Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies

Our Programmes

M.A. in Conflict Transformation Studies

Overview

Our Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation Studies (M.A. CTS) is a two-year part-time programme that blends theory with praxis through an action-research methodology. It complements and challenges existing graduate courses on governance, rights, conflict and peace which are largely theoretical in deliveries. It also bridges the gap between academic research and the wealth of experience that exists on the ground.

Structure

The programme is based on locally conducted case studies, but ensures that global (or international), historical and comparative perspectives are included. In this way, it provides a widened and comparative study of pre-conflict, conflict and post-conflict developments.

The programme methodology includes practical study, advanced conflict intervention skills, (planning, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation), theory building, complex/critical (path) analysis and strategy development as well as specialised action research into areas of peace building and conflict transformation which relate to the application of the work of the participants to their organisations and the communities at large.

Relevant reading materials provide a framework for comparison in the global context. This can then be complemented with local insights, involving the appreciation and understanding of the local trends and / or dimensions of conflict and peace.

Modules

During the two-year programme, there are six Modules. Each Module combines a two-week residential seminar at Gulu University with guided work / home-based distance learning.

• Module One: Theories of Conflict: Causes, Dynamics and Implications.
  

Module One builds the foundations for the programme, focusing on understanding conflict and conflict theories within the global system. It introduces a number of frameworks and concepts to assist the participants to develop a common language for working throughout the programme. 

• Module Two: Conflict, Power and Change.
  

This Module examines the confrontation phase of conflict, where people are mobilising for change (violent or peaceful). It asks how individuals and communities can be mobilised to bring about change (within themselves, their communities and their societies) before a crisis situation emerges.

• Module Three: Transforming Violent Conflict.
  

This Module looks at how we can work during the crisis phase of a conflict. The objective of this Module will be to examine current theories and approaches for designing and facilitating conflict transformation approaches, and critiquing them based on their own experiences and the contexts in which they work.

• Module Four: Building Sustainable Peace.
  

This Module looks at the post-conflict phase. The seminar looks at issues around dealing with trauma, rebuilding relationships, reconstruction, and post-conflict issues. This Module links back to Module Two – how can we prevent a return to violent conflict, and to the theories we first explored in Module One.

• Module Five: Forging Theory to Practice.
  

The main focus of this Module during the residential seminar is the critical assessment of the participants’ action research projects. The key issues and topics in the Module are further developed depending on the needs of each course group and the research being undertaken.

• Module Six: Agents of Change / Action Research.
  

During this Module, the Facilitators pull together the participants research, sharing the learnt, and identifying common understandings and differences. This involves formal presentations and workshops possibly at a public event.

N.B. All the above Modules are flexible and adaptable taking into consideration the wishes, aspirations and actual needs of the participants. They also take into account new trends or dynamics since conflict by its very nature is a complex, dynamic and mutable phenomenon. While putting on the global lens, the programme deeply consider the African contexts.

Our M.A.-Programme

Purpose

The overall goal of the programme is to support and promote sustainable peace and justice within Uganda and in the wider region. This involves increasing the cooperation and understanding between organisations at different levels of society, and building the capacity of civil society in Uganda to develop their vision of the future, to be sharper in their analysis and more focused in their work for social transformation in communities.

The programme provides flexible opportunities for the participants to critically analyse and address pertinent peace and conflict issues and relate them to development agenda. More generally, this also offers coaching in advanced, hands- on-conflict handling skills, combined with action-research into the issues with which participants and their organisations are engaged. This programme is therefore innovative, seeking to develop and articulate the experience of people working for peace, development, human rights, democracy and justice. It helps to build new theories from practices and test them in the realm of realities on the ground.

Aims

The long term aims are to:

• Enable and challenge individuals, organisations and networks, at all levels and in different sectors of society, to become more sustained and strategic in their work for peace and justice;
  

• Provide accessible opportunities for advanced, practical learning in conflict transformation for people who are engaged in bringing about constructive change in their society;
  

• Generate, document and disseminate new knowledge, theory and insights relevant to work for peace and justice;
  

• Make the links between theory, action and reflection and thus contribute actively to the further development of this field where it is needed;
  

• Analyse the relationships between global and traditional systems vis-à-vis such areas as justice, conflict, human rights.
  

Participants

The MA CTS programme is designed for participants who normally come from civil society, including local and international NGOs, or are engaged in the public sector, for example, security sector, legal, environment, development or the political field; working in the general fields of peace, human rights or looking for ways to become engaged in these or related fields. They want to develop skills and wider competence needed to build greater peace and justice in their own situations and countries.

Participants should bear a commitment to values which are integral to sustainable future of human kind namely, inclusiveness, and justice, respect of culture, gender and non-violence. One should be strongly motivated by these values and by the desire to put these into practice at personal and their social situations.

All participants need to be familiar with the basic elements of conflict transformation, probably through having attended a course on this or a related topic. Where applicants do not have this familiarity they may be invited to complete a foundation course in conflict transformation.

Admission Requirements

To apply for the MA CTS programme, applicants must fulfil any of the minimum requirements for admission:

• Hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts or Sciences (Lower Division) from an accredited University;
  

• Hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts or Sciences, Pass Degree supplemented by a Second Class Division Diploma in a relevant field.