41° Cycle
Italian universities that support the PhD in Peace Studies with scholarships: Università degli Studi di TRENTO; Università degli Studi di PERUGIA Stranieri; Università degli Studi di FIRENZE; Università UNITELMA Sapienza; Università degli Studi di CAGLIARI; Università degli Studi “Magna Grecia” di CATANZARO; Università degli Studi “G. D’Annunzio” CHIETI-PESCARA; Università degli Studi di PADOVA; Università degli Studi di PISA; Politecnico di TORINO; Università degli Studi di ROMA TRE; Università degli Studi di BRESCIA; Università degli Studi di MILANO; Università degli Studi di MODENA e REGGIO EMILIA; Università degli Studi di NAPOLI “L’Orientale”, Università degli Studi di PALERMO; Università degli Studi di TORINO; Università degli Studi di L’AQUILA; Università degli Studi di ROMA “Tor Vergata”; Università degli Studi “Mediterranea” di REGGIO CALABRIA; Università per stranieri di SIENA; Università degli Studi di NAPOLI Federico II; Università degli Studi di MESSINA; Università degli Studi di BARI “Aldo Moro”; Università degli Studi di FERRARA;
External Institutions:
Istituto Buddhista Italiano Soka Gakkai; Comunità di Sant’Egidio; Unione degli Atei e degli Agnostici Razionalisti (UAAR); CARITAS
40° Cycle
Italian universities that support the PhD in Peace Studies with scholarships: Università degli Studi di CAGLIARI; Università degli Studi “Magna Grecia” di CATANZARO; Università degli Studi “G. D’Annunzio” CHIETI-PESCARA; Università degli Studi di PADOVA; Università degli Studi di PISA; Politecnico di TORINO; Università degli Studi di ROMA TRE; Università degli Studi INSUBRIA Varese Como; Università degli Studi di BERGAMO; Università degli Studi di BRESCIA; Università degli Studi di MILANO; Università degli Studi di MODENA e REGGIO EMILIA; Università degli Studi di NAPOLI “L’Orientale”, Università degli Studi di PALERMO; Università degli Studi di ROMA “Foro Italico”; Università degli Studi di TORINO; Università degli Studi di L’AQUILA; Università degli Studi di ROMA “Tor Vergata”; Università degli Studi “Mediterranea” di REGGIO CALABRIA; Università degli Studi di MILANO BICOCCA; Università per stranieri di SIENA; Università degli Studi di NAPOLI Federico II; Università degli Studi di MESSINA; Università degli Studi di BARI “Aldo Moro”; Università degli Studi di FERRARA
External Institutions:
Società Geografica Italiana; Istituto Avventista; Chiesa Apostolica in Italia; Istituto Buddhista Italiano Soka Gakkai; Comunità di Sant’Egidio; Terme di Chianciano
Outline
The Ph.D. of National Interest in Peace Studies (hereinafter PhD PS) establishes a forum for interdisciplinary and innovative researches on the issues ofconflict transformation, conflict prevention, conflict resolution, and peace building. PPS is the first of its kind in Italy and has been created to helppromote initiatives of RUniPace (the Network of Italian Universities for Peace), which is based on CRUI (the Conference of Italian University Rectors’snetwork). RUniPace has inspired the founding project of PPS, its values and interdisciplinary planning, as well as its constructive interaction betweenand among universities and between universities and Italian society, taking into account the founding values of the academia institutions. In Italy thereare important initiatives at all levels of university: three-year courses, master degree, research centers are devoted to peace studies. PPS’s projectmakes it possible to develop this kind of studies at doctoral level with highly qualified research activities, practices, and transversal skills, which could beuseful to identify, prevent, contrast, resolve conflict situations. In particular, the universities adhering to PPS aim to develop higher education in the fieldof peace issues, conflict resolution, disarmament and sustainable societies; and they want to do that in a national lively interactive context with thematicprojects already under way at international level. In the form of the Ph.D of National Interest (DIN), PPS refers in its founding project to the values of theEuropean Union, the Italian Constitution, the international cooperation agreements to which Italy is a part of, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)of the UN 2030 Agenda, local policies for the basic rights related to health, welfare, peace and quality of life. References are also made to the priorityareas of The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the conception of innovative educational planning in particular for public administrationand the National Research Program, the dissemination of knowledge of peace-related topics and areas of study and research in universities, publicadministration and other highly innovative career paths.
