Academics

Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies

MA Graduation 2006 Enlarge

MA Graduation 2005 Enlarge

MA Graduation 2003

Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies

(New curriculum beginning in the fall of 2009)

The Master of Arts in Peace & Justice Studies is an interdisciplinary program emphasizing ethics, international affairs, and conflict resolution. The goals of the program are: to produce graduates who will be capable of relating disciplinary and cross-disciplinary theories of peace and justice to real world problem-solving involving regional and international conflict; to foster scholarly agendas that examine the dynamics of justice and peace-building across multi-level conflicts; and, to facilitate faculty and student interaction and development across disciplines and academic units at USD, along with outreach to the community and the larger society. The program takes full advantage of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and the Trans-Border Institute on the campus of the University

Curriculum Plan

Reflecting the School’s focus on peace as human development, beginning in August, 2009, the curriculum will consist of a set of core courses and allow students to specialize in one of four areas: crisis analysis and conflict resolution, development, human rights and human security.

Core Courses

• Human Rights
• Religious and Ethical Perspectives
• Conflict Theory and Analysis
• Intervention Methodology
• Research Methodology

Specializations**

**Bullet points are indicative of topics relevant to each area and do not represent the names of specific courses.

Crisis Analysis and Conflict Resolution

• Community-based conflict
• Conflict prevention/early warnings
• Conflict and world politics
• Post-conflict peacebuilding
• Ethnic and identity conflict
• Faith-based traditions and peacebuilding
• International institutions
• Negotiation and mediation
• Nonviolence, religion, communication
• Social movements

Development

• Development policy
• Development of human capital
and civil society
• Environmental justice and sustainability
• Humanitarian aid
• International organizations
• International political economy
• Political development and governance
• Organizational management

Human Rights

• Gender, identity and human rights
• Genocide and mass atrocities
• Human rights monitoring
• International humanitarian law
• Justice mechanisms
• Restorative justice
• Reconciliation

Human Security

• Disaster prevention and relief
• Failed states/states in transition
• Human rights and rule of law
• Migration issues
• Peacekeeping and NGOs
• Individual and group psychology
• Resource conflict
• Violence and society