Pre-Masters in Law and Social Science (3-Terms), Leading to Master of Science in Conflict Prevention and peacebuilding Study Group - Durham University International Study Centre - Queens Campus, UK

Pre-Masters in Law and Social Science (3-Terms)
The Pre-Masters in Law and Social Science prepares you for a choice of progression degrees at Durham University. When you have completed the programme and achieved the required grades, you can progress to a range of postgraduate degrees at Durham University.

Who is this programme for?

This programme is for international students looking to study a Masters degree in law or social sciences at Durham University.

• Explore a wide range of topics through one of five distinctive routes: Anthropology, Archaeology, Geography, Law and Politics.
• Improve your academic and English language skills needed for entry to your chosen Masters degree.
• Gain the opportunity to progress to a large number of impressive postgraduate degrees at this world-renowned university.
• Develop your ability to critically analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a range of research methods.
• Engage in a new, culturally exciting community and enjoy studying abroad in the UK.

What will you study?
You will study core modules, which cover general skills, and designated modules that relate to your progression degree. This means your Pre-Masters programme will be tailored to the specific needs of your chosen degree.

Core modules

• Academic English Skills
• Advanced Academic Writing and Critical Reading
• Extended Research Project
• Globalisation*
• Research Methods for Social Science

When you complete the Pre-Masters in Law and Social Science, and achieve the required grades, you can progress Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding MSc at Durham University.

Leading to: Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding MSc

While negotiated agreements may spell the official end of conflict, repeated failures to secure long-lasting peace around the globe call attention to the need for more encompassing approaches to peacebuilding. Attuned to social as well as political needs, conflict prevention as well as pro-active peacebuilding, new forms of intervention are calling for practices that take local perspectives seriously, that look to hitherto unrepresented social actors such as the youth and women as necessary agents in the quest for peace, and that account for wide-ranging effects of conflict and peace initiatives in areas that are traditionally deprioritised such as health and the environment, to help prevent adversities before they happen.

This interdisciplinary and custom designed MSc offers the unique opportunity to look at conflict prevention and peacebuilding through the lenses of human security, social justice, and people’s diplomacy. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills in humanitarian intervention, conflict mediation, everyday negotiation, conflict sensitive programme design, the use of peace indicators, participatory approaches to peacebuilding, and gender-sensitive approaches to security.

The MSc is designed for graduates with a career in government, inter-governmental organisations, NGOs, humanitarian organisations, or academia in mind, and for practitioners looking to enhance their practical skills while placing these within a broader theoretical perspective.

The MSc will provide you with advanced knowledge of the complex and specialised areas of peacebuilding, among it conflict analysis, conflict prevention, conflict resolution and conflict transformation, community driven reconstruction, peace processes within the context of contemporary conflicts and in the context of broader international (humanitarian) interventions. Integrated into the MSc structure are opportunities to develop operational and vocational skills for example in negotiations, conflict mediation, conflict sensitive programme design and programme management, or urban peacebuilding. You are provided with theoretical and empirical knowledge and with practical skills that are helpful for current and future employment opportunities. The courses are thus attractive to both graduates and mid-career practitioners. Whilst the academic and applied focus of the MSc comes through a peace and conflict studies analytic lens, course material will also draw from traditional strategic/security and development studies, enabling cross fertilisation between different perspectives. It allows the exploration of unique and new paradigms and practices in the fields of conflict, peace, security, defence, diplomacy, development and humanitarian intervention.

Core modules

• Defence, Development and Diplomacy in Conflict
• Conflict Prevention and Sustainable Peace
• Peace Processes and Everyday Political Negotiation
• Consolidating Peace after Violence
• Capstone Exercise: Humanitarian Intervention Simulation
• Dissertation

Examples of optional modules:

• Transitory Lives: Migration Research and Advocacy
• Conflict Mediation
• Fieldtrip
• Gender, Security, and Post-conflict Reconstruction
• Contemporary Challenges in UN Peacekeeping
• Urban Violence - Urban Peacebuilding
• Capturing and Counting Peace and Conflict.
• Participatory Approaches to Peace and Development
• Conflict Sensitive Programme Management
• Curating Human Remains
• Conflict Analysis
• Defence Engagement and Entrepreneurship
• Assessing Martial Power