Peace and Conflict Studies, Ph.D.
Peace and Conflict Studies
Acting Director: Dr. Jessica Senehi
Acting Head: PhD Program: Dr. Jessica Senehi
Associate Head: PhD Program: N/A
Acting Program Director: Jessica Senehi
Campus Address/General Office: 261 St. Paul’s College
Telephone: 204-474-8894
Email Address: pacs@umanitoba.ca
Website: umanitoba.ca/st-pauls-college/mauro-institute-peace-justice
Academic Staff: Please contact pacs@umanitoba.ca for current staff listing.
Peace and Conflict Studies Ph.D. Program Information
The Ph.D. Program in Peace and Conflict Studies provides an interdisciplinary approach to analyze and resolve social conflicts through innovative peace research that examines the structural roots of social conflicts, divisions, and inequalities, and strategies for building community and promoting social justice and human rights.
Admission Information
Admission to the Faculty of Graduate Studies
Application and Admission Procedures are found in the Academic Guide.
Admission requirements for doctoral students are found in the Doctor of Philosophy General Regulations section of the Guide.
Peace and Conflict Studies Ph.D. Admission Requirements
Applicants require a Master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies (or equivalent from other recognized universities) with a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 in the last 60 credit hours. However, PACS is a highly selective graduate program and applicants should be advised that in order to be competitive for admission, possession of a GPA much higher than the minimum required is strongly recommended.
Graduates of a Master’s degree in diverse disciplines at the University of Manitoba (or equivalent from other recognized universities) are also eligible for admission to the program pending successful completion of prerequisite courses to ground them in the field. Applicants will have a thesis-based master’s degree, either earned in peace and conflict studies or a related discipline such as social work, education, or sociology, among others. In the event a Master’s degree is not thesis-based, research capability may be demonstrated by a major research paper from a recognized institution, or an independently completed research article published in a refereed journal.
Applicants will also have a proficiency in the English language at levels required by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Application Information
Students should complete and submit their online application with supporting documentation by the date indicated on the Peace and Conflict Studies Ph.D. program of study page.
Degree Requirements
The Ph.D. Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies requirements are 24 credit hours; twelve credits of required course work at the 7000 level; six credit hours in a cognate area and 6 credits in research methods, plus a candidacy examination, a thesis proposal, and a thesis. The six credit hours of cognate and research method courses can be taken from a list of approved courses at the 7000 level.
Students whose Master’s degree is not in Peace and Conflict Studies will normally be required to take two prerequisite courses in the field as occasional courses. Note that there are additional tuition and fees for the two occasional courses.
Expected Time to Graduate: 4 years
Progression Chart
| Year 1 | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| GRAD 7300 | Research Integrity Tutorial | 0 |
| GRAD 7500 | Academic Integrity Tutorial | 0 |
| PEAC 7030 | International Conflict Resolution and Peace-building | 3 |
| PEAC 7050 | Intercultural Conflict Resolution and Peace-Building | 3 |
| PEAC 7060 | Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies 1 (Topics will vary) | 3 |
| PEAC 7060 | Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies 1 | 3 |
| PEAC 7070 | Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies 2 (Topics will vary) 1 | 3 |
| PEAC 7070 | Special Topics in Peace and Conflict Studies 2 | 3 |
| Hours | 18 | |
| Year 2 | ||
| Select two Cognate Area Courses 2 | 6 | |
| GRAD 8010 | Doctoral Candidacy Examination 3 | 0 |
| Hours | 6 | |
| Year 3 | ||
| GRAD 8000 | Doctoral Thesis 4 | 0 |
| Hours | 0 | |
| Year 4 | ||
| GRAD 8000 | Doctoral Thesis 5 | 0 |
| Hours | 0 | |
| Total Hours | 24 | |
| 1 | Either a PACS research methods course or a research methods course offered by another program (with approval of advisor) |
| 2 | Courses to support the student’s research, usually offered in another department (or in PACS with Director approval). Courses must have approval of advisor. |
| 3 | Students must write and defend a PhD Candidacy Examination. |
| 4 | Students are expected to produce a thesis proposal subject to a public oral defence. If applicable, Students must obtain approval from the Research Ethics Board (REB), prior to conducting research. |
| 5 | Students must successfully submit and defend their final version of the Thesis. |
Note: For students without a background in PACS, additional courses may be required.
Registration Information
Students should familiarize themselves with the Faculty of Graduate Studies ‘GRAD’ courses applicable to their program. If you have questions about which GRAD course(s) to register in, please consult your home department/unit.
Prior to registering, all students (new and returning) must meet with their program advisor to select and receive approval for courses to be taken. Any course revisions (additions and/or withdrawals) must be approved in the same manner.
Regulations
Students must meet the requirements as outlined in both Supplementary Regulation and BFAR documents as approved by Senate.
Supplementary Regulations
Individual units may require specific requirements above and beyond those of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and students should consult unit supplementary regulations for these specific regulations.
Bona Fide Academic Requirements (BFAR)
Bona Fide Academic Requirements (BFAR) represent the core academic requirements a graduate student must acquire in order to gain, and demonstrate acquisition of, essential knowledge and skills.
All students must successfully complete:
- GRAD 7300 prior to applying to any ethics boards which are appropriate to the student’s research or within the student’s first year, whichever comes first; and
- GRAD 7500 within the first term of registration;
unless these courses have been completed previously, as per Mandatory Academic Integrity Course and Mandatory Research Integrity Online Course.
