Høst 2016

SVF-3022 Culture, Conflict and Society - 10 stp

The course is administrated by

Fakultet for humaniora, samfunnsvitenskap og lærerutdanning

Type of course

The course is compulsory for Master's degree students in Peace and Conflict Transformation, and also open to other Master's degree students as an elective.

Course contents

The course enables students to critically analyse and evaluate the relevance of contextual cultural and societal issues in efforts at understanding violent conflicts and peace-building. It applies perspectives from anthropology, religious studies and psychology to conflicts, peace and conflict transformation. It represents an attempt to conceptualise violent conflicts and related issues as inter-subjective experiences with cultural and psychological dimensions.

The topics addressed include: Anthropological perspectives on culture and conflict; Anthropology of difference and images of the other; Ethnicity, nationalism and conflict; Psychology, health, war and peace; and symbolic meanings and cosmologies.

Application deadline

Applicants from Nordic countries: 1 June for the autumn semester and 1 December for the spring semester. Applicants from outside the Nordic countries: 1 October for the spring semester and 15 April for the autumn semester.

Admission requirements

Students, who are not registered for the Master's Degree Programme in Peace and Conflict Transformation (MPCT), must have a Bachelor`s degree in the Humanities or Social Sciences. All other bachelor degree holders may be admitted to the course upon application

Objective of the course

Students who have successfully completed the course should have the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge

have an understanding of diverse perspectives from anthropology, religious studies and psychology and how they relate to conflicts, peace and conflict transformation
have a conceptual understanding of violent conflicts and related issues as inter-subjective experiences with cultural and psychological dimensions.

Analytical understanding

have the ability to explore the cultural and societal issues underlying violent conflicts and peace processes
have the ability to determine how different cultural groups conceptualize and respond to violence
have the ability to explore the broad issues informing inter-subjective and inter/intra-group experiences in violent conflict situations.

Skills and competences

capable of relating perspectives from anthropology, psychology, religious studies and psychology to conflicts and peace processes
capable of bringing inter-cultural understandings to bear on violent conflicts and peace-building processes
capable of taking responsibility for one's own learning by working independently towards the realisation of the course objectives.

Language of instruction

All lectures, readings, assignments, discussions and the final exam shall be in English.

Teaching methods

There will be a mix of lectures and seminar discussions.

The course is to be evaluated by the SSL forum each semester the course is offered as well as in an anonymous online evaluation every second time the course is offered.

Assessment

Candidates will write a home examination of 4000 words (approx. 10 pages) within a week on a set of given topics.

Grading is on the scale of A to F, where F is Fail.

Towards the end of the course, the students will be divided into pairs to make oral presentations (max 10 minutes) on a topic related to cultural, religious or psychological issues in their home countries or a chosen country/region vis-à-vis practices in other contexts. These presentations shall draw upon the course readings. A re-sit exam will be arranged for this course.