SMPA 3194, 3195, 6270 : Media and Peacebuilding

Course Details -

While the media is often blamed for inflaming the passions of war, it can also at times be a force for peace and reconciliation. This course examines how the mass media, social media and mobile telephony/ICTs can play a positive role in preventing conflict, mitigating
violence during conflict, and promoting reconciliation between former enemies, especially after wars end. The first part of this course introduces students to various theoretical approaches to the study of media and peacebuilding. The second examines the deliberate
use of the media and ICTs to promote peace through media interventions for peacebuilding. This section of the course also involves engagement media peacebuilding organizations via guest lectures, allowing students to interact with practitioners in the field. Each week starts with a lecture, followed by discussion-based class exercises to promote participatory learning. All readings for this course can be accessed through Blackboard.

Learning Objectives -

By the end of the course, students should be able to:
1) Describe a range of media/communication and international relations theories related to media and peacebuilding practice
2) Identify a range of practices related to media interventions for peacebuilding utilizing both traditional mass media and digital interactive media
3) Assess the effectiveness of various media interventions for peace practices, appreciating limitations from both practical factors related to process and implementation and structural variables such as economic and power disparities
4) Improve their ability to communicate effectively in both written and various presentation formats
5) Improve their ability to provide constructive written and oral feedback

View Course Syllabus - Media and Peacebuilding Syllabus Spring 2024