Welcome

From Darfur to Iraq to Washington D.C., disputes over politics, culture, resources, and religion have given rise to the need for new and creative approaches to resolving conflict. While deeply-rooted conflicts are often not fully resolved, they may be transformed from heated or violent disputes into more manageable, peaceful forms. The Georgetown M.A. Program in Conflict Resolution seeks to equip its graduates with the theoretical and practical tools necessary to better understand the nature of, and solutions to, many types and degrees of conflict.

The two-year program is designed to be small in size and intensive. It is housed in the Government Department, but is offered in conjunction with many other departments and schools at Georgetown University. Core and elective courses are taught in the departments of Psychology, Theology, Philosophy, and Sociology; in the Program on Communication, Culture, and Technology; and at the Law Center, Business School, School of Foreign Service, and Public Policy Institute. The program seeks to build on and reinforce Georgetown University's traditional commitments to peace, outreach, and ethics.

The broad themes of the program trace the three basic stages of conflict processes: first, the origins of disputes, second, mediation and negotiation, and finally post-conflict peacebuilding. Students are schooled in a variety of perspectives ranging from intergroup to community to global. Such themes as the role of religion in conflict and conciliation, alternative dispute resolution, multiparty negotiations, third party intervention in civil conflicts, and emerging norms in the resolution of conflict, are also highlighted. The program prepares students for further academic study, or for careers in the rapidly growing market for specialists in the field of Conflict Resolution.