Undergraduate Course: Conflict, Peacebuilding and Religion (EFIE10006)
Course Outline
| School | Edinburgh Futures Institute |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | The course will examine peacebuilding in different global regions where religion has been a key part of either a conflict, or its resolution, or both, including guiding concepts, methodologies and outcomes. Wider issues of state and religious legitimacy will also be addressed. |
| Course description |
Over recent decades, conflict and religion have become increasingly intertwined across the globe. Religion has contributed to some conflicts but has also become recognised as important in peacebuilding. The course will examine conflict in different global regions in order to understand how religious ideas and groups have helped to bring about conflict resolution declarations and documents and to build social and political resilience in the longer term.
The course is taught in a weekly two-hour seminar. It opens with an interrogation of the concepts of conflict, peace and religion. There then follow four two-week blocks on conflict and peacebuilding in South Africa, Northern Ireland, the Holy Land and Nigeria, during which there will be group presentations. In the closing week, comparisons and contrasts will be made and wider critical approaches to state and religious legitimacy will be considered. Because the seminars will be interactive, preparatory work will be required before each takes place.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 40 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Summative Assessment:
The course will be assessed by means of the following components:
1) Group Presentation (20%)
A group presentation on one of the four locations. Marked at group level.
2) 3000 Word Essay (80%)
Comparative evaluation of peacebuilding in two locations (one of which may have been studied for the group presentation. |
| Feedback |
Formative feedback will be available each week in class discussion. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Conceptualise conflict, peacebuilding and religion.
- Present detailed knowledge of conflict dynamics in specific global regions.
- Critically understand the potential roles of religion in conflict and conflict resolution.
- Communicate knowledge and analysis of peace agreements.
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Reading List
Indicative Reading List
Essential Reading:
Challenge to the Church: The Kairos Document [revised second edition] (South Africa, 1986), in The Kairos Documents, ed. Gary S. D. Leonard (University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2010), 47-75, at https://urc.org.uk/images/Global_and_Intercultural/Black_History/TheKairosDocuments.pdf
A Future with Hope: Biblical Frameworks for Peace and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland (Belfast: ECONI, 1995), at https://www.contemporarychristianity.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/future_with_hope.pdf
First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land (Alexandria, 2002), at https://www.rabbidavidrosen.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Alexandria-Declaration.pdf
A Moment of Truth: a Word of Faith, Hope and Love from the Heart of Palestinian Suffering (Bethlehem, 2009), at https://www.kairospalestine.ps/index.php/about-kairos/kairos-palestine-document
The Kaduna Peace Declaration of Religious Leaders (Kaduna, 2002), at https://nifcon.anglicancommunion.org/media/111559/The-Kaduna-Peace-Declaration-of-Religious-Leaders.pdf
Recommended Reading:
Chapters from The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace, ed. Jolyon Mitchell, Suzanna R. Mitchell, Francesca Po and Martyn Percy (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2022):
Ian S. Markham, 'Relationships between religion and peace', 39-47.
Victoria Biggs, 'Listening to young people in Israel/Palestine', 81-90.
Darren Kew and Chris M. A. Kwaja, 'Religion and peacebuilding in Nigeria', 143-54.
John W. de Gruchy, 'Reconciliation and non-violent transformation in South Africa: at the interface of theology and secular politics', 155-63.
Monica McWilliams and Avila Kilmurray, 'Gendering the Peace Process in Northern Ireland', 185-94.
Leah E. Robinson, ''Righteousness and peace will kiss each other': Christian communities of reconciliation and the pursuit of justice', 319-29.
Maryann Cusimano Love, 'Just peace: from Versailles to today', 417-27.
Robert Forster and Christine Bell, 'Divine intervention: invoking God in peace agreements', 518-29.
Nukhet Sandal, 'Religious leaders and peace', 552-61.
Chapters from The Palgrave Handbook of Peace and Conflict Studies, ed. Oliver Richmond, Sandra Pogodda and Jasmin Ramovic (London: Palgrave, 2016):
Brendan Murtagh, 'Economics: neoliberal peace and the politics of social economics', 110-22 (on Ireland).
Andries Odendaal, 'South Africa's incomplete peace', 287-98.
Sandra Pogodda, 'Middle East and North Africa: hegemonic modes of pacification in crisis', 398-410.
Mohammed Abu-Nimer, 'Religion, Dialogue, and Non-Violent Actions in Palestinian-Israeli Conflict', International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 17 (2004), 491-511. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1) Assimilate a variety of information types related to complex real-world problems.
2) Understand conflict resolution strategies.
3) Work in a group to communicate understanding. |
| Keywords | Conflict,Peacebuilding,Religion |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr David Grumett
Tel: (0131 6)50 8970
Email: David.Grumett@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Matt Bryant
Tel:
Email: Matt.Bryant@ed.ac.uk |
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