Environment, Development and Peace

Academic Course Calendar and Professors

Code	Courses	Type	Professor	Credits	Weeks	Dates	Hours	Classroom
UPM 6001	UPEACE Foundation Course UPM 6001-UPEACE Foundation Course 3Credits The UPEACE Foundation Course provides a critical and concise introduction to the broad field of “Peace Studies” for students in all UPEACE programmes. It initially addresses key conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of the origins and development of peace studies as an interdisciplinary area within the fields of international relations and political economy, as well as a basic understanding of conflict analysis. Based on a critical analysis of policies, strategies, policies, institutions, organizations, and movements, the course then examines a range of core issues, dimensions, perspectives, and paradigms for understanding the root causes of conflicts and violence and constructive strategies to address them and build peace in contemporary global, international, regional, national and local contexts, including conflict management, conflict resolution, and conflict transformation; alternative discourse analysis; militarization and disarmament; human rights violations and promotion; gender inequalities, gender-based violence and gender mainstreaming; structural violence, human security, development and globalization; environmental sustainability; corporate social responsibility; cultural and religious identities; media’s role in conflict and peacebuilding; strategies of nonviolence; and peace education. This Foundations course will be essential in catalyzing the awareness, understanding, and motivation of UPEACE students from diverse academic programmes to relate, ground, or intersect their specific areas of academic and practitioner interest with core theoretical, conceptual, and analytical ideas in peace studies. × View More	Mandatory	Resident and Visiting Professors() Resident and Visiting Professors × View More 	3	3 weeks (Including one double session. Friday 15 September 2023 is a Holiday)	28-Aug-2023 14-Sep-2023	8:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.	Council Room
UPM 6003	The United Nations System and... UPM 6003-The United Nations System and UPMUNC (Part I) 2Credits The course is intended to familiarize students with the creation, objectives, evolution, main entities, and principal areas of work of the United Nations system. The course will look in some detail at the United Nations Charter and the functions of the UN’s principal organs before delving into the UN’s work in spurring cooperation to address a number of key contemporary global challenges, such as those in the areas of sustainable development, international migration and large-scale refugee flows, and climate change and environmental degradation. × View More	Mandatory	Mihir Kanade(India) Mihir Kanade India Dr. Mihir Kanade (India) is the Academic Coordinator of UPEACE, the Head of its Department of International Law, and the Director of the UPEACE Human Rights Centre. He is also the academic co-coordinator of the LLM programme in Transnational Crime and Justice offered jointly by UPEACE and UNICRI in Turin, Italy. He holds an LL.B. from Nagpur University (India) and a Master degree and Doctorate from UPEACE. He is an adjunct/visiting faculty at Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio (Spain), Cheikh Anta Diop University (Senegal), Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia) and Long Island University (United States). His principal area of academic research and study is International Law, Human Rights and Globalization, covering several themes within that interface including armed conflicts, trade and investment, sustainable development, forced migration, indigenous peoples’ rights, public health, amongst others. He currently serves as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development in representation of the Asia-Pacific region. He also chairs the group of international experts mandated to elaborate the draft convention on the right to development. He has previously served on the International Advisory Board of the International Bar Association on the topic of Business and Human Rights. He leads an e-learning project of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on promoting the Right to Development. Prior to his pursuit in academia, Mihir practiced as a lawyer at the Bombay High Court and at the Supreme Court of India. × View More 	2	2 weeks	16-Oct-2023 27-Oct-2023	8:45 a.m.-11:45 a.m.	Council Room
UPM-6003	The United Nations System and... UPM-6003-The United Nations System and UPMUNC (Part II) 1Credits The UPEACE Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC) is the second part of a composite three credit course that begins with the two-credit introductory course on the United Nations System, taught in the first semester. Through a simulation of UN bodies, committees, procedures, and codes of conduct, this immersive and experiential educational exercise encourages the application of knowledge gained in previous courses, including an understanding of the objectives and functions of the United Nations system, as well as the development of professional skills related to research, public speaking, negotiation, mediation of conflict, and the preparation of official documents.    Historically, the conference has been open to outside participants from colleges and universities both regionally and internationally, presenting additional possibilities for networking, dialogue, and educational exchange among all participants. UPMUNC is further enriched by special events, which typically include a panel of invited speakers, a diplomatic reception, an awards ceremony, and a closing celebration.     × View More	Mandatory	Juan José Vasquez Pacheco(Costa Rica) Juan José Vasquez Pacheco Costa Rica  Juan José es mediador certificado por el Colegio de Abogados y Abogadas de Costa Rica. Estudió Derecho y Psicología en la Universidad de Costa Rica, en donde laboró como Asistente Administrativo en Consultorios Jurídicos. Ha trabajado como Asistente del Secretario en la Corte Centroamericana de Justicia, en Managua, Nicaragua y ha prestado servicios como mediador en las Casas de Justicia que tiene el Ministerio de Justicia y Paz de Costa Rica a lo largo del país. Realizó su maestría en Resolución de Conflictos, Paz y Desarrollo en la Universidad para la Paz, en donde actualmente se desarrolla como Asesor Legal y como profesor en temas de resolución de conflictos, paz y mediación. Juan Jose is a certified mediator by the Costa Rican Bar Association. He studied Law and Psychology at the University of Costa Rica, where he worked as an Administrative Assistant in the Legal Clinic. He has worked as an intern at the Central American Court of Justice, in Managua, Nicaragua and has served as a mediator in the Houses of Justice held by the Ministry of Justice and Peace of Costa Rica throughout the country. He completed his master's degree in Conflict Resolution, Peace and Development at the University for Peace, where he currently works as a Legal Advisor and as a professor on conflict resolution, peace, negotiation and mediation issues. He is deeply interested in peace, conflict and mediation. × View More 	1	3 days	03-Jun-2024 05-Jun-2024	8:45am.-3:45pm.	Council Room

Admissions Requirements

The following documentation is required to complete your application process for the UPEACE on-campus M.A. programmes. Please have them ready and on hand before beginning your online application process, as they will need to be uploaded into the system.