In relation to the Ph.D. project, peace is to be understood as “positive peace”, i.e. peace that is built by peaceful means at various levels of political andsocial life: from the construction of an international order that repudiates war as a means of resolving disputes between nations, to a peace that is theresult of solidarity and social justice. Positive peace depends on the will and actions of those who, in various capacities, demand “recognition of theinherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family" (Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The PPS’sacademic community intends to contribute to those efforts by activating a national pathway of knowledge-based research for peace through atransdisciplinary approach and interconnectedness. This is because 'peace studies' is not a mere field of study similar to other analytical disciplines.Peace studies concern all sciences that (with their methodological, substantive and research statutes) are striving to step up construction of “positivepeace”.
The overall objective of PSS’s project is therefore to promote interdisciplinary and transversal higher education and research pathways, which are ableof provide innovative perspectives and developing a field of study that can have a significant and positive impact on a society that has to deal withtoday’s dramatic phenomena, including changes due to natural habitats and man-made environment.
For this reason, this Ph.D. is organised in 10 training curricula, which provide subject-specific teaching knowledge.
General training objectives
Certified highly qualified training course characterize the Ph.D of National Interest in Peace Studies, which aims to train a wider range of specialists inthe fields of study and research concerning peace. PhDs in Peace Studies must be capable of analysing, through an interdisciplinary approach, thedynamics of conflict and peace, reconciliation and mediation, social and cultural factors, social interactions, socio-cultural practices and various aspectsof geopolitics, international relations, economics and political realities at the local, national and supranational levels, with a view to putting in placeprocesses of peaceful transformation of human social and political behavior. This
also involves further technical and scientific developments that require many and diverse talents.
The objective of the Ph.D of National Interest in Peace Studies is specifically devoted to train experts who:
1) can address the academic world with sectoral expertise with various competences, knowledge and skills related to the field of, conflict transformation,conflict prevention, conflict resolution, peace and peace building studies, with a global vision that goes beyond their specific technical expertise;
2) can interact efficiently with organisations, institutions, public administrations and intergovernmental bodies as well as with social, corporate andcommunity structures at local, national and supranational levels, in order to contribute to the development of inclusive, peaceful, sustainable policies;
3) may constitute a transdisciplinary group of scholars, researchers, practitioners and technicians with specific expertise on peace and conflict issues,who are able to implement coordinated training, research and third mission projects at national and international level.
The interdisciplinary program of the Ph.D of National Interest in Peace Studies is designed to make it possible for doctoral and post-doctoral students toimplement and develop original research that contributes to the growth of the scientific disciplines referring to the dynamics of conflict resolution andpeace education in their many facets. This can be done not only with a theoretical and conceptual point of view, but also with a historical and analyticalpoint of view, which are strictly related to technical and practical expertise in the dynamics of understanding and analysing good practices and research-action project based on the development of preliminary questions in these areas. In a long-term diachronic perspective and in a perspective ofcontinuous interaction between tradition and innovation, issues such as encounter, recognition, conflict, harmony, coexistence and respect betweencultural, social and religious diversities constitute the main front of the Ph.D of National Interest in Peace Studies. Its courses aims to provide doctoralstudents with the research skills necessary to work independently and fruitfully with the teaching staff and supervisors, and with a strong inclinationtowards interdisciplinary peer interaction, effective research methodologies for the collection, analysis and interpretation of sources and heuristicmaterial, which are important for the application of theoretical elaborations and techniques in specific cultural contexts, both public and private; they arealso important for the analysis and use of good practices in relation to both public and private organisations based at a local, national, transnational andglobal levels.
PhD graduates in Peace Studies will be able to work both in university research and teaching, but also within public administration and privateinstitutions involving consultants, civil servants, cultural mediators and other cultural promoters of peace. They will be also able to design and developresearch activities, cultural and institutional processes as well as policies, practical actions and technological solutions, in a peaceful-sustainable andinclusive sense of the terms.
