Peace and Conflict Studies (Taught)

With peace processes collapsing into war in many places around the world, there has never been a more important time to study how and why peace processes succeed or fail. With the help of award-winning academics, our Peace and Conflict Studies master's course will build your understanding of how peace is defined, built, and maintained.

Our MA in Peace and Conflict Studies draws on expertise from the fields of politics, history, anthropology and the arts to offer you the opportunity to engage with conflict management, conflict resolution, conflict transformation, peacebuilding and statebuilding theories and practices. The course has a particular focus on the actors responsible for building peace, from grassroots agents to intergovernmental organisations like the United Nations. It will also empower you to critically evaluate the very notion of peace itself from postcolonial, gender and global justice perspectives.

The dynamics of these various contributions to peace will be the focus of a guided research visit with the range of peace and conflict management actors present in either Bosnia Herzegovina or Cyprus in Semester 2.

You’ll also be able to tailor your course to fit your interests, exploring topics such as:

• Humanitarianism and Conflict Response;

• The Ethics of Killing;

• Human Rights in World Politics;

• Critical Environmental Politics.

See a full list of mandatory and optional course units below.

Throughout the course you will develop highly desirable and transferrable skills in critical enquiry, conflict analysis, critical thinking, presenting research and teamwork.

At the point of completion, you will be well placed for a broad range of careers in areas such as international and regional organisations, policy analysis, the NGO and international NGO sector, foreign ministries and development agencies, among others.

This course is eligible for the 1+3 studentship offered by the Economic and Social Sciences Research Council (ESRC) North West Social Sciences Doctoral Training Partnership (NWSSDTP), offering a unique, fully-funded route into postgraduate research. If your application is successful, you’ll be able to seamlessly transition from master's-level study to a PhD. Find out more on our 1+3 ESRC NWSSDTP webpage.