MA Peace, Resilience and Social Justice

What you will study

All module information is for 2023 entry and is subject to change. First-year

Core

• Social-Ecological Systems and Crises: Concepts, Cases, Contestations
• Studying Peace in a Changing World
• Creative Practice in Conflict Engagement and Peacebuilding
• Dissertation

Option

• Applied Conflict Research
• African Politics and Security Dynamics
• Theories and Practices of Conflict Resolution
• Critical Perspectives on Sustainable Development
• Security and Development in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Areas
• Theories and Practices of Conflict Transformation
• Natural Resource Governance
• Sustainable Cities
• Gender, Conflict and Development
• Assessing Development Practices Needs and Outcomes
• Middle East Politics and Security Dynamics
• Environment, Trafficking and Crime: Transnational Issues and International Governance
• Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
• Africa Study Visit
• University Semester 1 Elective
• University Semester 2 Elective

Placement Year

You can choose to include an internship as part of your course, in which case you will study over 15 months rather than a year. To do this, you should initially register for the one-year programme and then transfer to the 15-month programme when you have secured a placement, any time up until the middle of Semester 2.

The internship/placement further enhances the development of professional experience and practical skills during your master's programme, integrating practitioner community engagement with your academic studies.

This element is student-centred and student-led, and therefore the initiative for identifying and applying for internships is driven by you. Academic staff can facilitate and support the identification of suitable opportunities with leads and suggestions, help with the writing of applications, and provide supporting letters of reference. They provide customised preparatory training before, and mentoring support during, the placement or internship.

The internship/placement can be taken with an organisation anywhere in the world. You'll need to detail your proposed activities and receive approval before the opportunity is finalised.

Once the internship/placement is complete you'll return to the programme, submit a completion report summarising key learning points, and then undertake your Master's dissertation. Students often use their placement period and experience to inform and shape their dissertation.

Learning and assessment

Throughout your time on the MA Peace, Resilience and Social Justice, you will be actively engaged in a diverse range of online and offline learning activities designed to develop your capacities for thoughtful analysis and reflective practice.

These will include individual and group tasks that require you to apply theoretical concepts to real-world dynamics and scenarios. As such, the emphasis in timetabled online and campus-based teaching sessions will often be on active, problem-based learning activities, with students undertaking reading and other preparatory work beforehand. This ‘flipped classroom’ approach maximises opportunities for discussion and feedback, whilst using selected inputs – such as short lectures, readings, or videos – to both frame and deepen the learning experience.

There will be an emphasis on practice, feedback and reflection throughout the programme. You will have opportunities to develop your interests, e.g. via case studies chosen for study and assessment and the design and execution of your final dissertation project. Building many and varied opportunities to engage with and learn from each other in the program is integral to fostering an inclusive learning environment.

Our approach to learning and teaching makes a conscious effort to encourage collaboration and honest dialogue and puts significant emphasis on the development of interpersonal and intercultural skills. Throughout, the curriculum is designed to encourage reflection on the relative (un)peacefulness of relationships, and this includes the interpersonal level and the wider structures in which interpersonal dynamics are situated. Reflections on power, inequality and privilege will open up difficult conversations about dynamics that can stand in the way of inclusion, while other parts of the curriculum explore the question of how constructive changes can be fostered and encouraged.

Our overall aim is to develop reflective practitioners who take a thoughtful approach to engaging with others, and our practices as a teaching team seek to model and foster this ethos.

Career prospects

The complex and converging social and ecological crises facing contemporary societies today need people who can bring an understanding of complex systems, a commitment to core values and restorative practices, and a creative approach to engaging stakeholders and communities in tackling them. This MA programme is designed to support you in developing these skills.

The programme is also designed to offer practitioners who are already working in the field an opportunity to reflect, take stock, and plan the next steps in their journeys as scholars/practitioners.

Career support

The University is committed to helping students develop and enhance employability and this is an integral part of many programmes. Specialist support is available throughout the course from Career and Employability Services including help to find part-time work while studying, placements, vacation work and graduate vacancies. Students are encouraged to access this support at an early stage and to use the extensive resources on the Careers website.

Discussing options with specialist advisers helps to clarify plans through exploring options and refining skills of job-hunting. In most of our programmes, there is direct input by Career Development Advisers into the curriculum or through specially arranged workshops.

Full-time

• 14 months January start
• 12 months September start

Part-time

• 27 months January start
• 24 months September start