Master of Arts (M.A.) in
Peace & Justice
PROGRAMS / PEACE & JUSTICE
Theologically-Grounded Peacebuilding
St. Stephen's University offers 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, prophetic imagination, and contemplative basis from which to participate in God's unfolding subversive and upside-down kingdom.
Tracks of the M.A. in Peace & Justice
To meet the different needs and interests of our students, the Master of Arts in Peace and Justice has three tracks with emphases on the inner transformation of a peacemaker, reconciling with Indigenous peoples, or peace and justice in the Palestinian context.
PEACEBUILDING, PUBLIC THEOLOGY, AND INNER TRANSFORMATION
This track is for students who want a general background in peace and justice studies, including theory and praxis, as rooted in the most pressing and pertinent theological considerations as they relate to peacebuilding and conflict transformation.
The curriculum of this track combines a focus on grassroots peacebuilding skills and training from the ground up, conflict analysis, public theology with a focus on peace and justice, trauma-healing and reconciliation, and the inner transformation of a peacemaker that engages contemplative and ascetic practices for encouraging the resilience, healing, and authenticity of a peacemaker that is then transmitted to a suffering, divided, and hostile world.
AT A GLANCE:
DURATION — 2 YEARS (FULL TIME)
CREDIT HOURS — 39
DELIVERY MODE — ONLINE COURSES, 9-DAY RESIDENCY, 2-WEEK STUDY ABROAD TRIP, THESIS
EMPHASES — THEOLOGY OF PEACE & JUSTICE, CONTEMPLATIVE STUDIES, RELIGIOUS PEACEBUILDING, GRASSROOTS CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION
Course Sequencing
PEACEBUILDING, PUBLIC THEOLOGY, AND INNER TRANSFORMATION
In the first year of study, students complete six online courses (18 c/h), and in the second year of study, students attend a short peace & justice 9-day residency at SSU, travel on a two-week study abroad trip in Ireland (north and south of the border), and complete an online peace & justice guided thesis research course and thesis (21 c/h).
YEAR ONE
FALL SEMESTER
PJST 5481 — The Inner Transformation of a Peacemaker
PJST 5380 — Theology of Peace and Justice
PJST 5180 — Peace and Violence in the New Testament
9 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR ONE
SPRING SEMESTER
PJST 5583 — Practical Nonviolence & Peacebuilding
PJST 5882 — Religion, Peace and Conflict
PJST 5182 — Peace & Violence in the Old Testament
9 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR TWO
FALL SEMESTER
Study Abroad Trip in Ireland (August – 2 weeks)
PJST 6300 — Peace and Justice Guided Thesis Research
9 CREDIT HOURS
YEAR TWO
SPRING SEMESTER
SSU Peace & Justice 9-Day Residency (April)
PJST 6600 —Thesis (20,000 words)
12 CREDIT HOURS
Delivery Methods
PEACEBUILDING, PUBLIC THEOLOGY, AND INNER TRANSFORMATION
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.
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IN-PERSON PEACE & JUSTICE 9-DAY RESIDENCY @ ST. STEPHEN'S UNIVERSITY
This short 9-day intensive residency takes place on-site at St. Stephen's University. It includes seminars and workshops that are led by a team of top scholars and practitioners covering such subjects as the psychology and neuroscience of the inner transformation of a peacemaker; building peace and becoming human; the political philosophy of peace and justice; and practical skills workshops on peacebuilding program planning.
STUDY ABROAD TRIP TO SCOTLAND AND N.IRELAND
This 10-day intensive study abroad trip includes academic sessions at the Trinity College Dublin, Queen's University Belfast, and Corrymeela in Ballycastle, as taught by experts and practitioners in grassroots peacebuilding and theology. This learn-study opportunity also includes a 2-day pilgrimage to Armagh along the border between N.Ireland and the Republic, a documentary screening with panelists from the film, folk show w/Tommy Sands, and learning tours in Belfast & Derry.
CLICK HERE for more info.
PEACE & JUSTICE GUIDED THESIS RESEARCH COURSE AND THESIS
Students will complete an online Peace & Justice guided research course as they refine the topic of their thesis with their supervisor, and complete an approximately 20,000-word thesis on a topic related to the subjects of the degree program and that adequately prepares students for their vocation as peacemakers.
Multifaith Chaplaincy & Spiritual Care
St. Stephen's University offers a course that prepares students for multi-faith pastoral and spiritual care in a variety of chaplaincy settings. This course can be completed as an add-on to a master's degree at SSU (i.e., not included in the total credit hours of a student's degree program) or as a stand-alone credential without a program. We offer a certificate of completion for the course that can be applied to a student's resume as an academic credential for ministry rather than a CPE/CPU clinical credential.
