Special Features
- The end of the Cold War
and the proliferation of conflict zones around the world has increased
international recognition of the importance of peace research. Peace
is conceived not just as the absence of conflict and violence, but more
positively as co-operation to achieve justice and freedom
- The Department is the largest
university centre in the world devoted exclusively to the study of peace
and conflict
- The Department of Peace
Studies is one of only seven Rotary International Peace and Conflict
Resolution Centres established around the world
- Peace Studies has recently
received maximum scores for its research and teaching performance
Department and Facilities
The Department of Peace Studies
at Bradford has greatly expanded over the past decade. It recently moved
into the new Pemberton Building, and today comprises more than 300 staff
and students. Our postgraduate research school has around 60 full- and
part-time students and the three MA/Postgraduate Diploma programmes in
Peace Studies, International Politics and Security Studies, and Conflict
Resolution, together have about 100 students, including 10-20 students
on the Rotary International programme.
The Department established
its Centre for Conflict Resolution in 1990, and its new Centre for International
Co-operation and Security in 2002. Since then a number of new centres
have been established. These include the Bradford Disarmament Research
Centre (which includes the South Asia Strategic Stability Unit), The Africa
Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, The International Centre for Participation
Studies and the Research Unit in South East European Studies.
Funding Opportunities Available
Funding opportunities are available
through ESRC recognition and ORS. There are also other general opportunities
which may help you finance your studies.
For information on other funding
opportunities which may be available to you, please see http://www.brad.ac.uk/external/prospectus/pg/fees.php
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Taught
Courses Offered
MA/PGDip in Peace Studies
MA/PGDip in Conflict Resolution
MA/PGDip in African Peace and Conflict Studies
MA/PGDip in International Politics and Security Studies
MA/PGDip in Conflict Security and Development
The Department offers five
MA courses, which follow the standard
pattern with parallel Postgraduate Diploma. All five are available
either full-time, or part-time (three days per week).
Our courses are taught by
a multinational staff, all of whom are active in research. Approximately
two-thirds of our students come from outside the UK, and the wide range
of interests and backgrounds of students is a vital component of their
overall learning experience.
All students are required
to take the equivalent of 120 credits, followed by the dissertation for
the MA. The programme is supported by a series of weekly seminars which
includes outside speakers.
Outline Syllabus
Introduction to peace studies
Compulsory for all students
The history and evolution of peace studies, an examination of the relationship
between peace, violence, conflict and war; with a particular emphasis
on questions of applied ethics. An introduction to pacifist/non-violent
traditions in twentieth-century peace movements.
Methods
Compulsory for all students
The study of social science research methods and their application within
peace studies and peace research; paradigms and values in the social sciences.
Conflict resolution: concepts,
processes and skills
Compulsory for all Conflict Resolution MA students
An examination of the academic development of the field of conflict resolution
and its impact on policy, including: history and key concepts; analysis
of post-Cold War conflict patterns; conflict prevention; peacekeeping;
conflict settlement; post-war reconstruction and post conflict peacebuilding.
Conflict resolution: applications
and reconstructions
Compulsory for all Conflict Resolution MA students
An examination of the practice of conflict resolution in a series of case
studies, and the emergence of critical perspectives on conflict resolution,
including non-western perspectives, critical theory and discourse analysis,
and gender critiques.
African peace and conflict
studies
Compulsory for all African Peace and Conflict Studies MA students
The course aims to develop an advanced and critical understanding of politics
and governance, conflict, security and development in contemporary Africa.
A primary focus is on the interface between regional security, conflict
management/stabilisation, economic development and democratisation in
postcolonial Africa.
African approaches
to conflict resolution and peacebuilding
Compulsory for all African Peace and Conflict Studies MA students
The course aims to develop an advanced and critical understanding of African
traditional approaches to conflict resolution and peace-building through:
(1) extensive analysis of case-study materials; (2) encouraging reflection
on the ways in which traditional approaches relate to theories and practices
in the field of conflict resolution; and (3) exploring the possible roles
of traditional approaches to the prevention, management and resolution
of contemporary conflicts in Africa.
International politics
and security studies
Compulsory for all International Politics MA students
An examination of international relations theory from a peace studies
perspective. The application of 'critical' theories to issues of contemporary
relevance. Competing perspectives of the causes of war and peace.
