Course is divided into 8 sections. Each of them consists of 4 hours of lectures and of selected literature:

1) Old and new trends in peace and conflict research
- general introduction on peace and conflict research, on its different traditions and different generations from Cold War to multipolar globalized world
- different peace sciences outside to Eurocentric world and which have existed in various epochs.
- understanding peace and conflict in multicultural world

2) Peace and conflict research as a critical movement
- idea of peace and conflict research as a movement of the mind and critical of mere convention and established institutions of knowledge
- traditions emerging from British, Continental European, North American and Nordic historical contexts
- continuity and change in the idea of critical research is evaluated by examining how the variety of research today relates to these historical traditions, on the one hand, and the more recent debates in social and cultural research, on the other hand.

3) Ethics, Modernity and Peace: Dilemmas and the Way Forward
- understanding of the role of religious ethics in modern social and political ethics
- contextualization of the evolution of ethical thought in intellectual history
- complexities of the dialectic between ethics and critical thought in modernity
- conceptual and critical vocabulary that will assist the student in all her/his studies of peace and conflict from the point of view of philosophy, society and culture

4) International peace building
- how understanding of “war” and “peace” has changed and what is understood as new wars
- how human rights have been adapted into international politics and how international community has interfered with large scale peace building operations

5) Gender in crisis management
- reasons why gender aspect is relevant in peace support operations and the various forms of gender sensitive action in international military and civilian crisis management
- brief overview of the UN Security Council Resolutions

6) Security studies and peace and conflict research
- development of the study of security after the end of the Cold War
- replacement of an (almost entirely) military approach to security by a more diversified understanding including, but not limited to, military, political, and societal (identity-related) dimensions of security

7) Environmental security
- introduction to environmental security in the context of global environmental change
- role of environment and natural resources in conflicts and peace building
- connections between climate change and security

8) Hot Peace
- historical views on elements of the fragile European peace 1945-1990
- Western attempts to create sustainable peace structures in times of high political tensions

All degree students of the PEACE programme are automatically enrolled to this course.

Some places available for exchange students. Requirements: Master level students who have very good academic English and good background knowledge in the field of study. To sign up, please contact the teacher responsible.

Course content and associated goals include
1) increasing awareness of the dimensions and social contexts of conflict situations through the comparison of institutions in various cultures and nations
2) examining and analyzing a range of conflict resolution practices, conflict prevention strategies, and peace-building, peacekeeping, and reconciliation techniques, and
3) gaining an understanding of the options available for dealing with conflict within and among nations and at the global level.

The students of the University of Tampere will complete this course unit from the Åbo Akademi University via a classroom real-time video link.

Priority is given to international master's prgoramme (PEACE) students, otherwise the selection criterion is the number of credits.The final course lists will be posted on the Language Centre's notice board on 31 August.

The course will continue in the spring semester 2013.

This module examines approaches to human mobility in peace and conflict research. Violent conflicts, ethnic and religious discrimination and human rights abuses produce forced displacement, both refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). States’, international organizations’, civil society organizations’ and migrants’ own perspectives in responding to these crisis situations are considered.

Pre-enrolment by 15.10.2012 by sending e-mail to the teacher.

Some places available for exchange students. Requirements: Master level students who have very good academic English and good background knowledge in the field of study. To sign up, please contact the teacher responsible.

The course explores what forms of knowledge on war, conflict and peace images produce. Images are understood here as invitations to discussions widening the discursive frames within which human activities unfold. Methodologically hybrid, the course discusses different forms of visual representation such as photography, film and comics, their interaction with language and their multi-sensory operations on the observer.

Lectures plus students’ papers and discussion: 12 h lectures, 12 h seminars. Students are expected to read articles/chapters during the lecture period and present their own papers in the seminar.

Priority is given to PEACE students but some places are available for exchange students. Pre-enrolment by October 19 by email (frank.moller (a) uta.fi).

Priority is given to international master's prgoramme (PEACE) students, otherwise the selection criterion is the number of credits.The final course lists will be posted on the Language Centre's notice board on 31 August.

The course will continue in the spring semester 2013.

