Applied Conflict Transformation Studies MA
Applied Conflict Transformation Studies (ACTS) is an innovative Masters course in Conflict Transformation. It is a hands-on programme combining practice, theory and action-research. It complements and challenges existing, largely theoretical, graduate courses on governance, rights, conflict and peace.
ACTS is offered as a two year part-time course through the regional centre in Cambodia . The programme has been successfully running since 2005, attracting a diverse range of students from all over the Asia-Pacific region. The course is offered in Cambodia for the Asia region.
This two year course includes practical study, advanced conflict intervention skills, theory building, analysis and strategy development, plus specialised action research into areas of peacebuilding and conflict transformation which relate to the work of participants and their organisations.
Action Research Projects
At the heart of action research is the spirit of inquiry. Indeed, inquiry is the hallmark of action research. Action research of one kind or another has been in use since the 1940s, but the type that has been chosen for ACTS--though it too has been developed over many years--still represents a radical departure from other, more familiar research approaches. It follows rigorous academic principles for gathering, analysing, and interpreting data. It also draws on existing theory, and is designed to contribute to knowledge in its field. What makes it so different is that it is "first person" research which embraces and works with the researchers' own subjective experience and perspective as they carry out their action. It is this action that is subjected to scrutiny and analysis--its theory, planning, implementation, and impact--and the researchers' perceptions and interpretations are supplemented and challenged by others, in an "intersubjective" reflective process.
The researchers are called upon to look not only outward, to their work and to the wider field, but inward, to observe and analyse their own inner motives and responses, both emotion and rational, and the impact of those on their behaviour. Self-awareness is a vital skill for practitioners in this field, and research of this kind is designed to produce not only transferable knowledge but also personal development in skill and understanding.
Showcased below are the action research projects of ACTS students.
- "Witnessing as Space for Engaging Outsiders in Active Nonviolence to Respond to Land-Based Conflict in Cambodia," Christopher Baker Evans
- "Integration of Spirituality with Community Development for Peace," Bijayananda Singh
- "Effective Ways of Influencing to Integrate Peacebuilding Components in a Development Project," Tulasi Ram Nepal
Reflecting on ACTS
Recently, the developers of the Global ACTS programme have reflected on the journey and recent developments of ACTS. The document, entitled "Reflections on Developing a Peacebuilding and Capacity-Building programme," explores the reflections and insights of the developers of the Global ACTS programme, as well as region specific reflections, insights, and success stories of students. To download this reflection, please click here.