Eastern Mennonite University

Graduate Program in Conflict Transformation

Degree Requirements | Core Requirements | Concentrations | Course Descriptions | Dual Degree

Preparing reflective practitioners by:

• nurturing a diverse learning community that values mutuality.

• offering a practice-based curriculum.

• encouraging nonviolent and restorative responses to conflict.

• fostering reflective, value-based practice and critical self-reflection.

• furthering the lifelong process of strengthening and acquiring the skills, knowledge, attitudes and values needed for peacebuilding.

• sustaining a long-term commitment to justice and peace.

The Graduate Program in Conflict Transformation is designed for persons interested in pursuing academic studies in the field broadly-defined as peacebuilding: conflict transformation, restorative justice, trauma healing, development and related fields.

The graduate program is one of three components of CJP, a community that weaves a multiplicity of experiences together into a rich tapestry of learning. At CJP, the rigors of academic specialization are combined with practical preparation for a life of peacebuilding in the world.

Presently there are about 100 students enrolled at CJP, many from diverse communities in regions of conflict throughout the world, like Sumanto, a 2007 graduate, quoted below.

"CJP is a 'melting pot' of peacebuilders, conflict resolution practitioners, and human rights activists from throughout the world. Accordingly, EMU's CJP is an excellent place both to study in the area of conflict transformation and to get experiences on peacebuilding work."

Interested in undergraduate studies in peacebuilding? EMU offers a major and minor in Justice, Peace & Conflict Studies. Click here to learn more.

 

Degree Requirements

Multiple universities around the world offer degrees similar to our program.

What unique niche does CJP fill in the field of graduate peace programs? Click here to find out.

View this list of faculty recommended Ph.D. programs.

The M.A. in Conflict Transformation curriculum consists of a total of 42 semester hours, which include core requirements (18-21), courses required for concentrations (8-9), and recommended electives (12-16). Students select courses in consultation with a faculty advisor to meet the goals of their program. Full-time students should be able to complete the degree in two years. Limited-residency students will normally complete the degree in three to five years. With careful planning, limited-residency students can often reduce Harrisonburg residency to three semesters (fall, spring, summer) or three summers. However, at least one full semester on campus is strongly recommended.

A 15-semester hour Graduate Certificate Program is designed for professional and lay people who wish to develop expertise in a particular area of the Conflict Transformation field. The certificate complements a previously obtained graduate degree or years of practical experience in another field. This program of study can be completed in two semesters. Participants work with a faculty advisor to develop a program to meet their objectives.

Please see the graduate catalog at left for more information on curriculum.

Core Requirements

Each course is 3 credits unless otherwise noted.

Master of Arts

Graduate Certificate

Concentrations

Five concentrations are available to allow students to focus on areas of special interest. The concentrations and their required courses are listed below.

Each concentration also requires 2-3 credits of specialized practice courses, which are marked by an asterisk on the course description page.

Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding

Restorative Justice

Trauma Healing & Peacebuilding

Development & Peacebuilding

Conflict Transformation & Organizational Leadership

Dual Degree

Eastern Mennonite Seminary (EMS) and the Center for Justice & Peacebuilding (CJP) have recently collaborated in developing a dual degree option for students from both departments. Students would receive a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation (MACT) by completing the total requirements of 111 semester hours (SH).

Present Academic Requirements

Requirements for the Dual Degree M.Div./MACT (total of 111 SH)

EMS will require 75 SH from the M.Div. core curriculum; CJP will require 26-27 SH from the MACT core curriculum and the concentration. This leaves 9-10 SH as electives in the dual degree. Of these, 3-4 SH will be taken from the MACT and 6 SH from the M.Div. (see list below).

MACT requirements are as follows:

Core: (12 SH) Analysis: Understanding Conflict – 3
Practice: Skills for Conflict Transformation – 3
Research Course – 3
Theory: Frameworks for Conflict Transformation – 3
CT Practicum (6 SH)
Core concentration: (8-9 SH from one of the concentrations listed above)

For more information on the M.Div. requirements, visit the EMS web page.

Elective credits: 3-4 credits from MACT and 6 from M.Div. selections listed below

MACT: Disciplines for Transforming the Peacebuilder, Strategic Nonviolence, Restorative Justice, Trauma Awareness & Transformation, Developing Healthy Organizations, International Development

M.Div.: Churches and Social Transformation, Managing Congregational Conflict, Biblical Foundations for Peacemaking, Ethics & Nonviolence: Sermon on the Mount , Anabaptism Today: Yoder and Hauerwas, Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Life, Theology & Witness

 

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