Security and post-conflict
reconstruction
Compulsory for all International Politics MA students
To introduce students to the challenges of enhancing security in post-conflict
societies. The course will systematically examine the different dimensions
of security sector reforms and post-conflict reconstruction including
the roles and effectiveness of international actors.
Plus one of the
following modules must be taken by all International Politics MA students.
Optional for all other students.
European regional security
The course analyses key issues of security regionalism in Europe, explores
political and military dimensions, and analyses the internal and external
dynamics of regional security.
Regional security in East
Asia
The course analyses key issues of foreign and security policy in
East Asia. It explores the political and economic dimensions and analyses
the internal and external dynamics of regional security.
Middle East: area in conflict
To provide understanding of the complexity of peacemaking in protracted
social conflict and to apply it to particular case studies. To analyse
and evaluate responses to conflict in Israel-Palestine and Lebanon.
Courses optional for
all students:
- Comparative peace processes
in the Balkans
- Human rights and democracy
- Human rights
- Democracy – theory
and practice
- Politics of the global
environment
- Arms control and proliferation
- Conflict and change in
contemporary Latin America
- Religions, peace and conflict:
from Islam and the West to Muslims of the West
- Crisis of postcoloniality
in Africa
- Critical security studies
- Peacekeeping and international
conflict resolution
- Nationalism, peace and
conflict
- Christianity and politics
- Sri Lanka study trip (not
available every year)
- African study trip (not
available every year)
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Careers
Graduates from our taught and
research degrees have gone on to a range of careers.
Examples of roles recent
graduates have progressed to include:
Co-ordinator at Asylum Welcome;
Project co-ordinator for Leicestershire Mediation Service; Senior lecturer
at University at Huddersfield; Researcher for Video News Inc (Tokyo).
Assessment (all taught courses)
Most modules are assessed
by essays. MA students also submit a dissertation of 15,000-20,000 words.
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Entrance Requirements (all
taught courses)
Candidates for entry to an
MA will normally be expected to have a good first degree or equivalent.
Candidates without the required academic qualifications may be considered
on the basis of experience or achievement for entry to the Postgraduate
Diploma, and may, subject to academic performance, subsequently transfer
to the MA and submit a dissertation.
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Research
for MPhil and PhD
 International
Politics and Security Studies
A major research area, including path-breaking work on biological
warfare, weapons of mass destruction, disarmament, small arms proliferation,
security problems of east-central Europe, the UN Register of Conventional
Armaments, and international politics and the environment.
Regions
in Conflict
Analysis of particular regions of conflict, including Eastern Europe,
the Middle East, South Asia, Africa, Latin America and Northern Ireland.
Conflict
Resolution
We have an international reputation for work on conflict analysis, conflict
prevention and transformation, and for studies of multi-track diplomacy,
humanitarian intervention, peace-keeping and peace-building from below.
We have a strong track record of training in conflict resolution for the
international community.
Development
and Conflict
Relating conflict and development in the South, our current interests
include democratisation, gender and development, citizenship and civil
society, political change, and the causes and management of conflict in
Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.
Politics
and Society
Focusing on conflicts internal to societies, we research ethnicity, social
class and gender, as well as investigating human rights and citizenship
in modern industrialised societies.
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Research Programme Requirements
During the first year of full-time
registration, students are trained in research methods to ESRC specifications
- a programme delivered by the University's Graduate School. A distance
learning version is available for part-time and extramural students. Supervision
on an individual basis from research-active staff guides you through the
collection of data and the production of a thesis. This is complemented
by dedicated research groups within which sharing of ideas and lively
discussion takes place.
New
Route PhD in Peace and Conflict Research
The New Route PhD provides
a powerful learning experience in a supportive research environment. Bradford
is one of a small number of Universities chosen by the UK government to
host four-year new route PhD programmes. The courses consist of four years
of integrated training/research.
The taught element consists
of six core modules in research methods and a range of specialist modules
according to the needs of the research project itself. These are integrated
over the first two years of the course. In years three and four you will
concentrate on your chosen research topic. Specialisations may include
Conflict resolution, International politics and security studies, Human
rights and democracy, Conflict and development in Africa and Latin America,
Arms control and proliferation, and Gender development and conflict amongst
others.
Entrance
Requirements (all research areas)
Candidates must have a good
first degree, normally a 2:1 Honours degree or equivalent. Applicants
with alternative experience will be considered on their merits.
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7 March
2008 |
