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.
This course provides a basic introduction to the principles, conceptual underpinnings and creative design of curricula relevant to peace education and related fields in both formal and nonformal contexts. The course will initially review a range of theories of schooling and paradigms in curriculum theorizing, the debates that exist within, and their implications for the design of curricula. Emphasis is placed on curriculum development approaches that promote conflict transformation, transformative learning, critical pedagogy, and education for a holistic culture of peace. For many years, most countries in the Global South have simply reproduced curriculum materials from previous colonizers or adopted curriculum designs from the “West” or other colonial powers without due consideration to local needs and contexts. During the past decade, there have been efforts by ministries of education of many South countries to engage in a national process of curriculum development from basic to higher levels to make their educational system and curricula more responsive to the existing social, economic, cultural and political conditions of the country. Similarly, national and local development NGOs have designed educational programmes and resources more aligned with the aspirations of peoples organizations and grassroots movements. Students will explore practical ideas for appropriate, effective and creative teaching of peace-related curricula for all levels of formal schooling, nonformal peace education programmes of government and nongovernment agencies and community organizations. Finally, participants will write a curriculum relevant to their own areas of interest, work, and commitment to peace. While this course has been designed with a significant emphasis on the "educational" dimensions of peace and development, the course will be equally useful to non-teachers and non- professional educators.
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.
The six-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 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 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 discusses how Internet based social media can be utilized for community empowerment, advocacy and peace. It looks at the media landscape, its main actors, the architecture of the Internet and its available platforms and tools. Using several case studies, it is demonstrated how social media is applied today by governments, NGOs and individuals to drive narratives on according to their agenda. The course aims to connect the theory to the practice with introductory exercises in journalistic storytelling, building evidence through photography /video and by visualizing data and networks flows. The importance of IT security is also explored by discussing online threats as well as concepts of anonymity and privacy. By the end of the course students will be familiar with the state of social media today, its usage for peace building and its advantages and limitations. They will have been introduced to several disruptive, yet easy to use technologies that are essential assets for the peace practitioner. In addition they will gain practical knowledge to use tools such as Twitter and Storify.
Our global demographics are changing rapidly, and few places remain in the world that are 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 maneuver within different cultural contexts.
This course is divided into two related parts. The first half is dedicated to developing the learner’s understanding of the theoretical underpinnings of culture, multiculturalism and diversity. The learner will understand what culture and diversity mean, culture’s relationship to peacebuilding, and some of the debates surrounding cultural relativism. The second half of the course is devoted to developing the skills and capacities of leaders to work in multicultural contexts. The learner will begin by examining her or his own culture and developing skills for understanding and effectively working with other cultures. Various practical skills will be developed, including leadership with diversity and utilizing cultural resources for peacebuilding.
There are nine lessons in total for the course. Each lesson takes at least five hours to complete, including the reading and related the activities and assignments.
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 or 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 to these topics. It 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. How do new media and the concept of Web 2.0 affect the relationships between traditional media, audiences and various State and non-state actors? Do social media reinforce narratives of war, conflict and extremism or are they a force for tolerance and conflict resolution?
This course introduces participants to the international law dimensions of peace and conflicts. It explores the international legal standards, both in treaty law and in customary international law, that underpin the prevention, management and resolution of inter-state and intra-state conflicts. The course adopts a diverse range of approaches to examine the rules, procedures, successes and failures of key international organizations, including the United Nations, as well as regional organizations, in responding to peace and conflict situations. Several case studies of actual policy responses, or lack thereof, will be explored in the course. Participants will also learn about the limits that international law places on States and non-state actors in peace and conflict situations, before moving into a critical discussion on the debates surrounding lack of enforcement of those standards in international law. Finally, the course will explore how international law intersects with other areas of inquiry related to peace and conflict studies, in order to promote multi-pronged responses to peace and conflict situations.
This course seeks to provide an overview of the relationship between conflicts and social justice at local and global levels as well as peacebuilding initiatives to transform such conflicts in both South and North contexts. Various conceptual frameworks for understanding global and local social justice will be analyzed and critiqued. Drawing on case studies in diverse regions in the Global South, seven specific themes or sectors will be critically examined, including paradigms of development and globalization, rural poor, women, child labour, migrant workers, indigenous peoples and ecological sustainability. The impact of unjust social structures and relationships at international, national and local levels in catalyzing conflicts will be analyzed. Various exemplars of grassroots peacebuilding initiatives and movements to transform these conflicts towards realities that reflect the values and principles of social justice will also be explored. The course also provides a forum for understanding the roles played by NGOs, other civil society organizations and social movements in the building of a just world community.
