Curriculum
World-class training in the social science of conflict resolution & peace studies.
Georgetown’s M.A. in Conflict Resolution requires 34 credit-hours of coursework. Full-time students can complete these requirements with four consecutive semesters of study, including a summer of fieldwork. Full-time students begin their program in the fall semester (late August), and graduate in December of the following year.
The program’s normative course progression follows this schedule:
Curriculum Elements:
The Conflict Resolution curriculum at Georgetown includes three distinct elements:
- Academic core
- Conflict Resolution Theory: our gateway course
- Research Methods for Conflict Resolution
- 5 3-credit graduate electives
- 2 Conflict Resolution electives; 2 general electives; 1 area/regional elective
- Skills
- Dialogue skills: negotiations, facilitation and mediation
- 3 1-credit skills workshops
- Students can opt for a mediation certification through a partnership with San Francisco’s Community Boards mediation center.
- Practice
- Practicum I & II: our 2-semester capstone sequence is team-based & project based
- Summer Field Fellowship: all students embed with an organization for 6 to 10 weeks over the summer semester.
Our Approach to Teaching & Learning
Our program uses community-based, inclusive pedagogy. Cohorts of students take their core courses together, building a tightly-knit learning community.
The program emphasizes experiential learning. Students learn skills, which are often taught with an emphasis on simulations. Additionally, students follow a 3-semester sequence of experiential learning, consisting of the Practicum I & II and the Summer Field Fellowship. In the Practicum sequence, which is project-based, students form teams, identify an external partner organization and deliver a project with and for their partner. During the Summer Field Fellowship, students work full time with an organization anywhere around the world (within the security guidelines of the university) for 6 to 10 weeks. Students engage in their chosen field, build professional networks and benefit from a guided, collective learning experience while doing so.
Georgetown’s M.A. in Conflict Resolution is small, specialized, and skill-based. Students have the advantages of an active learning community and faculty who are cutting-edge academics and the top practitioners of the field. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of speakers, events, and workshops both on campus and in Washington, D.C.
Additional Curricular Requirements & Opportunities
Language Proficiency Requirement
All students in the program must demonstrate they have completed substantial foreign language training prior to completing the program. Students may take language classes at Georgetown to meet the requirement and qualify for tuition assistance from the Graduate School for courses in the introductory and intermediate range.
Optional Thesis
Students may opt to write a master’s thesis.
The optional Conflict Resolution Thesis is a 3-credit undertaking that is begun in the spring semester and completed in the fall II semester. The thesis is an individual project, pursued under the supervision of 1) a thesis committee and 2) the CR program director.
Thesis writers must take the spring thesis workshop (0-credits) and the fall thesis class (3-credits).
During the spring, students draft their research design and organize their thesis committee. Over the summer, students collect data. In the fall semester, thesis-writers write up and submit their projects.
Optional Certificates
Students may also earn an area-studies or thematic certificate offered to Georgetown graduate students. Certificates are administered and offered by other programs, external to Conflict Resolution. Examples of these include: