels. It is a strategy for making women’s as well as men’s concerns and experiences an integral dimension of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres so that women and men benefit equally and inequality is not perpetuated. The ultimate goal is to achieve gender equality.” (ECOSOC 1997/2)

(ii) perspectives on nature and men and women’s experiences with the environment, as well as the need to address actual relationships of different groups of women with the environment, considering that women do not constitute a single homogenous group;

(iii) changing perspectives and practice on women, gender and development WID, WAD and GAD; alternative paradigms of development and globalization; frameworks of gender and environmental security as they relate to climate change, biodiversity, energy and water management; and contemporary approaches to gender equity and mainstreaming in sustainable development;

(iv) women’s empowerment through exemplars of organizations and communities working for sustainable development from different cultural contexts including Asian, Pacific, African, Latin American  and indigenous societies; and

(v) writing sample proposals that integrate gender perspectives in the design, implementation and evaluation of sustainable development programmes, project and policies.

The course focuses on the development of practical and conceptual tools for the transformation of conflict from the macro- to the micro-level.  Taking the perspective that all participants will be involved in both conflict and resolution of different sorts and in different capacities throughout their future professional lives, the aim of this course is to engage with these processes through various simulations, project development activities, and other activities.  These situational learning exercises provide an opportunity for the practical development of ‘skills,’ but more importantly, of conceptual tools relating to negotiation, mediation, conflict analysis, program development, and peacebuilding.  By creating situations and a classroom environment where students can put these concepts into use, the goal is to move from ideas to practices and back – that is, to close the dialectical loop between theory, research, and practice that is the necessary basis for reflective conflict transformation.  The series of readings for the course are of two sorts:  1) guidelines and research on practice; and 2) in-depth essays that develop specific analytical concepts that deepen and enrich the understanding of practice.  The course offers a chance to develop, synthesize, and reflect on ideas and skills learned throughout the year.  It brings together material from various programs and courses in an active environment, and is a time for people to examine what those ideas mean for them as individuals in their future careers as peacemakers and builders.

The UPEACE MA Programme in Gender and Peacebuilding requires that students write an Independent Research Project  (IRP) which is worth 8 credits.  The format for each programme has some variations, but this document will explain some common guidelines.

Students are encouraged from the first day of classes to choose a research topic that: is compatible with their own professional goals; they feel confident to find information; is innovative and enhances their learning process and could serve as a guide for generating further projects.  It is expected that the IRP integrates the knowledge and skills acquired in different courses offered by the Programmes. In cases where research topics are not covered in the courses offered during the first semester, students are encouraged to consult with their research professor, the resident faculty, and the department head for consultation or referrals to other resident or visiting professors with relevant expertise.

The IRP is a document of a minimum of 14,000 words and a maximum of 20,000 words (it does not include Appendices, Footnotes, Survey Questions, etc.). Students are encouraged to start collecting information and material earlier during the academic year.

During the first semester, all students will take a course on Research Methods to learn about various research methodologies. At the end of the first semester, the Proposal for the IRP should be finalized and should be approved by the Research Methods professor.

At the beginning of the second semester, each student will be assigned an advisor. The Head of the Department, in coordination with students, will select advisors who will continue guiding students in the production of the IRP.

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).
 

Carol

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.

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).

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.

Professor Sara Sharratt received her Ph.D in Clinical Psychology and is Professor Emerita of Psychology from Sonoma State University, California where she taught for 18 years. She specializes in Gender Studies and Feminist Psychology. She has taught in universities around the world, including the University of Maryland in Germany, Holland and Belgium and at both the University of Costa Rica and the National University of Costa Rica in their joint graduate programme in Women’s Studies. She is an international consultant on gender issues and violence against women especially during war time. Dr. Sharratt is co-editor of Assault on the Soul: Women in the Former Yugoslavia, a book on the plight of women in the former Yugoslavia. She has directed programs on gender and violence and sustainable development for the Government of Costa Rica. She has had an extensive practice as a Clinical Psychologist and Gender Consultant in the United States, Europe and Costa Rica. She currently resides in The Hague and is completing a project on women’s motivation for testifying in cases of sexual violence and notions of justice from women in International Courts.