Master of Arts (MA) in
Peace & Justice
TRACK TWO:
PEACEBUILDING,
PUBLIC THEOLOGY, &
RECONCILING WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
THEOLOGICALLY INFORMED PEACEBUILDING
St. Stephen's University and IRPJ offer a unique and thoroughly enriching Master of Arts in Peace and Justice that includes accommodating online and short intensive in-person and study aboard course delivery methods to allow students to complete their program without the need to uproot their lives.
This program equips students to engage the hostile, divided, unjust, oppressive, and violent corners of our world using practical grassroots and community-based peacebuilding skills and training with a theological foundation in peace and justice and through a transfigured interior life and contemplative basis from which to participate with a prophetic imagination in God's unfolding subversive and upside-down kingdom.
This track is for students who have a special interest in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, considered within a peace and justice framework. It has the same emphases and components as Track 1, but it replaces the study abroad module in Scotland and Northern Ireland with another in-person module at St. Stephen's University on truth-telling and reconciling with Indigenous peoples.
DURATION — 2 YEARS (FULL TIME)
CREDIT HOURS — 42
DELIVERY MODE — ONLINE COURSES, 1-WEEK ON-CAMPUS MODULE, HYBRID COURSES AND IN-PERSON MODULE AT SSU AND CHIPUTNETICOOK CAMP, THESIS
EMPHASES — THEOLOGY OF PEACE & JUSTICE, CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES, RELIGIOUS PEACEBUILDING, GRASSROOTS CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION, RECONCILIATION WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
AT A GLANCE
WHAT IS THE COURSE CONTENT AND SEQUENCING?
In the first year of study, students complete six online courses (18 c/h), and in the second year of study, students participate in a short in-person module on reconciling with Indigenous peoples at St. Stephen's University and Chiputneticook Camp (2 weeks), a short in-person peace and justice module at St. Stephen's University (1 week), a research methods course, and a thesis in the second year (24 c/h).
YEAR ONE
FALL SEMESTER
RS 5481 — The Inner Transformation of a Peacemaker
RS 5380 — Theology of Peace and Justice
RS 5180 — Peace and Violence in the New Testament
9 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR ONE
WINTER SEMESTER
IS 5583 — Practical Nonviolence and Peacebuilding
IS/RS 5882 — Religion, Peace and Conflict
RS 5182 — Peace and Violence in the Old Testament
9 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR TWO
FALL SEMESTER
SSU In-Person Reconciling with Indigenous Peoples Module, incl. three hybrid courses (October – 2 weeks)
MAPJ 6500 — Peace and Justice Research Methods
12 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR TWO
WINTER SEMESTER
SSU In-Person Peace and Justice Module (March – 1 week)
MAPJ 6800 —Thesis (25,000 words)
12 CREDIT HOURS
WHAT ARE THE COURSE DELIVERY METHODS?
ONLINE COURSES
Students will complete six online courses in their first year of study. These courses explore topics related to the inner transformation of a peacemaker, theology of peace and justice, the factor of religion and peace and violence, and practical nonviolence and peacebuilding. For more on these six courses, VISIT HERE.
IN-PERSON PEACE AND JUSTICE MODULE @ ST. STEPHEN'S UNIVERSITY
This short 1-week intensive residency module takes place on-site at St. Stephen's University in New Brunswick, Canada. It includes seminars and workshops that are led by a team of top scholars and practitioners covering such subjects as psychology, neuroscience, and the inner transformation of a peacemaker; building peace and becoming human; compassionate reasoning; and practical skills workshops on conflict assessment and peacebuilding planning.
IN-PERSON RECONCILING WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES MODULE @ ST. STEPHEN'S UNIVERSITY
In this module, students complete three hybrid courses in October in St. Stephen, NB and the Peskotomuhkati Nation’s Camp Chiputneticook. Hybrid courses combine some online engagement with an intensive in-person module providing experiential, land-based, and storytelling approaches to education. The courses for this module include 'Indigenous Sovereignty and the Colonial Legacy'; 'Wabanaki History, Worldview, Culture and Spirituality'; and 'From the TRC to Reconcili-action.' For more information on this module, VISIT HERE.
PEACE AND JUSTICE RESEARCH METHODS COURSE AND THESIS
Students will complete a course on research methods as they refine the topic of their thesis with their supervisor, and complete a 25,000-word thesis on a topic related to the subjects of the degree program and that adequately prepares students for their vocation as peacemakers. It is expected that students in this track will complete a thesis on a topic related to indigenous truth and reconciliation.
EXPLORE OTHER TRACKS.
St. Stephen's University also offers two other tracks of the Master of Arts in Peace & Justice. Click below to learn more.
