Peace and Conflict Studies (PGDip)

This module enables students to understand aspects of project design and funding proposal development in a variety of contexts such as development, social work, security, NGOs and beyond.

The module will provide you with the opportunity to learn about the impact that core theological and ethical themes within the world’s living religions can have on attitudes to peace and conflict. It will also help you to develop the skills to investigate and encourage you to critically analyse the impact that religious ideas have on contemporary conflict situations and the practice of peacebuilding.

The module enables you to develop the theoretical and analytical capacity to evaluate and critically engage with the relationship between types of conflicts, the manner in which they are settled, and the problems of promoting sustainable post-settlement peace processes.

This module aims to examine a range of regional conflicts exploring the manner in which a formal peace agreement came about, and encourages you to identify the range of peacebuilding initiatives involved in the efforts to deepen the peace and promote reconciliation during the post-peace settlement period.

This module helps you to understand how projects are implemented and managed. This will cover a variety of project management tools and approaches to measure progress such as success indicators, milestones and deliverables.

This module encourages you to develop a solid theoretical and practical understanding of violence, conflict, peace and justice from a gender perspective. You will be asked to explore the relationship between gender and militarism and how masculinities and femininities are constructed in times of war and post-conflict transition.

You will also be offered opportunities to acquire a deeper understanding of the gendered nature of violence in conflict and particularly of the conflict related sexual violence. In doing this you should develop knowledge of transitional justice responses to gender-based violence and critically reflect on the concept of gender Justice.

Finally, you will be asked to study the UN framework on “Women, Peace and Security” which originated with the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) and you should build an understanding of its policy implications on the national and international level and implemented on the ground.

This interdisciplinary module examines the complex interactions of natural resources, environment, conflict, development and peace on land and at sea. It looks at key theories and concepts in the area such as ‘resource curse,’ ‘extractivism,’ ‘environmental justice’ and ‘political ecology.’

It also analyses specific conflicts and identifies challenges and opportunities for equitable natural resource governance towards sustainable peace and development. The module will provide you with analytical tools from multiple perspectives including politics, sociology, political economy and geography to encourage critical reflection about contemporary debates on resource conflict, natural resource governance and environmental peacebuilding.