The CAS in Postconflict Reconstruction (PCR) is a 12-credit, interdisciplinary, law and policy studies program for postgraduate students preparing for careers in PCR, peace building, humanitarian relief, and development. Courses and research cover the rule of law, conflict studies, economics, capacity-building, and international security.
Download program description/requirementsOne of a few programs of its kind in the US—the CAS in PCR familiarizes graduate and law students with the major aspects of PCR, the dimensions and goals of postconflict work, the actors who conduct it, their trade-offs and dilemmas, and the lessons learned from its application.
Like other INSCT programs, the CAS in PCR is multidisciplinary and broad in scope. Students are exposed to a range of topics that include reconciliation and peacebuilding; disarmament, demilitarization, and reintegration; security, rule of law, and governance reform; and development economics. These topics are covered by courses held across SU’s campus, including those in the anthropology, law, public administration and international affairs, and economics departments.
All students are required to complete an innovative core course—Fundamentals of Postconflict Reconstruction—taught by experts and practitioners in conflict analysis and resolution from the Maxwell School. An important requirement of this certificate, MPA students also participate in a capstone project related to PCR.
Who Can Apply
This certificate is available to graduate and law students currently matriculated at Syracuse University.
Areas of Specialization
- Building Institutional Capacity
- Building the Rule of Law
- Providing Humanitarian Relief
- Assuring Security and De-militarizing Politics
- Reconciliation and Peacebuilding
- Building Civil Society
- Revitalizing Post-Conflict Economics
David F. Everett Postconflict Reconstruction Speaker Series
An additional, unique aspect of INSCT’s CAS in PCR graduate program is the David F. Everett Postconflict Reconstruction Speaker Series, which brings established, widely known postconflict experts to SU to deliver a lecture and to meet with students in the certificate program.
Click Here for MoreApplying for the Certificate
- Graduate and law students applying for this certificate must complete a Graduate School Internal Admissions Form and submit it to the INSCT office by the end of the fall semester of the first year.
- At the same time, students must submit to INSCT a Proposed Program of Study Form.
Completing the Certificate
- Graduate and law students must complete 12 credits (3 courses and one capstone project or internship—see below).
- In the final semester, students must complete a Final Program of Study Form and submit it to the INSCT office.
- The INSCT Director will recommend granting the certificate to students who have met all of the requirements and who are in good standing within their department.
Course Options
Spring 2015 Schedule of Classes
1) Required Core Course
The goal of this class is to familiarize students with the main concepts of postconflict reconstruction, the various dimensions and goals of postconflict work, the types of actors that conduct it, the trade-offs and dilemmas they face, and the lessons learned from its application across various settings.
The course will devote considerable attention to the applied side of postconflict reconstruction; that is, the techniques and tools used by international intermediaries (states, IOs, and NGOs), as well as local stakeholders, to transition societies from violence to sustainable peace. It will also address many of the key issues that frame the debate in postconflict reconstruction work:
- The tension between externally and internally generated recovery efforts.
- The possibilities and weaknesses of formal peace and reconciliation commissions.
- The challenges of civilian-military cooperation in postconflict zones.
- The trade-offs between stability and liberty.
- The quest for viable exit strategies for international actors.
In the first half of each class, students will meet in plenary session for a formal lecture given by a member of the faculty team or by a guest speaker either from within the Maxwell School or from the applied world of postconflict recovery. During the second half of each class students will meet in their respective course section for discussion of weekly readings and small group work. Offered by Catherine Bertini and Renée de Nevers.
2) Secondary Required Core Course—choose one course from the following:
This course familiarizes students with a variety of alternative theories on what causes (or hinders) economic development. Different strategies and outcomes from a variety of settings will be presented and discussed. The goal of the course is to develop an understanding of international, national, sectoral, local, and household-level issues related to economic development and the language used by economists to discuss these issues. Special attention will be given to the following research questions:
- Are there differences between economic growth and economic development?
- What are the environmental implications of economic development?
- How are industrial/urban needs balanced against agricultural/rural needs?
Offered by John McPeak. For more information, click here.
This seminar examines history, doctrine, and policy involving US engagements with foreign governments, organizations, and individuals. The focus will be the historical development and contemporary negotiation of diverse legal orders, subjects, and spheres of action implicated in contemporary foreign relations. Economic relations will occupy much of our attention. Central questions include:
- With what method does the US negotiate its coexisting obligations under conventional, customary, constitutional, statutory, and administrative legal orders?
- What roles do legal subjects such as legislatures, executives, courts, agencies, non-state entities, non-governmental organizations, and multinational corporations play in ordering foreign relations?
- How do the foregoing methods and roles differ across contexts of war, occupation, aid, trade sanctions, finance, and migration?
By both canvassing and critiquing foreign relations history, law, and policy, students will acquire the basic knowledge and skills required for analysis and argument within this complex field.
This course provides students with a broad overview of the interdisciplinary field of conflict analysis and resolution, introduces them to faculty and the work they are doing in this field, and helsp them to develop a framework for diagnosing and responding to conflicts within their own area of interest.
Over the course of the semester we will explore the diverse range of theories of social conflict found across social science disciplines. Of particular interest will be the uncovering how our theories about the nature of social conflicts result in our making particular choices about which conflict resolution activities make sense under which conditions. Relying on a number of guest speakers, documentaries, and group projects, we will consider h