Students must also meet additional BFAR requirements that may be specified for their program.
General Regulations
All students must:
- maintain a minimum degree grade point average of 3.0 with no grade below C+,
- meet the minimum and not exceed the maximum course requirements, and
- meet the minimum and not exceed the maximum time requirements (in terms of time in program and lapse or expiration of credit of courses).
Courses
Peace and Conflict Studies
Examines the role of language and communication in conflict and conflict resolution. These theoretical and practice perspectives are fundamental to the field of conflict analysis and resolution/peace studies. The role of power, gender, and culture in communication and conflict are reviewed. Theories and practical skills for successful communication, collaborative problem-solving, and trust-building are explored. This class is relevant for addressing conflicts within diverse settings.
Provides an overview of the theoretical foundations of the interdisciplinary field of conflict analysis and resolution, examining macro and micro theories regarding the causes of conflicts and approaches to their resolution. Conflicts are complex and take shape on multiple, interlocking planes. The course focuses on theory and the implications of these theories for practice.
Examines international conflict resolution and post-accord peace-building. Theories regarding the causes of international conflict are reviewed. Approaches for just and enduring resolution to international conflicts, building peace, and the promotion of a global civil society are explored.
Examines different definitions and types of violence from the interpersonal to the global levels (e.g., family violence, youth and gang violence, violence in the workplace, hate crimes, and war). Theories of human aggression and causes of violence, as well as approaches for violence intervention and prevention are reviewed. Theories of nonviolence are explored.
Examines the role of socially constructed identities and meaning in intergroup conflicts in a variety of contexts. Culture is broadly conceived to encompass a variety of identities, including differences along racial, ethnic, religious, gender, and class lines. Various models for resolution are reviewed. The nature of and ethics of intervention in cultures other than one's own are explored.
The topics addressed in this course will vary depending on faculty expertise and student need. Topics could include but will not be restricted to: "Gender and Conflict;" "Storytelling: Identity, Power and Transformation;" "Ethnic Conflict Analysis and Resolution;" "Children and War;" "Peace Education;" "Transformational Conflict Resolution;" "Role of Religion in Conflict and Peace."
The topics addressed in this course will vary depending on faculty expertise and student need. Topics could include but will not be restricted to: "Gender and Conflict;" "Storytelling: Identity, Power and Transformation;" "Ethnic Conflict Analysis and Resolution;" "Children and War;" "Peace Education;" "Transformational Conflict Resolution;" "Role of Religion in Conflict and Peach."
This course examines the shift in focus from state security to people. Human security is a bridge between the inter-related fields of development, human rights and conflict resolution. The course explores how these efforts at exploring the human condition can best be understood and applied.
This course examines the role of peacebuilding in short term crisis intervention and longer term conflict transformation processes. Social justice is addressed at the systems level as it impacts the achievement of sustainable reconciliation. Crisis management in conflict settings, the root causes of conflict and its prevention are explored.
Examines the role of conflict resolution within organizations and diverse settings (workplace, schools, communities, multiparty conflicts, international conflicts). The course focuses on analyzing how conflict is built into organizational structures and systems, and redesigning the system to produce effective human centres relations.
Examines the role of gender in conflict and peacemaking in areas of armed conflict. Women tend to be impacted and respond to conflict in ways different from men. The course explores the theoretical and practical contributions of women activists, peace researchers and educators have made toward understanding the role of gender
Examines theories of ethnic conflict and the intervention methods used by states, international organizations and conflict resolution and peace practitioners to analyze, manage and resolve ethnic conflicts. Case studies are used to explain conflict analysis and resolution and peacebuilding.
Examines the role of narrative and storytelling in conflict resolution, theory, research and practice. The relationship between language and power and destructive or constructive relationships is explored. The use of storytelling-based projects as a means of peacebuilding and community building are explored.
Examines the role of gender in conflict and peacemaking in areas of armed conflict. Women tend to be impacted and respond to conflict in ways different from men. The course explores the theoretical and practical contributions women activists, peace researchers and educators have made toward understanding the role of gender.
Examines indigenous models of peacebuilding from community level to national level. Emphasis is placed on restorative processes fundamental to cohesive relationships with others. This is achieved through ceremony, empathy, compassion, conflict resolution and restoration part of the peacebuilding models of indigenous peoples.
Examines the principles of restorative justice, the theoretical foundations of the restorative justice movement, and the development of new restorative justice programs. Restorative justice healing, re-integration and reconciliation are explored in a variety of contexts, including colonized and postcolonial indigenous communities.
Examines the role of peace education as students seek to make sense of complicated and perilous events in their society. The course provides students with a background in the area of social justice, peace studies and conflict resolution.
Examines the impact of international war, civil war, and genocide on young people. The role of gender, class, and culture are explored; as well as the role of peacemakers, governments, and communities for addressing these issues. The implications for both the political socialization of children as well as how young people may be actors in political solutions will be explored.
Examines the impact of international war, civil war and genocide on children. Today's children are tomorrow's world citizens, and their events will shape the future in unforeseeable ways. Young people are socio-economic and political agents, expressive through violence, peace work and other creative forms.
This course is designed for MA students in Peace and Conflict Studies. Course requirements including readings and assignments will be selected and developed by the Professor in conjunction with the students' interests.
Students develop awareness of theoretical knowledge, practice skills and abilities necessary for intervention in community, group and organizational conflicts at a practicum site. Students integrate theory and experiential learning into practice to analyze the conflict, during the intervention, and post intervention reflection.