The Program in Peace and Conflict Management at the University of Haifa offers an integrative approach. We aim at offering a holistic experience, in which students learn how to:
• Integrate theory and practice, critically examining how theories acquired in class are implemented, critically analyzed and adapted to practical situation. In addition, in workshops and skills-based courses students engage in skill-building that is not detached but rather synthesized with the theories they read, discuss and analyze.
• Integrate Peace Studies and ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) studies, usually taught in separate programs, where concrete pragmatic approaches to conflict engagement are woven into structural theories of peace building and of intergroup conflict.
• Integrate intellectual and existential challenges, cognitive and emotional pursues. We believe in a dialogue with the theory & practice of peace and conflict management from a first-person perspective, which invites students to reflect on their studies, to examine where it meets their personal journey, to ask what challenges it all surface and what is their own hope and aspiration that they wish to follow as they develop they unique professional identity.
• Integrate between various disciplines (not an easy task), synthesize knowledge and insights from discourses and analytical frameworks that present different perspectives, different discourses that approach conflicts differently.
• The program offers an integration of different levels of conflict, not all necessarily all covered in MA programs: the personal (reflective practices for personal growth and awareness of one's own approach to conflicts), the interpersonal (developing understanding and skills of interpersonal conflict engagement, dialogue and negotiation), intergroup (developing understanding and skills for inter-group consensus-building and conflict management), social level (understanding social conflicts and the challenges & skill-set for the cultivation of a shared society among diverse social groups), and the international level (peacebuilding efforts based on international relations and political science-based approach towards diplomatic efforts and towards the pursue of peace among nations).
An Emerging Discipline
Israel is a diverse society dealing with multiple deep cleavages, the most notable of which is between Jews and Arabs. In addition, the country is involved in protracted conflicts with some of its Middle Eastern neighbors, but also maintains peace accords with some of the countries in the region, some longstanding (with Egypt and Jordan) and some relatively recent (with UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan). As such, Israel is a unique environment for learning about conflicts as well as attempts to promote peace, and constitutes a real-life laboratory for gaining hands-on experience in efforts to promote shared societies and build peace.
Haifa is a multi-cultural ethnically and religiously diverse city, with Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. It is also home to the World Center of the Baha’i faith. These, along with the neighboring Druze villages of Isfiya and Daliat el-Carmel, are important components of the city's social and cultural life. It is the only city in Israel taking part in the International Intercultural Cities Network. The student body at the University of Haifa reflects the diversity of the city and the region of Northern Israel, and allows students to immerse themselves in this environment and experience its challenges and opportunities in person.
The curriculum consists of courses covering theories of conflict outbreak and escalation, models and frameworks conflict transformation and peacebuilding, theories and practice of negotiation, mediation and multi-party consensus-building, community mediation, multi-track diplomacy, research methods and introduction to cutting-edge scholarship in the field as well as it critical evaluation. Courses are vibrant and consist not only of lectures, but also involve interactive activities, group dialogue, personal reflections, simulations and other pedagogical methodologies to make the learning process experiential and connected to students' personal experiences and goals. In addition, the curriculum includes a mandatory practicum, which provides students with hands-on experience in the practice of Peace and Conflict Management and seeks to integrate the practical experience gained with the theoretical knowledge acquired in the program.
The program takes pride in its curriculum as well as in its ex-curricular activities, aimed at making the most of the time students spend in the program and in the region. The program aims at exposing students to the rich activities taking place in and outside the university that can inform and enrich the studies in peace and conflict management.
Throughout the year students meet informally with leaders, scholars and heads of organizations conducting shared-society work in Israel. These informal meetings, taking place once every three weeks, allow students to engage in dialogue and be inspired by leading figures in the field. In addition, day-long field-trips (twice each semester) expose students to complex social conflicts first-hand. The practicum provides students with hands-on experience in the practice of Peace and Conflict Management, broadly defined, and seeks to integrate the practical experience gained with the theoretical knowledge acquired in the program.
Students in the program are exposed to projects done and supported by the program's faculty, such as a project in the city of Haifa aimed at preventing escalation of social conflict in times of emergency, a project aimed at helping civil-society organizations in their efforts to develop a shared society, project that strives to overcome diversity and develop shared living on campus, attempts to transform adversary among Jews and Arabs in the shared city of Acer, etc.
See more on recent activities Here.
The profession that emerges from studying Peace and Conflict management is in increasing demand in the contemporary world, where collaboration among diverse actors is essential. Conflict Engagement Specialists are needed in order to mediate interpersonal disputes; to build consensus among diverse voices; to integrate and facilitate dialogue in situations that require joint effort of multiple actors from government, professional organizations and civil society to deal with complex social problems; to help build shared societies among diverse social and cultural groups; to assist in complex international negotiations; and in many more organizational, communal and governmental settings.
Proficiency and expertise are required to address differences and allow for dialogue and collaboration to replace adversarial tendencies, mindsets and approaches among diverse stakeholders. Societies are increasingly contending with fragmentation and polarization, which can be costly in terms of their social cohesion and can lead to low social resilience. Professionals with expertise in negotiation, consensus building, dialogue, public-participation processes and facilitative leadership are required to meet the growing demands resulting from these challenges. Graduates in Peace and Conflict Management can become the professionals needed to meet these growing demands.
