Peace Institute > Academic Programs > Peace Studies Certificate > About Peace Studies
About Peace Studies
In Peace Studies, the student examines the causes of war and other forms of violence, nonviolent ways to resolve destructive conflicts and engage in peacemaking, and the conditions necessary for creating a positive peace. As an interdisciplinary field, Peace Studies not only finds its center in the social sciences, but it also extends to the humanities and the natural and physical sciences. Students learn critical thinking related to issues of justice, conflict resolution, security and peace, and learn how to take steps to effect these goals, including the making and evaluating of policies.
Students may either take peace and conflict courses as electives or they may participate in one of the two interdisciplinary programs coordinated by the Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace. The two programs are: (1) the equivalent of a major (major=MIP_undergrd_mjr) in Peace and Conflict Resolution through Interdisciplinary Studies; and (2) a Peace Certificate of fewer subjects that is available to undergraduate and graduate students prior to their graduation from UH Manoa. Both the certificate and major can be designed to accommodate the student's personal goals and interests.
Students taking peace and conflict resolution courses go on to careers in diplomacy (including the UN and affiliates, Third World aid and development (research, administration and field work), mediation services, public relations, defense planning, management operations, industrial relations, education (teaching and administration), welfare and public interest work, journalism, services industries, and of course, the fields of peace and conflict research, peace education, and peace advocacy. The development of perspectives and skills in peace, justice, and conflict resolution are relevant in the general areas of private business, the arts, national and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and national, regional and international government bodies (INGOs).
The heads of private and public bodies, including UH officials, are increasingly calling for people with expertise in the management of conflict in the following areas: rising backlog of court cases, the cost and time delay of justice, crime in the streets, domestic violence, disorder in the schools, ongoing conflict in various workplace settings, and people generally unable to cope with the stress of modern living. These factors, and more, are contributing to a pressing need for more peacemakers, mediators and facilitators capable of resolving conflict with justice.
An appreciation of the diverse cultural perspectives Asians and Pacific Islanders bring to the study of peace and conflict resolution is featured throughout the Peace Institute's programs. The island of O'ahu (meaning "the gathering place")-because it nurtures a rich ethnic and cultural pluralism - provides a unique setting for the study and practice of peacemaking and the nonviolent resolution of conflict.