The inter-trans-disciplinary training encompasses studies from the traditional areas of social humanities (history, philosophy, arts and literary studies, law,economics, politics, sociology, anthropology, geography, communication, etc.), science (physics and mathematical studies, natural sciences, computerscience), medicine (psychological studies, global health, etc.), technology and conservation studies (architecture, engineering and design, museographictechniques, heritage, etc.), while enhancing specific analytical, methodological and linguistic skills capable of promoting interaction with the mostinnovative gender and intersectional studies, postcolonial studies and digital humanities.
Occupational and professional opportunities
Doctoral graduates in Peace Studies will be able to contribute to intellectual, cultural, institutional and project processes in the field of the disseminationof a sustainable culture of peace and action-research. The Ph.D of National Interest in Peace Studies will be able to responds to the need to train highlyspecialised figures in the various fields of academic research and cultural diplomacy in supranational, national and local administrations sector (bothpublic and private), as well as in international and transnational governmental and non-governmental institutions, and in the. For these reasons, the Ph.Dof National Interest in Peace Studies envisages the following job opportunities:
1) Figures engaged in advanced research capable of autonomously constructing and managing disciplinary, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research and action-research projects in the field of peace studies and of the specific scientific-disciplinary sectors involving the studies of conflictresolutions and peace building, within Italian and international universities, public and private institutes and research centers.
2) University-level lecturers capable of developing innovative training projects in the field of peace studies and of the specific scientific-disciplinarysectors in the didactics of peace, conflict resolution and peace building within Italian and international universities, teacher-training, technological, andcultural institutes, public and private research centers.
3) Highly qualified professional profiles in the legal, social, anthropological, psychological disciplines suitable for different (public administration,education, business, professional, family) contexts dealing with issues related to conflict transformations, conflict prevention, conflict resolutions andpeace building, while promoting of good practices and projects for a peaceful and sustainable society.
4) Highly qualified figures in the interdisciplinary field of peace studies, who can carry out (in public and private, national and international employmentcontexts) innovative functions such as those related to:
- officials or consultants in the public or private sector for the design, development and implementation of programs, projects and policies for a peacefuland sustainable coexistence;
- cultural and communication workers, journalists, press and public relations officers in the public and private sector for the development ofcommunication plans based on conflict transformations, conflict prevention, conflict resolutions and peace building, and sustainable interaction, whileconsidering the use of digital technologies and social media;
- teachers and operators of training institutes, public and private, which are involved in managerial functions and projects related to innovative didacticprograms and transversal issues of conflict transformations, conflict prevention, conflict resolutions and peace building;
- trainers with respect to long-life learning projects and training projects on the topics of conflict transformations, conflict prevention, conflict resolutionsand peace building, which involve specific social and professional categories such as teachers, museum educators and cultural heritage experts,managers of monumental memorials, soldiers involved of peace-building missions, NGO operators, journalists, etc.;
- officials of local, regional, national and international institutions who are highly qualified in the protection of personal and peoples' rights and thedevelopment of democratic institutions.
- conflict analysts (conflict mapping experts, scenario development analysts), mediators and peace builders in conflict contexts;
- engineers, architects, designers and other technical figures in the design and management of interventions to protect and secure the population inareas of conflict and post-conflict, emergency situations (including environmental emergencies) as well as in areas with scarce healthcare resources;
- disaster risk management.
LIST OF CURRICULA
Curriculum 1 - Technology, Sustainability and Peace
Curriculum Description
Scientific and technological progress is characterized by a complex ambivalence. Technologies can be at the service of both peace and war, whileconditioning socio-economic dynamics and the relationship with the environment and healthcare resources.
The PhD program aims at promoting research and training figures who are able to understand and manage the ambivalence of technical-scientificprogress and its implications in the field of economic, social, ecological, ethical and political contexts. They will also be able to develop skills in the areasof sustainability, inclusion, social justice and peace.
This curriculum is based on the conviction that the relationship between technology, sustainability and peace must be addressed within both the scientificarea and technological world, while considering principles, values and rules that a society intends to give itself and with which science and technologyrelate. The course therefore integrates methods and disciplines concerning both the implementation and the management of technical-scientificinnovation for the purpose of sustainability and peace: it is characterized by a strong interdisciplinary connotation, involving knowledge and expertiserelated to scientific, technological and humanistic subjects, and it is open to graduates from different disciplines.
