Rutgers University Newark

Life is conflict. Life is cooperation. Both define the human condition. Conflict will never be eliminated, nor should it be, because conflict can foster change. But conflict can be approached in ways that do not involve mass killings, assaults on human rights, and oppressive structural violence that creates the appearance of order while people suffer. The newly created Master’s Program (and Bachelor’s/Master’s Program) in Peace and Conflict Studies within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-Newark offers a unique approach to the issues which will shape our future. Based in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, this program prepares students for further scholarship or employment in three areas: the social bases of peace and conflict, the causes of large-scale violence, and nonviolent social conflict and recovery from violence. Students will also have opportunities for research and practical internships associated with the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, and the International Institute for Peace, whose Directors are faculty members of the Master’s Program. The Center and Institute bring scholars, policy makers, peacemakers, projects, and events to our campus, and connect us to researchers, practitioners, and peacebuilding communities around the world.