MA in Education Conflict and Peacebuilding

The MA in Education, Conflict and Peacebuilding at the University of Hargeisa has been developed in collaboration with the Education, Conflict and Peace Lab at Seoul National University, South Korea. Kevin Kester (Ph.D), associate professor of Comparative International Education and Peace/Development Studies in the Department of Education at Seoul National University led the program development. The new MA program focuses on the emerging subfield of education, conflict and peacebuilding with an opportunity to engage with relevant theories and case studies. The module is uniquely designed to combine theoretical knowledge and professional practice in the field. Drawing on the practitioner and academic literature, as well as student practicum, the module focuses on the intersectionality between education, conflict, peace, stability, and social transformation. The program also considers ideas of social justice and fairness in education delivery across a variety of different contexts that are experiencing different levels of social and political instability.

The MA Aims to:

1. Critically analyze the interrelationship between education, conflict and peace.


2. Situate education within current socio­economic challenges of migration, human security, violence and criminality, both regionally and globally.


3. Critically explore different notions of peace, peacebuilding, and peace education.


4. Understand the drivers of peace and learn strategies to sustain them, based on a case study of Somaliland. Special attention will be paid to the ways in which education and culture contributes to this process.


5. Critically analyze the role of education in peacebuilding in various contexts, including its role in promoting social justice.