Research topics and training objectives
The curriculum proposes research activities and educational objectives, which aim at developing inter-(and trans)-disciplinary tools, appropriate to thecomplexity and variety of:
- conflicts;
- the non-neutral role and dual use of science and technology;
- the inspiring principles of sustainable, conscious and responsible scientific-technological innovation;
- the role played by the 'democratisation' of science and technology for the purposes of sustainable decision-making processes and more inclusive andless conflictual societies;
- the relationship between technological development, environmental impact and peace;
- the relationship between design, social innovation and inclusion.
Curriculum 2 - Identities, Memories, Religions, and Peace
Curriculum Description
As a cultural product, which is inherently connected to the progression and development of history, it is not possible to identify a fixed structure or auniversally accepted interpretation of peace. Therefore, within the domains of historical, historical-religious, and demo-ethno-anthropological sciences,there is an increased necessity to investigate peace as a historical object that is perpetually reshaped by social, political, and religious exchanges. Forthese reasons, the “Identities, Memories, Religions and Peace" curriculum aims at the cross-cutting and multidisciplinary analysis of peace withinhistorical contexts, ranging from the past to the present, and geographical perimeters that may span all continents, without neglecting the contribution ofanalytical tools provided by area studies. The research will examine how conflict resolution impacts identities and memories from both a synchronic anddiachronic perspective. It will explore how this process shapes the institutions, places, artefacts, practices, and beliefs of different groups of people.
The “Identity, Memories, Religions and Peace” curriculum focuses on developing theoretical knowledge and methodological skills necessary forconducting advanced research, study, and analysis. Its PhD programme incorporates insights from multiple disciplines such as History, Sociology,History of Religion, Architecture, and Demo-ethno-anthropological studies.
Research topics and training objectives
From an interdisciplinary standpoint, peace will be examined in its narrative, conceptual, and rhetorical dimensions, as well as in its material, spatial, andsymbolic aspects. The curriculum’s main research topics will be as follows:
- the narratives that constitute discourses on peace, reconciliation and non-violence within religious beliefs, political institutions and collective memories;
- the practices of peace and reconciliation in different historical, cultural and religious contexts (from the local to the global level) with a focus on genderissues;
- the re-sematisation of concepts, places and symbols of peace and reconciliation belonging to the past;
- the (re)shaping of narratives, practices, and beliefs about peace through negotiation processes between political and religious forces of one or morehuman groups; how peacebuilding and reconciliation processes are able to interact with spaces, creating places of memory, cohesion and identity, also in relation toprocesses of cancel culture and difficult heritage;
- the production, exchange and repatriation of objects, monuments and artefacts that are seen as symbols of peace and tangible manifestations of itsrealisation, also from a post-colonial perspective;
- the preservation or oblivion of memory mediated by the materiality of objects and buildings;
- the development of shared memories through processes of negotiation, mediation, and reconciliation;
- the research-analysis of cultural products (both tangible and intangible) related to the concept of peace and the ritual/ceremonial contexts of theirproduction and fruition;
- the circulation of peace practices as part of the activities of transnational agencies and institutions.
Curriculum 3 – Human Rights, Rights of Peoples, and Peacebuilding
Curriculum Description
The curriculum "Human Rights, Rights of Peoples, and Peacebuilding" emphasizes peace as a fundamental right for individuals and communities,grounded in the principle of human dignity. It explores the interconnectedness of peace, security, and development. This approach is based on the beliefthat holistic and sustainable development—encompassing economic, social, cultural, and political aspects—can mitigate war threats. Such developmentpromotes disarmament and bolsters the United Nations' role in preventing human rights violations and ensuring their protection. This is achieved throughlegal and institutional means, fostering models of democratic and non-violent coexistence.
Research topics and training objectives
The educational objectives of the "Human Rights, Rights of Peoples, Peacebuilding" curriculum are to be achieved through a comprehensive andmultidisciplinary analysis of peace across various levels of governance, from local municipalities to the United Nations. This approach emphasizes theprinciple of subsidiarity as a crucial mechanism for preventing power centralization and for reinforcing the role of international human rights law.
An additional objective is to provide the necessary skills to understand and analyze the current structural processes of social change and their impact ongovernance systems. This includes facilitating the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and methodological tools specific to various adjacent socialscience disciplines, with particular reference to political science, law, history, education, and psychology.
