Education and Conflict

This is an interdisciplinary course, which while focusing on the field of Education and Development draws on the parent disciplines of International Relations, Human Geography, International Development and Peace Studies. Across the duration of the course we will explore the different theoretical frames and global discourses around peacebuilding including theories of violence, positive and negative peace, liberal peace and local and hybrid peace.
The strong theoretical orientation of the course will be applied to the analysis of contemporary practices of making and keeping peace and their intersection with education through the exploration of case studies that highlight the different practices, actors and challenges in the field of education and peacebuilding. This includes education in non-formal and informal forms such as community organising and youth programmes.

The case studies will be structured around the substantive topics within the field, for example: gender, recognition and identity; religious and ethnic conflict; spatial movements, border-crossings and refugees. Key literature and scholars of the field will be interrogated alongside these examples to develop understanding of the contours of the main debates and inform analysis. By the end of the course, you will be able to think critically about both the potential and obstruction education can offer sustainable peace, from different approaches and theoretical frames, in light of situated conflicts in varying and complex contexts, and their intersectional issues.

SCQF Credits: 20

Credit Level: 11

Year Taken: Postgraduate