Undergraduate Preparation and Admission
Undergraduate students preparing for the Master of Arts in International Peace and Conflict Resolution typically pursue a liberal arts undergraduate major in the social sciences or humanities. Students should work with advisers to determine appropriate recommended preparatory courses, and study abroad for one or two semesters.
During the senior year, interested students apply to the Office of Enrollment Management for entrance into the program. Arcadia University undergraduate students whose academic records meet the entrance requirements are assured of acceptance into the master’s program. Arcadia students also may apply for admission to IPCR without completing the assured admission program. To maintain the quality of the graduate program, the University reserves the right to limit enrollment in all its offerings.
About the M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution
Arcadia’s Master’s program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution educates and trains students to be advocates, activists, and social entrepreneurs who develop innovative approaches to global and local peace building from the ground-up. Preparing especially for careers in the non-profit/NGO sector as well as other public, private, and academic fields, IPCR students engage in project-based learning, global fieldwork, and internships. They work with an interdisciplinary group of faculty scholars to understand the social, political, historical, and economic contexts in which peace and conflict are produced, and they learn practical, operational skills including program planning, program evaluation, mediation, and conflict assessment.
Students in the graduate program in International Peace and Conflict Resolution pursue a Master’s degree that consists of three terms of intensive academic training at our Glenside campus including a concentration, an internship, and capstone project.
Students select concentrations by the end of their first term in the program. Concentrations are sets of specific professional skills that act as pathways to careers in particular areas of the conflict resolution field. Concentrations consist of two courses. Internships and capstone projects may also reflect concentration area.
Concentration Areas include:
- Social Justice: Advocacy and Activism
- NGO management and social entrepreneurship
Students research and apply for internships in the spring of the first year. Internships may be pursued overseas or nationally during the summer before the third term or locally in the summer or final term. They should be directly related to the academic and professional interests of the student. Internships allow students to develop critical professional skills and contacts and enable students to successfully transition to the professional world upon graduation.
In the final term, students complete a capstone project that integrates their concentration, internship and professional development goals