The research themes will be explored from a transdisciplinary perspective, encompassing studies on:
- Key models in Peace Studies, emphasizing the protection of human security, human development, disarmament, education in human rights and peace,nonviolent conflict transformation, and international democracy.
- The evolution of international law pertaining to individuals and peoples, including systems of guarantees, the study of international criminal justice, andthe law of global commons.
- The implementation of a human rights-based approach in public policies at local, national, and international levels, aligned with the sustainabledevelopment goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
- The operational domains of international, governmental, and non-governmental organizations, focusing on the comprehensive protection of humanrights, their interdependence and indivisibility, adherence to the rule of law, and democratic principles.
- Multilevel governance practices for actualizing human rights and peace, paying special attention to the roles, contributions, and interactions of variousactors in these processes, and critically addressing contemporary challenges to multilateralism.
- The advancement of the Civil Peace Corps, considering ongoing experiments in Italy and its involvement in international missions under law 145/2016.
Curriculum 4 - Peace education and migrations
Curriculum Description.
This curriculum provides specific conceptual tools to address two areas of analysis in an interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together differentapproaches to the issues of peace education, and the connection between peace and migratory phenomena. In terms of peace education, genderdynamics and the use of digital tools are explored, as the means of creating the conditions to produce stories, experiences and ideas related to peace.These topics are developed through practical work during seminars. Furthermore, education for peace constitutes one of the goals of the 2030 Agenda,and it is one of the fundamental elements to guarantee inclusive and equitable quality education. Consequently, the curriculum will focus on theknowledge and skills necessary to promote sustainable development, which will include educating on the topics such as human rights, gender equality,promotion of peaceful and non-violent culture, global citizenship and the appreciation of cultural diversity. The topic of peace education be placed withinmuch needed theoretical-practical-methodological enquiry inherent to the school context, in relation to and within which to explore and direct projectsand activities; this in its turn involves, on the one hand, children and adolescents of both genders, and on the other, world and culture of teachers.
The curriculum also explores the construction of peace in the perspective of migration and “neo-colonial” logic, examining the principle of citizenshipregarding the so-called "second generations'' of migrants and “unaccompanied foreign minors”, within a political and dimension aiming at developingregulatory solutions to the issues posed by international mobility. Additionally, the themes of restorative justice and transitional justice for the protection ofrights are also proposed as methodologies of conflict management and resolution to combat violence. This will be explored with particular reference tovulnerability. Finally, a historical contextualization of the migration phenomenon is suggested in relation to the causes and the practices of reconstructingtheir paths.
Research topics and learning objectives
Specific learning paths are as follows:
• Foundations of peace education: analysis and hands-on work on the connection between peace building, dialogic forms and agency.
• Interaction between migration and "positive peace": second generations and "unaccompanied foreign minors" as an observatory of citizenship policiesand decolonization processes.
• Findings of “Women, Peace and Security” Agenda and National Action Plans: recognition of women as active agents in conflict resolution and thepromotion of peace.
• 2030 Agenda and equal opportunities.
• Critical analysis of the nature of the hate speech phenomenon and its manifestations (discrimination, stereotypes, prejudices, violence) towardsminorities and people with vulnerabilities.
• Soft Skills and sustainable education.
• Dimensions of conflicts and use of the conflict-peace profile (CPP): analysis of communication types and narratives (audiovisual and transmedia) andvideo games in conflict and peaceful systems.
• Migrations and peace building in the global geo-political framework: "nation-building", theoretical-juridical perspective of multiculturalism and promotionof "positive peace".
• Foundations of restorative justice and transitional justice: conflict management methodologies and practices for healing the suffering generated byinjustice.
• Border between voluntary migrations and forced migrations: comparison between media narratives and oral geostories of migrant subjects andpeaceful entanglements in trans-local communities.
Curriculum 5 - Architectures and Landscapes of Peace
Curriculum Description
The Curriculum aims to form a design culture that is attentive to the social impact of architecture; in the short, medium and long term. The areas ofresearch aimed at urban and rural transformation are looked at from an interdisciplinary perspective of peace, sustainability, innovation, reuse, activeparticipation and community building.
The Curricular path has different focuses (theoretical, historical, methodological, technological, aesthetic) held together by a single holistic vision ofarchitecture for peace, which also needs to be designed, like a building.
