This course is designed to advance understandings of conflict, security, and peace for women’s leadership in a changing world. In this course, we explicitly emphasize women’s experiences, roles, knowledge, opportunities, and barriers in security, conflict transformation, and peace building –particularly in community and organizational spaces.

Using a gender analysis framework, we will focus on the questions:

• How do gender stereotypes inform approaches to conflict, security, and peace work?
• What do conflict, security, and peace mean for women?
• How can women advance their agendas for peace?

Drawing from key theories and real examples, you will engage in reflective peace and conflict practice and analysis. You will have opportunities to engage in conflict transformation and peace practices, such as nonviolent communication, mediation, and facilitation, as well as conflict and peace mapping and strategizing. We will draw attention to conflict, security, conflict transformation, and peace as contextual, individual, collective, and historical experiences and relevant possibilities for community development and cultures of peace.

Benefits and Learning Objectives 

In this course, you will:

• Examine individual and societal beliefs about conflict and peace, and women.
• Explore current theories in conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and women and peace.
• Examine women’s leadership opportunities and challenges in conflict and peace work.
• Build practical analytical knowledge for fostering and building peace in organisations and community for women leaders.
• Develop skills to constructively address conflict and foster peace building.
• Build and contribute to a global network of conflict transformation and peace leaders. 

Time Requirement 

This course will be delivered through a combination of asynchronous participation with a synchronous weekly facilitated discussion. You should be prepared to dedicate 6-8 hours per week, over the course of eight weeks. 

Technology Requirement 

• Computer or laptop 
• Reliable internet access (high speed is recommended) 
• Speakers and microphone 

Who Should Apply? 

This course is ideal for women who want to work collaboratively to transform conflicts and create an enabling environment for peace and development. This includes community-based organizations, NGOs, government departments, universities, international organizations, and individual community builders.

Fees

The tuition fee for this course is $850. Coady Institute strives to ensure change leaders working in communities around the world have access to its courses. This is made possible through the provision of bursaries that are funded by many individual and institutional donors. Partial bursaries of up to $475 are available for qualifying candidates. Through Coady’s Circle of Abundance, a limited number of full bursaries are available to First Nations, Métis, and Inuit participants residing in Canada. Those receiving a bursary will be responsible for paying the balance of their tuition before the designated deadline.