Studies focusing on the Arab and Muslim world often insist on the permanence and the reproduction of irreducible identities that supposedly shape social and political conflicts in the region. The course introduces - in situations and not only in theory - key concepts such as sectarism, tribalism and solidarity bonds, discuss the history of their creation in the field of Arab and Muslim World studies, and present their potential role – material and/or symbolic - in the conflicts in the area. Case-studies will also be explored more deeply.

Max. 20 students. Priority is given to PEACE students but some places are available for exchange students. Pre-enrolment by December 15 by email (bruno.lefort (a) uta.fi).

During the last quarter of a century, when conflicts between states have been decreasing, there have been attempts to present cultures and civilisations as dividing features which could be origins of tensions and conflicts. This course will approach these questions by studying the possible role cultures and civilisations might have in peace and conflicts. The main thesis of the course is that cultures and civilisations are not actors themselves, but that they are used, often politically, by different partners in conflicts. Several cases are studied in the lecture in order to explicate how cultures are used in conflicts.

Max. 24 students. Priority is given to PEACE students but some places are available for exchange students. Pre-enrolment by December 20 by email (outi.tomperi (a) uta.fi).

The course deals with the role of the environment and natural resources in conflicts and peace building. Among the key themes are environmental impacts of conflicts and warfare, and post-conflict environmental analysis. Moreover, the course describes how natural resources can function both as a source of conflicts and as tools in peace building and in post-conflict economic recovery and reconciliation. The theoretical underpinnings of environmental security are also discussed.

Priority is given to PEACE students but some places are available for exchange students. Pre-enrolment by email (teemu.palosaari (a) uta.fi).

The lectures, discussions, films, and readings provide a background on the theory and methods of nonviolence and illustrate nonviolence in action around the world through consideration of social and political nonviolent movements.

Please contact the teacher responsible.

The purpose of the course is to provide students with an overview of the mediation of international conflicts and to introduce the basic concepts, actors and trends of mediation. The course will examine mediation as part of the overall global security architecture and analyse the development of mediation in relation to wider trends of international peace and security, as well as international responsemechanisms to conflicts. It will also include a closer examination of the main actors in the field of mediation, including governments, non-governmental organisations, private diplomacy actors, regional and sub-regional organisations, and international organisations.

Participants: Maximum 20 students (priority on students majoring international politics). Enroll by filling out the form below.

Course consists of three different parts:

1)      Introduction to research methods. Research Methods course starts with lecture series (6 h) by Marko Lehti

Mondays 4.3.2013-11.3.2013 at 12-15 (Tapri seminar room 126)

The key topics such as what is required to transform from consumer of knowledge as producer of knowledge and how to choose research topic and to find relevant methodologies will be discussed during the course. Principles of multi- and intra-disciplinary approaches will be discussed during the course.

2)      Methods of peace & conflict studies. Seminar, monitored discussions, students’ presentations. Seminars are given by various lecturers with different themes.

Students will prepare presentation on the basis of selected articles/chapters. Selected methodological questions will be discussed in the classroom on the basis of presentation and discussion which are monitored by the teacher.

 Timetable for seminar (Tapri seminar room 126):

Fri 22.3 at 10-13 Bruno Lefort

Mon 25.3 at 12-15 Genevieve Souillac: "Ethics and Politics: Theoretical Approaches"

Fri 5.4 at 10-13 Benedikt  Schoenborn: "Sources and methods in historical research"

Fri 12.4. at 10-13 Teemu Palosaari: "Constructivism and Foreign Policy Analysis"

Fri 19.4 at 10-13 Alina Curticapean

Tue 23.4 at 10-13 Helena Rytövuori-Apunen: "Speech Acts and (con)textual interpretation"

Fri 26.4 at 10-13 Tuomo Melasuo

Tue 30.4 at 10-13 Eeva Puumala and Anitta Kynsilehto

Fri 3.5 at 10-13 Frank Möller

3)      Intensive beginning of thesis seminar. Students will write research plan for their master thesis. The plans should include introduction to the theme, overview to previous research, selected list of literature and suggested theoretical framework, methodology and research questions. Research plans will be discussed and commented in the classroom. Timing mid-May

Course consists of three different parts:

1)      Introduction to research methods. Research Methods course starts with lecture series (6 h) by Marko Lehti

Mondays 4.3.2013-11.3.2013 at 12-15 (Tapri seminar room 126)

The key topics such as what is required to transform from consumer of knowledge as producer of knowledge and how to choose research topic and to find relevant methodologies will be discussed during the course. Principles of multi- and intra-disciplinary approaches will be discussed during the course.