Research topics and training objectives
The Curriculum intends to stimulate in PhD students the awareness that even the construction of the space we live in, the cities we inhabit, the territorieswe pass through, can contribute to the construction of a climate of peace and civil coexistence, restoring to architecture the role of give a physicaldimension to communities, an ethical dimension to beauty and a social dimension to places.
The objective is therefore to direct and guide studies, research and field experiments, in order to fuel the growth of a concrete critical and designcapacity in architectural peace building.
The curriculum will cover the following topics:
- Management of intercultural conflicts in peace building processes,
- Architecture for emergencies (war conflicts, migrations, humanitarian crises, environmental changes),
- Architecture of reconstruction,
- Architecture and disarmament: reuse and conversion of military areas and abandoned buildings,
- Architecture for interreligious, intercultural dialogue,
- Architecture of shared memory (memorials, dedicated museums, e.g. human rights museum),
- Inclusive architecture: sharing and solidarity vs separation and discrimination (e.g. slum upgrading),
- Border architecture,
- Architecture for cooperation (e.g. with the Global South),
- Architecture for the community,
- Architecture and citizenship,
- Architecture and democracy,
- Architecture for justice,
- Architecture and prevention of social hardship,
- The great masters of our time for the architecture of peace.
Curriculum 6 - Space, territory, resources, and narratives for peaceful pathways
Curriculum Description
Spatiality refers to space dimension, production, organization, experience, perception, imagery, and related symbolic aspects, which are central inconflict management, such as different competing interests that can be managed more or less peacefully. The ability to "read" space and construct it isimportant for understanding the processes, dispelling prejudices that hinder peace, promoting mutual knowledge, removing the perception of war as a"natural" event, and understanding the complexity of the processes. This complexity can be traced back to two main levels, the micro (interpersonal) andthe macro (geographical, social, and political) levels, which are divided into several areas:
a) Resources and space: the distribution of essential resources, such as land, water, and energy sources, can trigger conflict or be managed in a wayoriented towards peaceful coexistence. Territorial disputes arise, at various scales, in the definition of power over these resources and often become asource of dispute consolidation. Understanding the dynamics of context variation, such as climate change or the unsustainable use of resources, iscrucial in many cases for conditions favorable to peace to occur or be restored.
b) Urban-rural: The magnifying urbanization strongly impacts the distribution of resources and the concentration of problems relating to employability,housing, and demographic pressures on the historic residents of urban areas in reshaping the functions that these areas perform or can perform. From arural perspective, impacts in terms of abandonment of cultivated spaces, changes in the agricultural landscape, and land use policies open up new formsof conflict relating to the consumption of fertile lands to exploit energy from renewable sources.
c) Borders and bordering
Historically, borders are sources of conflict and disputes of geographical-political and social tensions, which imply both the control of resources and themovement of entire populations, giving rise to the creation of refugee camps and the involvement of humanitarian operations and forms of ethnic-culturalsegregation and ghettoizations.
d) Narration, collective imagination, and symbolic dimension
The transformation of space into territory is achieved through the action of the powers playing in that territory and through the continuous constructionand regeneration of the imagery and symbolic apparatus impacting the population in that spatial context. These influence the narration through differentchannels, such as training, communication, and art. The symbolic role of space, like places considered sacred, can be central to maintaining orachieving peaceful coexistence. A similar process involves the artistic dimension of narration, music, literature, visual arts, and popular representations.
Understanding spatiality in these terms offers useful knowledge in searching for powerful strategies for conflict prevention and post-conflictreconstruction.
Research topics and training objectives
The curriculum intends to promote a research path aimed at training professional figures able to understand spatiality's complexities in seekingresolutions and consolidating conflict management.
Due to the points highlighted above, the path is characterized by a strong trans-disciplinarity: geography, sociology, economics, international relations,history, and anthropology. Therefore, it integrates historical and social science methodologies, the most innovative ones of participatory and inclusivetechniques, to build expertise not only in the field of research but also in those applicative forms of empowerment of potential recipients of conflictmanagement interventions, also exploring the dimension of their narration and representation, including abilities to represent through artistic expressionand cartographic tools.