This short course provides an introduction to the multi faceted issues of leadership and women and leadership. It explores established theories on leadership in general and perspectives on women leaders and leadership globally; and the capacity for women leaders and potential leaders to lead changes and manage conflict, building peace and education for a better future.
The course examines literature, articles and essays and short media presentations on the subject of leadership broadly and specifically on women and leadership. It encourages participants to develop and share outlooks and information from their world view, reflecting on theory and practice, including their own leadership development.
Through presentations, reading, reflections and debate and engagement in straightforward practical tasks, participants will review established views on leadership; and investigate issues of gender in leadership, self and organisational development. Participants will begin to consider strategies for the development of women leaders and potential leaders within their working environment and spheres of influence.
Participants will begin to critique recognised ideas about leadership and determine why women and leadership remains a subject for reflection; the presence and participation of women leaders, and where women leaders are to be found, and the influences upon their leadership journey. Participants will deliberate the impact of leadership styles and of gender in organisational effectiveness and strategies for the advancement of women as leaders, capacity building for organisational change, and developing women leaders in a changing world.
This course explores the past, present, and future of efforts to address poverty and environmental degradation throughout the world. 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 they are intricately intertwined in myriad ways and thus must be addressed simultaneously. We'll begin by examining the history of international development and environment interventions, respectively, analyzing the ideology or "discourse” informing their practice, and discussing their contemporary convergence under the rubric of "sustainable development.” Then we'll explore various practical and conceptual issues involved in pursuing ecological, economic, and social sustainability. We'll 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 environment/
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 environment/development (i.e., forestry, ecotourism, agriculture, etc.), we'll emphasize the core conceptual issues that crosscut and underlie all specific foci. We'll try to push our understanding of these issues as deep as possible, probing their philosophical roots and cultural consequences. In this effort, we'll 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 stark reality of global climate change today, coupled with the unprecedented rapid pace at which it is occurring, has brought with it several adverse consequences for human security. Unsurprisingly, there is also an increasing realization among scholars and policy makers that climate change is not just an environmental issue, but is predominantly a human security issue. In this interface between climate change and human security, the role of international law has increasingly come under scrutiny, not only in terms of the ability of existing laws in protecting from adverse effects, but also in terms of the possible role of international law in establishing, regulating and successfully implementing appropriate frameworks for global environmental governance. This six weeks online course introduces participants to the current and emerging debates in the linkages between climate change, human security, and international law from a trans-disciplinary perspective. Various dimensions of these linkages including water security, food security, climate induced migration, human rights approaches etc. will be explored. Finally, participants will be invited to discuss and debate the future directions of these linkages. This course is jointly organized by UNU-EHS and UPEACE, and draws on research expertise from both organizations on this topic.
Revolutionary armed conflict was once considered the only way for oppressed peoples to change severe injustice and oppression. Bloodshed was deemed necessary, often justified by the cliché that what was taken by violence can only be retrieved by violence. In the last decades of the 20th century, however, it became clear that armed insurrection is not the only choice for aggrieved groups and societies, and that nonviolent civil resistance, relying on a variety of forms of nonviolent action, could bring some impressive results. Some failures also occurred. Although this phenomenon has been coherently utilized to achieve political and social change for well over a century by groups, peoples, and societies in differing cultures and political systems, only recently has it gained respect as a potentially formidable strategic force by policy makers, political analysts, scholars, peacemakers, and international specialists of many fields.
Contemporary dictatorships and tyrants have collapsed from the pressure exerted by popular mass movements of nonviolent action, in countries such as the former Czechoslovakia, Chile, East Germany, Georgia on the Black Sea, the Philippines, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, or Ukraine, to name a few. In 2010–11, national nonviolent movements in Tunisia and Egypt changed the face of North Africa and the Middle East. Evidence shows that countries that experience bottom-up, grass-roots nonviolent struggle are more likely to sustain human rights and democracy once established than when armed insurrection is used, and that nonviolent movements succeed more often than violent insurrections. Given this record, it is important for would-be peacemakers to explore systematically the theories, methods, dynamics, and strategies of such movements
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.
Environmental degradation, humanitarian crisis, immigration, financial meltdowns or military interventions do not recognize any geographic boundaries and challenge the political borders on which the international politico-legal system is founded. Nevertheless, while the importance of territory and inter-state boundaries is perceived as diminishing in the globalized world of the 21st century, many of the contemporary conflicts are inseparable from their territorial roots. Hence, establishing and managing limits between sovereign states and neighboring countries constitute today an unlimited source of tension around the world. Against the violent background of political borders, this class brings a critical perspective with respect to the role of modern international law in matters of peace and stability.