2)      Methods of peace & conflict studies. Seminar, monitored discussions, students’ presentations. Seminars are given by various lecturers with different themes.

Students will prepare presentation on the basis of selected articles/chapters. Selected methodological questions will be discussed in the classroom on the basis of presentation and discussion which are monitored by the teacher.

 Timetable for seminar (Tapri seminar room 126):

Fri 22.3 at 10-13 Bruno Lefort

Mon 25.3 at 12-15 Genevieve Souillac: "Ethics and Politics: Theoretical Approaches"

Fri 5.4 at 10-13 Benedikt  Schoenborn: "Sources and methods in historical research"

Fri 12.4. at 10-13 Teemu Palosaari: "Constructivism and Foreign Policy Analysis"

Fri 19.4 at 10-13 Alina Curticapean

Tue 23.4 at 10-13 Helena Rytövuori-Apunen: "Speech Acts and (con)textual interpretation"

Fri 26.4 at 10-13 Tuomo Melasuo

Tue 30.4 at 10-13 Eeva Puumala and Anitta Kynsilehto

Fri 3.5 at 10-13 Frank Möller

3)      Intensive beginning of thesis seminar. Students will write research plan for their master thesis. The plans should include introduction to the theme, overview to previous research, selected list of literature and suggested theoretical framework, methodology and research questions. Research plans will be discussed and commented in the classroom. Timing mid-May

Please contact the teacher responsible.

TIMETABLE:

Lectures:

at 12-14, seminar room, TAPRI
1. Week:
- Tue 12.3.
- Thu 14.3.

2. Week
- Tue 19.3
- Thu 21.3.

Workshops:

at 12-14, seminar room, TAPRI
3. Week
- Tue 9.4
- Wed  10.4
- Thu 11.4

4.Week
- Tue  16.4
- Wed 17.4.
- Thu 18.4

In this course, after reviewing core theoretical ideas about peace and conflict, we will approach the study of peace ethics from a critical point of view in the context of modern thought. Ideas about rationality, autonomy and justice, and about society, autonomy and conflict, have all contributed to our understanding of freedom and justice, but how is this to be translated into a contemporary vision of peace with justice? We will explore and discuss key authors who have grappled with the question of rationality and ethics with reference to social, political and cultural life. We will focus in particular on the question of religious conflict in the public sphere, but we will also consider the issue of hospitality. We will thereby gain a sense of philosophical thought and practice as we critically explore the underlying conceptual dynamics of a peace ethics adapted to the complexity of contemporary life.

Please contact the teacher responsible.

In this module we examine how the understanding of “war” and “peace” has changed, and discuss what is understood by the concept “new wars”. The question of how a need to build sustainable peace has entered into international politics is examined from the 19th century to present. Furthermore, we focus on how human rights have been adapted into international politics and how the international community has interfered with large scale peace building operations in the post-Cold War era. Phenomena like responsibility to protect, humanitarian intervention and liberal peace are explained.

Themes of lecture:
1) Towards perpetual peace: idea and movement
2) Human rights and humanitarian interventions
3) Peace mediation and negotiations
4) Liberal peace & state-building
5) Reconciliation, memory and ontological security

 Seminar: Presentation and paper analyzing a specific peace-building case/operation

Lectures (12 h), articles + seminar (12 h) (students give oral presentation on the basis of their essay)

Modes of study: Examination (including lectures and selected literature) + seminar with essay focusing on one particular peace building case

Please contact the teacher responsible.

Some room in the course for exchange students and other students, please contact the teacher before the course.