Required supporting documents to be uploaded:

• English Proficiency Test Scores Report: TOEFL (PBT, CBT or IBT), IELTS, Duolingo English Test, Pearson Test of English or Cambridge English Language Assessment
• Statement of Purpose
• Letters of Recommendation
• Official Undergraduate (Bachelor's Degree) Transcripts and Degree Certificate
• Curriculum Vitae or Resume
• Copy of Passport (front page with photo only)
• Three (3) passport-size photos for ID purposes

Detailed information on each requirement can be found here.

The online application requires electronic (PDF) scans of required documents. Should admission be granted, the following documents will be eventually be required in official hard copy:

• English Proficiency Test Scores Report: TOEFL (PBT, CBT or IBT), IELTS, Duolingo English Test, Pearson Test of English or Cambridge English Language Assessment (if applicable)
• UPEACE TOEFL Code: 7180
• Official Undergraduate Transcripts and Degree Certificate (and English translations if applicable)
• Three (3) passport-size photos.

Upon submission of the online application form and supporting uploaded documents, the UPEACE Admissions system will send an automatic confirmation email. The date and time of submission will be noted in the system. Applications received after the established deadline will be considered for admission for the following academic year. Each application received by the established deadline will be reviewed for completeness. A second acknowledgment will be sent to the applicant by the Admissions Officer, informing him/her of the status of his/her application, whether it is complete and able to be passed on for academic review.

We are not able to provide any information about the status of applicants over the phone or to third parties. Information will only be provided to the applicant using the email provided in the online application form. Please address any email inquiries to admissions@upeace.org. 

Please write down your application ID number before submitting your application, as this number is difficult for the Admissions Team to recover. If you lose your ID number, please email admissions@upeace.org.

Costs & Financial Aid

UPEACE is a not-for-profit institution and has limited funds for financial assistance. Therefore we strive for balance, diverse class composition, and merit in distributing financial assistance among admitted students.

UPEACE Costs

Conditions of UPEACE Scholarships & Financial Assistance

The prospective applicant has to be admitted to UPEACE in order to receive any possibility of financial assistance from the University, the latter of which is subject to the following conditions:

• The financial assistance awarded is non-negotiable.
• The scholarships/waivers do not apply to the US$ 2,500 administrative fee. This fee is mandatory for all students and is non-refundable if the student wishes to withdraw from UPEACE before completing his/her degree. Admitted students must comply with this financial obligation to UPEACE according to the required deadline outlined in their official admissions documents.
• Applicants are only eligible for one waiver category per application period. Waiver categories cannot be combined.
• If you receive a scholarship from another institution, you are obligated to inform the UPEACE Admissions Office, so that it can revert the waivers granted by UPEACE. 
• Applicants eligible for a 50% waiver must apply directly through the UPEACE Admissions Office.

Automatic Scholarships/Waivers

30% Tuition Waiver (Automatic)

Available to M.A. and Doctorate students that meet one of the following criteria:

• Citizen or nationals of a signatory state to the UPEACE Charter
• Students who have received an undergraduate or graduate degree from a partner university
• Peace Corps veterans

50% Tuition Waiver (Automatic)

Available to M.A. and Doctorate students that meet one of the following criteria:

• Professors from a partner university
• Costa Rican citizens and residents (host country)
• Current, full-time UN employees and volunteers
• Documented refugee or asylee

30% or 50% Tuition Waiver (Merit Based) - Available to Master's applicants who do not belong to the above categories. These waivers are offered in limited number and will be awarded by merit, not financial condition. These waivers are not available to doctorate students.

Life at #UPEACE

Humans of UPEACE was modeled after the famous Humans of New York photography project, designed to tell the stories of 10,000 New Yorkers on the street. At UPEACE, we believe our community – composed of current students, Alumni, Faculty, Visiting Professors, staff members, and partners – is our greatest asset and their stories worth sharing with the world. We invite you to dive into these stories and get to know the exceptional #UPEACERS that make the University for Peace a unique and diverse learning community, dedicated to training leaders for peace determined to reshape the world.

Their stories are the best way to get a real feeling for the Student Life Experience at UPEACE!

Click on the HoU logo below to get started!

Our current batch of #UPEACERS

The University for Peace is characterized by its diversity and multiculturalism. For 2022-2023, we have 157 students from 43 countries. As a result, our campus is always full of student activities, most of them organized by the students themselves. In past years, we have had yoga classes, conversation classes in different languages, the celebration of cultural nights (Asian night, Latin night, European night, etc.), as well as institutional activities open to students (Zumba classes, academic "brown bag" lunches, etc.) The current situation has forced students to become more creative with regards to socialising and ensuring a rich student life at UPEACE.

Learn more about what to expect from your stay in Costa Rica, including approximate living expenses, here.

Career Prospects

The Master of Arts Degree in Environment, Development and Peace prepares students for a wide range of careers in both environmental and development policy and programming in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.

Ready to join us?

The UPEACE application process is conducted 100% online through our application forms. Check out our TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL APPLICATION below and feel free to contact the Admissions Team at any time during the application process for assistance, including the retrieval of your Application ID.