The curriculum proposes research activities and training objectives aimed at developing the following themes:
Contents: in line with the thematic areas of curriculum 4, this path proposes research activities and training objectives on the following issues:
- Innovative teaching of social, geographical, and historical-international research methodology in peace studies.
- Acquisition of skills useful to disseminate the understanding the problems and the research results and share possible paths towards peace(cartography, video processing, podcasts, graphic novels and more).
- Borders and conflicts: stories of successful negotiations and/or innovation in methods and practices.
- Comparing international experiences (for example Europe, the Mediterranean, the Middle East...) on spaces of contrast versus integration and peacefulresolution of disputes.
- Formation of states and institutional building processes for controlling the monopoly of force in conflict and post-conflict models comparison.
Curriculum 7 - Peace economics
Curriculum Description
Peace economics investigates the causes of violent conflicts at both micro and macro levels, as well as policy measures aimed at mitigating andresolving them to identify pathways for sustainable long-term development.
In summary, peace economics proposes a novel economic paradigm that enables the overcoming of increasingly strong and divisive inequalities,fostering inclusive economic development across different regions of the world. This is particularly pertinent in localities increasingly affected byenvironmental and climate crises, often with limited access to goods and food products. In a broad perspective, peace economics is based on thereforming of institutions with new governance models, promoting synergic participation, even from grassroots levels, between institutions and citizens.However, an economy of the common good is a process that does require a reshaping of public expenditures and thus welfare systems. Promotingpeace means seeking to reduce disparities, for example, in access to public health, fostering a more equitable income redistribution for all socialcategories. Peace and social justice are two aspects that cannot be split in a project to redefine welfare but must contribute jointly to the definition of aninclusive and regenerative economic and developmental model for diverse territorial communities.
Research topics and objectives
From a positive perspective, though not exhaustive, relevant themes within the realm of peace economics include:
(a) military expenditures and their impact on economic and social systems;
(b) socio-economic determinants of political violence;
(c) economic determinants and effects of international armed conflicts;
(d) the relationship between climate change and armed conflicts;
(e) the trade-off between unproductive and destructive conflict-related expenditures and long-term investments such as education, healthcare, andenvironmental adaptation.
Normatively, peace economics focuses on the development and analysis of:
(i) disarmament policies, conversion, and control of arms flows and military spending;
(ii) regulation of the military industry;
(iii) policies aimed at addressing structural inequalities among social groups in access to resources;
(iv) regulations for businesses in the market to prevent appropriative behaviours and human rights abuses;
(v) regulation of primary goods markets, particularly agricultural goods in countries characterised by recurring armed conflicts and widespread violence;and
(vi) regulation of markets to promote transformative changes.
The curriculum aims to investigate the themes mentioned above from a theoretical and institutional analytical perspective, with particular attention toEuropean and international policies.
Curriculum 8 - Imageries of peace in literatures, arts, philosophies. Socio-anthropological dynamics, juridic implications and critique of conflict.
Curriculum Description
Research into the imaginaries of peace in the literatures, in the arts and philosophies has to be seen in connection with the social dynamics and ininteraction with the legal and economic structures that concretely define each era, in a solid anthropological-cultural and socio-historical approach.
The PhD curriculum promotes research and education precisely on these aspects: the critique (in literature, arts and philosophies) of the violence as asolution of the inevitable human conflict is framed in wide-ranging historical and socio-anthropological categories; research on the construction of theanthropic space also has a place (environments, cities, spaces of coexistence and, inevitably, of conflict).
The curriculum, therefore, offers a number of courses, in order to achieve a coherent pathway that moves from the ancient literatures of theMediterranean to those of the modern western world, without neglecting the historical-artistic, philosophical-theoretical and juridical aspects, with a clearsocio-anthropological characterisation.
In this way, students can deal with a varied and integrated itinerary through different methods and disciplines, focused on the problem of the critique ofhuman conflict. A modern approach to the problems of sustainability and peace must start from a historical awareness of the imaginaries of peace, of thecontinuous dialectic that history has created between the dramatic nature of conflicts and the ideas and representations created by writers, artists,philosophers who have 'thought the limit', looking beyond the horizon line in which those conflicts were located. The interdisciplinary feature is anessential requirement of the curriculum, which plays precisely on the co-presence and interaction of complex knowledge, from the humanistic, juridicaland technical-scientific fields (the presence of teachings concerning urban planning is fundamental).
