NATIONAL PHD IN PEACE STUDIES

 

 

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.

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 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 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.