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Teaching and Research Face-to-Face Teaching through MA Programmes: UPEACE has been offering Master’s Degree Programmes at its Costa Rica campus for students from all parts of the world since 2002. The following Programmes are being offered during the academic year 2009-2010: • MA in International Law and the Settlement of Disputes; • MA in International Law and Human Rights; • MA in International Peace Studies; • MA in Gender and Peacebuilding; • MA in Peace Education; • MA in Environmental Security and Peace; MA in Natural Resources and Peace • MA in Media, Peace and Conflict Studies. . MA in Responsible Management and Sustainable Economic Development Dual campus MA programme in International Peace Studies in partnership with Ateneo de Manila University, Manila, The Philippines • Dual Master’s Degree in Natural Resources and Sustainable Development (with American University, Washington DC); Dual degree programmes in International Law and Human Rights and Media, Peace and Conflict Studies with Hankuk University of Foreign Affairs. Resident faculty in Costa Rica are helped to deliver the academic programme and training at the Headquarters campus and elsewhere by visiting faculty from all corners of the globe. Teaching in the field of peace and conflict is based on an interactive methodology which draws from the experiences of the students and the faculty. All students enrolled in the MA Programmes at the Costa Rica campus begin with a Foundation Course in Peace and Conflict Studies, designed to provide a common base for addressing the complex and interconnected challenges to peace. Face-to-Face Teaching through Short Courses: In addition to its graduate programmes, UPEACE also offers short courses and professional training workshops, largely based on components of its MA Programmes, to various partner organizations and institutions worldwide. More than 3,000 individuals have earned certificates from one of our short courses delivered in Costa Rica and elsewhere. Students and Alumni at UPEACE receive a high quality education in a unique atmosphere with a focus on multicultural perspectives, rigorous theory and practical applications. During the last four years, more than seven hundred students from over 70 countries have received graduate degrees from UPEACE. UPEACE alumni are working in peace related activities in their home countries and internationally, often in the front lines of conflict situations. Many work for non-governmental organizations and intergovernmental institutions, including the UN system. Others are teaching in academic institutions or occupying positions in various governmental departments. The University maintains a strong alumni network which is linked with other like-minded groups to increase the positive impact on crucial world problems they have been trained to address. Alumni regularly tell us that the UPEACE experience which has instilled in them a ‘sense of hope’ has forever ‘changed their lives’. More information about UPEACE alumni can be found on the UPEACE website: http://network.upeace.org. Research and Publications: UPEACE faculty carry out research activities on critical issues and problem areas related to UPEACE’s unique character and mandate. Research topics include development, peace and security; gender and peacebuilding in Africa; human security and democracy in Central America; the role of the media in conflict prevention and peacebuilding. UPEACE students’ Masters theses contribute to the research programme of the University. UPEACE electronic publications include the monthly Peace and Conflict Monitor and the Peace and Conflict Review. Sharing Knowledge for Peace: The Sharing Knowledge for Peace Programme is the mechanism established by UPEACE to broaden and multiply the impact of the work done at the Costa Rica campus and in other parts of the UPEACE system, enabling many more institutions and individuals to gain knowledge and skills to reduce and prevent conflict. Teaching materials in the form of Toolkits for Teaching, providing curriculum materials in DVD/CD-ROM form based on the course modules offered in the face-to-face programmes, are prepared and disseminated to partner universities and institutions wishing to teach peace and security studies. A distance education Programme in Peace and Conflict Studies is in preparation for students wishing to earn credit towards an MA Degree or enrol in free standing courses on a non-credit basis. A Book Series is also part of the Sharing Knowledge for Peace Programme. Enhancing our Impact Worldwide Through Partnerships: While the work at the UPEACE Headquarters campus is valuable, its unique approach to issues of world-wide concern is amplified through reaching out to our many partners around the world. Teaching on a world-wide scale is accomplished through meaningful partnerships between UPEACE centres and institutions carrying out joint activities in each main region of the world. These activities enhance the capacity of partner institutions to conduct education for peace activities and thereby significantly augment UPEACE’s ability to fulfil its mission to provide humanity with an institution of higher education for peace. Partnership agreements have been established with numerous educational and other like-minded institutions. Examples include the Dual MA Programme with American University in Washington, DC and plans for similar arrangements with universities in Ethiopia, the Philippines and Korea. UPEACE is a partner in the recently launched Institute for Peace Studies at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt. The National Universities Commission in Nigeria has instructed all Nigerian Universities to teach courses in peace and conflict studies based on UPEACE´s curriculum. Collaboration with the University of Tajikistan and with the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies in Sri Lanka on joint courses in peace studies are other examples of partnerships being undertaken in different parts of the world. UPEACE is able to multiply its impact through such joint activities to reach beyond the relatively small number of students who can actually travel to and spend a year in Costa Rica. As a part of activities aimed at enhancing UPEACE’s impact, a series of conferences/workshops have been or are being organized on topics such as: Peace and Development in Addis Ababa; Capacity Building for Peace and Development: the Roles of Diaspora in Toronto; Regional Water Resources and Conflict Prevention in Almaty; the International Institute on Peace Education on a Planetary Ethic in Costa Rica, and Climate Change and Vulnerability in the Hague.