Peace studies and conflict resolution programs focus on how conflicts start between people, cultures, and nations and how they are resolved. Students learn about global politics, law, and the history of nonviolence. They also study ways to prevent conflict.
If you have siblings, then you know that brothers and sisters fight. You love each other, but you also drive each other crazy. We all remember at least one fight where it got so heated that somebody else, usually Mom or Dad, had to break it up. You could hardly think straight, you were so angry. It wasn't until Mom or Dad calmed you down that you could end the fight and apologize.
Fights between siblings are normal. Conflict is a part of life. However, sometimes "fights" occur between different ethnic groups or even between countries. Sometimes conflicts are about religion, such as the division between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. Often clashes are centuries old, such as the conflict between Bosnians, Serbians, and Croatians in the former Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, many conflicts lead to intense hostility and even combat.
Peace studies and conflict resolution programs teach you how to resolve current conflicts and prevent war and violence. You take courses in mediation and negotiation, which teach you how to get opposing groups to talk to each other. If you do well, you may help clashing groups end their conflict. You take courses about past and present global conflicts. You also study issues such as terrorism and nuclear weapons. You learn how to plan policies that achieve peace and well-being for all people involved. In addition, you take courses from different fields of study such as business, literature, sociology, and history. You also can take courses in law, psychology, philosophy, geography, and political science.
With a background in peace studies and conflict resolution, you can work to peacefully end conflicts at every level of society. You can be a policy-maker for a government agency or nonprofit group. You can work as a professional mediator or negotiator for businesses, courts, and schools. You can work for labor unions or prisons or even become an activist.
A few four-year schools have separate centers for peace studies and conflict resolution. They often are part of sociology, international studies, political science, or theology departments. However, few schools offer a distinct peace studies and conflict resolution major. Usually a minor or certificate in peace studies is offered at the undergraduate level. Typically you finish your bachelor's degree in four years.
A small number of schools offer graduate programs in peace studies and conflict resolution. In many cases, peace studies and conflict resolution is offered as a concentration in other graduate programs. Graduate degrees take from two to five years after you finish your bachelor's degree. Most people with graduate degrees in peace studies and conflict resolution become professors, policy analysts, or professional mediators.