Core courses

Instructor: Seva Gunitsky 

This course introduces students to the theories, concepts, histories, and actors that are fundamental to the field of peace, conflict, and justice. Students will discuss meanings, causes, obstacles, and sustainability of peace and justice through the discussion of historical and contemporary cases from around the world. Stemming from the interdisciplinary aspect of the field, students will learn a wide range of theoretical, empirical, and policy-oriented perspectives on thematic topics such as protection and violation of human rights, social and economic inequalities, and causes of violence and oppression. This course is intended for first year PCJ students and it serves as a gateway for all other courses offered in the PCJ program. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: Nina Rathbun 

This course introduces students to key research methods employed in the study of peace, conflict and justice. It considers both qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research frameworks prominent in PCJ research drawn from a range of disciplines and approaches. Some methods explored in this course might include: descriptive analysis, correlational studies, bivariate or multivariate regression models, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and country case studies. The class teaches students how to read, understand and critique these frameworks and the scholarship they influence/produce. Concepts of internal and external validity, inductive and deductive reasoning, and ethics in research will also be covered. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: Laura Garcia-Montoya

This course builds on various multi-disciplinary approaches to explore how inequalities shape violence, conflict, and post-conflict dynamics. It teaches students to understand and engage critically in debates in the field and to discover connections between the power structures that shape the emergence of violent conflicts, their dynamics, and their legacies. In addition, this course will offer students practical tools to analyze the intersection of conflict and inequality, as well as the implications of that intersection for pursuing peace. This course is a requirement for PCJ majors and specialists.

Instructor: Benoît Gomis

Students are given a service learning placement in the GTA in partnership with local, national, or international not-for-profits or governmental organizations. Students work in teams of 2-7 students, and help partner organizations solve important problems. Student teams mostly work independently of the organization, while receiving some mentoring, critique, and advice from the organizations. Students are expected to invest 5-7 hours per week in course projects, in addition to class time. In this non-competitive course, students are asked to engage in deep personal reflection, help teammates, advise other teams, and contribute their skills and talents to their community partners. The course will emphasize how groups work to achieve community goals, how grassroots politics works, the power of social capital, and how these topics link to questions of conflict resolution, brokering peace, and achieving justice. Required for PCJ Majors and Specialists.

Instructor: TBA 

This course guides each student through their own individual research project, embedded in an interactive group learning process, to offer an applied introduction to research methods for peace, conflict and justice studies. Students work through the research in the field of peace, conflict and justice studies, such as: identifying a research question, learning how to write a critical literature review, developing a rigorous research design, and applying quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods to answering research inquires. The final deliverable is a draft of a research proposal or an empirical research-based paper. This course is a requirement for PCJ Specialists and open to PCJ Majors with approval from the Director.

Instructor: Sheryl Lightfoot

Topics vary annually. The objective of the course is to explore emerging issues in Peace and Conflict Studies. The focus of the course will be on a specific topic, rather than a broad survey of the field. Students can take PCJ444H1 in lieu of PCJ460H1.

The Economic Lives of the Poor: Daily Challenges and Policy Responses
Instructor: Moussa Blimpo

This course will explore and understand the daily lives, struggles, and resilience of people living in poverty. By delving into the tough decisions and trade-offs the poor face—often matters of life and death—we aim to shed light on how better policies and approaches can be designed to address global poverty effectively. While external solutions to poverty often dominate the conversation, we will uncover the remarkable, innovative strategies that people in poverty develop to navigate their circumstances. Surviving on meager resources requires extraordinary decision-making and adaptability. Understanding these decisions and trade-offs is a crucial starting point in the fight against poverty. Throughout the course, we will explore questions such as: How do the poor organize their social and economic lives? Why are larger families more common among the poor? How do they prepare for emergencies and old age with limited resources? By the end of the course, students will gain deep insights into the lives of the poor, understanding how seemingly irrational choices often make perfect sense in their context. While our analysis will entail an economic perspective, we will embrace a broad, interdisciplinary approach to foster rich discussions. No prior knowledge of economics is required. 

Technological Innovations, Surveillance & Society
Instructor: Aaron Gluck Thaler

This course considers how technology and surveillance has shaped modern society. Tracing changes in surveillance over time, the course examines how different actors, from scientists to social theorists, policymakers, and activists, have differentially conceptualized surveillance and its consequences. The course pays special attention to the social, political, and economic contexts central to the emergence of data-intensive surveillance. The course assesses how new surveillance practices, including the use of artificial intelligence, are reconfiguring the relationship between industry and the state, as well as introducing human rights concerns.

PCJ380 Justice Institution: Crime, violence and Insecurity
Instructor: Ron Levi

Topics vary annually. The objective of the course is to explore emerging issues in Peace and Conflict Studies. The focus of the course will be on a specific topic, rather than a broad survey of the field. Students can take PCJ460H1 in lieu of PCJ444H1.

Conflict, Violence and Socio-economic Development
Instructor: Paola Salardi

This course examines the relationship between violent conflict and socio-economic development. Students will investigate how political violence shapes education, health, labor markets, and migration, and how these micro-level impacts connect to broader challenges of governance, institutions, and long-term growth. The course combines theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence, drawing on both country case studies and cross-country analyses, to help students critically assess how conflict and development interact and reinforce one another.

Indigenous People’s Rights in Practice: Political Dynamics and Implementation Challenges
Instructor Sheryl Lightfoot 

This course examines the persistent gap between the formal recognition of Indigenous rights in international and domestic legal frameworks and their implementation in practice. It explores the legal, political, and institutional barriers that shape policy outcomes, including government commitments, judicial interpretations, corporate interests, and grassroots advocacy. Case studies from different jurisdictions will highlight challenges such as Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), land rights disputes, and self-determination efforts, offering a critical analysis of how political dynamics and legal structures interact to enable or obstruct Indigenous rights realization.