The Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (MPACS) program fits within the parameters of the guiding mission statements of both the University of Waterloo and of the sponsoring institution, Conrad Grebel University College*. Whereas uWaterloo's mission is to “advance learning and knowledge through teaching, research, and scholarship, nationally and internationally, in an environment of free expression and inquiry,” the College’s mission statement builds on this academic vision, explicitly articulating the call for practical service to “seek wisdom, nurture faith, and pursue justice and peace in service to church and society.”
Building upon these inspirational and aspirational statements, the mission of the MPACS program sharpens these foci even more, defining it’s purpose as to “foster the capability of civil society to contribute to sustainable/holistic peace by empowering students with the knowledge, research and practical skills needed to contribute to nonviolent peacebuilding efforts. Combining rigorous interdisciplinary scholarship with concrete application, the program will provide scholars and practitioners alike with the tools needed to understand conflict and contribute to its peaceful resolution.”
Master of Peace and Conflict Studies (MPACS)
The MPACS program offered under the Faculty of Arts at Conrad Grebel University College is a new (September 2012) interdisciplinary professional program at the University of Waterloo. It will prepare students with the knowledge and practical skills needed to contribute to nonviolent peace building efforts. Placing a unique focus on the pivotal role that individuals within civil society play, the MPACS program explores the potential of civil society to advance peace through principled advocacy, effective programming, and dynamic engagement with the state and marketplace.
Recognizing conflict as an inescapable part of the human experience, and a potential vehicle for positive change at local, national, and international levels, this master’s degree offers a cutting-edge approach in which dynamic, sustainable, and creative solutions to conflict can be imagined, tested, and applied.
MPACS is a course-based professional degree program best suited for individuals aiming to step into careers as practitioners. The program educates, trains, and empowers students to enter roles as agents of peaceful change at community, institutional, and systemic levels.
Students may pursue the MPACS degree on a full-time or part-time basis. Full-time students may complete the program in 4 terms or 16 months.
Program and learning objectives
The overarching program objectives of the MPACS program are to:
- Foster the capacity of students to understand the promise and potential of civil society to advance peace through principled advocacy, effective programming, and dynamic engagement with the state and marketplace;
- Educate students to be responsible, reflective and self-critical agents of peaceful change in local, national and/or global contexts.
These overarching program objectives acknowledge that there is a need to more creatively understand conflict. It may often have a very positive function as a catalyst that enables relationships to be renegotiated to a more healthy state of being. Focusing on the roles and responsibilities of individuals and communities, the program will equip graduates with the theoretical knowledge and practical skills needed not only to step into roles as agents of peaceful change but to collaborate and intersect with other sectors. These objectives also recognize that there is a need for individual interveners to explicitly understand their role, capacity, and potential, as well as their limitations in responding to conflict. Failure to be self-aware and self-critical can result in interveners exacerbating conflict and causing more harm.
To accomplish these two program objectives, students who complete the MPACS program will be able to:
- Apply principles of conflict analysis and transformation at community, institutional, and/or systemic levels;
- Understand peace from a multi-disciplinary and holistic perspective and appreciate diverse contributions to peace efforts;
- Recognize potential applications of nonviolent intervention and transformation at all levels of society;
- Diagnose interactions among civil society, state and marketplace sectors, and develop collaborative strategies to foster peace;
- Deepen reflective, critical thinking and analytical skills needed to understand local, national and global peace issues;
- Develop skills in research necessary to prepare to contribute relevant scholarship to the peace field;
- Develop practical competencies necessary for effective peace building work; and
- Articulate a vision to advance peace in practical and meaningful ways locally, nationally and globally.
*Conrad Grebel University College (CGUC) is an academic and residential college at the University of Waterloo. The College is owned by the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada (MCEC), which is a constituent member of the Mennonite Church of Canada. The College was incorporated by letters patent on April 20, 1961 and was affiliated with the University of Waterloo on December 15, 1961. The College offers two graduate programs: a Master of Peace and Conflict Studies leading to a University of Waterloo MPACS degree and a Master of Theological Studies leading to a conjoint University of Waterloo/Conrad Grebel University College MTS degree. The College also offers the Music and the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) programs leading to University of Waterloo BA degrees. In addition undergraduate courses in a variety of disciplines in the Faculty of Arts, especially in History, Mennonite Studies, Religious Studies, English, Sociology, Philosophy and Arts are offered.