International law is founded on territorialized concepts such as state, sovereignty, effective control and territorial jurisdiction. Nonetheless, this legal system seems to be inherently paradoxical as it incorporates rules and principles which break through the territorial configuration of the very same system - self-determination, human rights, contingent sovereignty, responsibility to protect and claims of universality are a few examples. The course will raise the following questions: What is the structure of the international legal argument regarding borders? Is the pluralistic legal system chaotic and contradictory, or is there an overarching legal pattern bringing coherence to the legal system related to political borders? What does this system say and what kind of impact does it leave on the globe. Also, the most theoretical questions are combining with the answer that international law presented to some of the issues raised along the course: delimitation, demarcation, territorial control, among many other concepts.
The courses focus the analysis on case studies, from a historical and actual agenda in the international community.
The central goal of this course is to provide an introduction to a variety of research approaches and methods in the social sciences. The aim of the course is to enable students to develop their own research designs as well as be able to critique the research designs of others. Students will be exposed to different research methodologies (quantitative and qualitative), and data analysis techniques.
The student in this course will be required: to read compulsory readings and optional ones, to interact with fellow participants and instructors, listening to weekly presentations by the Instructors and most importantly, critical self-reflection.
At the end of the Course, the student will have a research design that should be conducted as part of their professional work and is an academic requirement for a course.
Rights of Human Beings forms 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 guarenteeing 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 fulfil 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.
This course introduces participants to the international legal regime for protection of rights of human beings. We will focus on both international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The course is divided into two parts. In part one, we will cover a broad spectrum of issues in human rights protection, beginning with the history and philosophical foundations of human rights and ending with contemporary challenges thereto. We will explore the core human rights instruments, the enforcement mechanisms established under international law and will also give special attention to the rights of vulnerable persons and groups. In Part two, we will focus on international humanitarian law which covers rights of human beings, and obligations of States and organized armed groups, during armed conflicts. In both parts, we will have a strong blend of contemporary challenges to the existing protection regime with insights drawn from case studies.
The course will adopt a dynamic pedagogy including required and optional readings, interaction with fellow participants and instructor, listening to weekly presentations by the Instructor and most importantly, critical self-reflection. The course will be covered in ten weeks and each week's theme will require a minimum of three hours of devotion by participants
This course looks at the origins and understandings of masculinities and the construction of the male identity. It uses this knowledge to explore the relationship between masculinities and range of violences, including; domestic, interpersonal, social, sexual, political violence and warfare.
Among the diverse conflicts that have led to divisions and violence in historical times and in the contemporary world, some clearly involve peoples who belong to different religions or faiths. Such conflicts have popularly created the assumption and conclusion that religion or faith has been or is a primary "cause” of violence and even wars. However, on careful analysis of the dynamics and complexities of the conflicts, this perspective is now being increasingly challenged. Drawing on exemplars from diverse regions and societies, this course seeks to clarify how religious and faith identities, beliefs and practices can motivate followers to engage in violent conflicts, albeit often in intersections with diverse economic, political and social factors. The potential for exclusivist interpretations of religious or faith "truths” to fuel extremism, intolerances, discrimination and even violence, including "terrorism”, will also be critically analyzed . On the other hand, there is a widening recognition that religion, faith and diverse spirituality traditions can play a positive role in building a culture of peace at local, national and global levels of life. The course hence will highlight the creative nonviolent contributions of faiths and religions in resolving and transforming conflicts and violence . Insights and lessons from strategies such as the expanding movements of interfaith and intra-faith dialogue as well as faith-based initiatives in peacebuilding will also be explored. The course will be especially relevant to peacebuilders working in contexts of cultural and faith or religious complexities and diversities.
This course will introduce students to the relations between the environment, natural resources, and peace and conflict.
We will discuss the concepts of Global Environmental Change, Sustainable Development, and Environmental Security. Specific focus will be given to Climate Change and Deforestation, and to the different approaches to development inside the sustainable development discourse. Environmental Security will be analyzed emphasizing the underlying neo-Malthusian ideas that still prevail in much of the literature.
Specifically, we will look at the linkages between natural resources and conflicts focusing not only on environmental scarcities, but also on the resource curse and resource abundance approaches to so-called “environmental conflicts”.
We will take an in depth look at the role of the environment and of natural resources for sustainable peace, and how natural resources can or could be used in initiating a peace process.
The students will examine the Rwanda genocide and the different approaches used to analyze and explain this conflict. This case study will serve to bring all the concepts of this course together and to draw general conclusions.