One year in Germany, one year in Colombia: The binational design deepens students’ intercultural skills and language proficiency and enables mutual exchange of experiences, ideas and approaches.

Following successful completion of the degree program in Conflict, Memory and Peace, students are awarded a Master of Arts degree of the KU as well as a Magister en Conflicto, Memoria y Paz of the Universidad del Rosario (UR).

The memory component fosters a multidimensional and context-sensitive understanding of peace and conflict.

Profound research skills are acquired in relevant modules worth 40 ECTS credits. The fact that the degree program is part of UR’s institute for peace, conflict and post-conflict (JANUS) as well as KU’s Center for Latin American Studies (ZILAS) ensures that students are always up to date regarding current developments in the field of research.

Students are prepared for the professional environment by a required internship as well as practice-oriented courses (i.a. simulations and representatives of practical fields).

The first two semesters cover the basics of peace and conflict research under involvement of the memory component. Furthermore, students will receive an introduction to the basics of international law in which transitional justice plays an important role.

Already in the second semester, students are invited to focus on their Master’s thesis in the context of a research seminar. In addition, students learn to apply qualitative methods in conflict analysis. The module Conflict Resolution & Transformation involves representatives of practical fields and ends with a practice simulation in Bogotá, in which both KU students and their peers from Universidad del Rosario participate.

Preparation for the stay abroad:

Students will be given the opportunity to take part in workshops in which they can develop their intercultural skills. The International Office and ZILAS also offer information events to prepare students for their time abroad.

During the second year, students will have the opportunity to develop their individual profile in required elective modules, completion of the required internship and preparation of the Master’s thesis. Students will gain deeper insight into the conflict and peace process in Colombia that has been ongoing for decades. Intensive support and advice is provided for the students’ research project, their Master’s thesis.

Required elective modules: Students must complete required elective modules worth 10 ECTS credits. They may choose these modules from the range of required elective modules offered at both universities. This allows them to take advantage of the different specialisms of the two universities when choosing which area they wish to focus on. For example, they may choose to specialize in legal topics related to transitional justice at UR, or in memory or development cooperation at the KU.

Required internship: The required internship is worth 10 ECTS credits. KU students must complete their required internship in Latin America. Specific partnerships will be maintained to make it easier for students to find internships places at desirable organizations and companies.

Master’s thesis: The module ‘Master’s Thesis’ is worth 20 ECTS credits. Students are encouraged to start thinking about the topic of their Master’s thesis from the second semester onwards and are prepared for it through suitable research and methods modules. The reviews for the Master’s theses are carried out binationally. Thesis supervisors can be chosen from among the subject representatives at both universities. Students defend their Master’s thesis in the thesis defense.

In this component, in addition to the field of transitional justice, which is an established component of peace and conflict research and is essential for peace consolidation, methods from the humanities, philosophy, and theology also play a key role. In this context, particular emphasis is placed on collective memory, memory policy, and historical culture. This promotes a multidimensional understanding for peace and conflict.

In most cases, long-standing conflicts are not put to an end with a ceasefire or by signing a peace treaty. Instead, post-conflict societies have to cope with the challenge of working through their own conflict history. In particular in intra-state conflicts, victims and offenders from different conflict parties are confronted with each other and have to find a way for peaceful coexistence. Often, former countries afflicted by conflict are unable to overcome this challenge, leaving many concepts for reprocessing fruitless.

This degree program is based on the thesis that purely legal and material measures for reprocessing are generally insufficient. The search for truth in the transition process and the way in which post-conflict societies deal with their violent past also play a key role. It is of particular importance where, how, and by whom past conflict is remembered in mass media and schools, as well as museums and public spaces (street names, memorials, places of remembrance, etc.). The memory component helps students to gain a deeper understanding of this complex set of issues by examining various theories, approaches, and cases studies.

Colombia is currently implementing a recently concluded peace treaty after having lived through decades of conflict. Germany can look back on a successful conflict transformation process; however, it still deals with working through its own past. From a Colombian perspective, Germany’s social development and conflict transformation process as well as the way in which the country dealt with its own past is an important and interesting topic. Students from Germany, on the other hand, can gain valuable insight into complex conflict issues and on flight and migration.

Overall, the binational design enables a mutual exchange of experiences, ideas and approaches between students and lecturers both from Europe and Latin America. This encourages students to examine their own approaches and paradigms critically while allowing them to benefit from knowledge and skills gained in their partner country that they will be able to apply effectively in their future careers.