Research topics and objectives
The curriculum includes research activities aimed at developing themes such as:
searching for methodological, inter- and transdisciplinary tools for a historical and cultural analysis of human conflicts;
developing a critique of the role (and limits) of literatures, arts and philosophies in conceiving and promoting peace imaginaries;
searching for the interplay that law, economics and techniques of social construction of spaces of human interaction have had in the development ofsuch imaginaries;
refining, through cultural-historical reflection, precise skills in valorising the contribution that arts, literatures and philosophies can still make toovercoming the syndrome of the reductio ad unum, viz. of the vision of the "other" as an obstacle to be removed or an enemy to be demolished, inconsideration of the perpetual necessity of education for peace and of a kind of coexistence, in which listening to ‘the other’ (even outside the anthropicsphere) is fulfilling yourself.
Curriculum 9 - Restorative Justice, Transitional Justice and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation
Curriculum Description
The innovations brought by restorative justice projects, transitional justice programs and nonviolent conflict transformation practices are profoundlychanging the ways of "doing justice" both in peacetime and in contexts deeply torn by armed conflict, mass violations of human rights, genocide andstate crimes.
Interest in these experiences of justice is growing in the field of peace studies with particular reference to the cultural and institutional changes theytrigger and the semantic redefinition of the concepts of peace and justice. Peace is understood no longer only as the cessation of violence but as anongoing engagement in the (re)construction of possible forms of coexistence. Justice is understood as a set of practices that, rather than punishment, isgeared toward non-repetition and repair of harm and social bonds through victim recognition, perpetrator empowerment and community involvement.
The Restorative Justice, Transitional Justice and Nonviolent Conflict Transformation Curriculum promotes educational and research paths aimed at theacquisition of cross-curricular skills, both theoretical and methodological and integrates inputs from various disciplines (including criminology, law,sociology, political science, anthropology, psychology, philosophy, history and pedagogy) with learning in the field through direct participation inrestorative justice programs.
Research topics and training objectives.
The curriculum involves the study of topics characterized by a high transdisciplinarity including, but not limited to:
- historical evolution and principles of transitional justice;
- restorative paradigm of criminal justice: philosophical foundations, historical evolution and law;
- perspectives of transitional justice in addressing contemporary crises;
- places of transitional justice and restorative justice;
- restorative justice, restorative measures and restorative sanctions;
- truth and memory in transitional processes;
- victims in dialogic justice;
- gender justice in peace processes;
- victim-offender mediation and other methods of nonviolent conflict transformation;
- democratic reforms of security apparatus and prevention of the use of force;
- structural violence, social justice and peace policies;
- relational approach to crime and both individual and collective violence;
- prevention, non-repetition and reduction of recidivism;
- methods of evaluating restorative justice and transitional justice programs.
Curriculum 10 - Dynamics, processes and actors in international relations
Curriculum Description
Recognizing that conflict, including violent conflict, is a crucial social and political phenomenon and that peacebuilding processes today are widespreadbut often fragile and complex, it is necessary to use analytical tools to critically engage with the various dimensions of conflict and the many political,social, economic and cultural actors operating at local, national and supranational levels. The relationship between peace, security, development,institutions, democracy, rights and inequalities, different and with specific actors in different regions of the world (from Asia to Africa, from the Americas toEurope and Oceania), is not limited to a specific geographical and/or socio-political context, but is interwoven with historical processes, legal traditions,socio-economic and cultural dynamics.
The course therefore integrates methods and disciplines concerned with analyzing factors and conditions that can undermine social cohesion (at thelocal level) and security and peace (at the national and international levels), taking into account institutional actors, private actors (from NGOs tobusinesses) and citizen groups. The program is highly interdisciplinary, drawing on knowledge from the fields of history, legal studies, sociology,education, psychology and political science, and is open to graduates from a variety of backgrounds.
Research topics and training objectives
The curriculum proposes research activities and educational objectives aimed at developing topics such as:
- the search for methodological, inter- and transdisciplinary tools suitable for analysing the complexity and systemic dimensions of conflicts;
- pathways to peacebuilding;
- tools and actors that help to define processes of social cohesion;
- the legal-political-economic dynamics that determine international relations.