The MA Concentration in Religion, Politics & Conflict trains students to analyze and assess violent conflict with particular attention to the diverse roles played by religious actors, traditions and institutions. It offers a program of advanced study that treats religion as a specific field of inquiry in the theory and practice of peacebuilding, conflict analysis, conflict resolution, violence and nonviolence, ethnicity and nationalism, politics and political theory, diplomacy, and human development. In addition to these areas of study, the MA may be of particular value for individuals preparing to work in foreign service, peacemaking, second-track diplomacy, community development and organizing, religious leadership, or related areas of teaching/training.
The MA examines religion as it relates to both conflict and peace, exploring how and under what conditions religions fuel or help repair conflict, complicate or facilitate conflict resolution, and impact international and inter-community relations. The MA focuses on recent peacebuilding theories, on predictive models, and on the roles religions may play in transforming conflict and building peace. It prepares students for the complex challenges of building peace in the twenty-first century.
For more information, please contact RPC Director Peter Ochs (Religious Studies).
How to Apply
For the Graduate MA program, click here.
For Master's Promotion Program for UVA undergraduates, click here.
M.A. Degree Requirements
The M.A. concentration requires successful completion of 30 credit hours, including 24 credit hours of course work (8 courses), 3 credit hours of preparation for a capstone project, and 2-3 credit hours in the program’s Proseminar. Course work must include the two foundational courses (listed below), at least two courses focused on a religious tradition, and four electives. Each student completes a capstone project in the final semester of study, presenting original research that contributes to the study of religion-related violent conflict. The RPC Proseminar facilitates social, intellectual, and professional development within the program. Each student takes a comprehensive examination in their final semester. Students are strongly encouraged to acquire any language proficiency necessary for their capstone research and their professional goals.
Course Distribution Requirements: MA candidates in Religion, Politics & Conflict must fulfill the following distribution requirements:
- Coursework (24 credits total)
- Foundational Courses (6 credits): Two courses that prepare students to integrate the studies of religion, politics, and violent conflict. Students choose two the following: “Religion, Violence & Strategy,” “Religion, Politics, and Conflict,” or “Religion & War.” With faculty approval students may propose one substitute course that comparably integrates studies in religion, politics, and violent conflict.
- Religious Traditions (6 credits): At least two courses that focus on a single religious tradition (for example, two courses on Jewish traditions; or one course on Islamic traditions + one course on Hindu traditions; etc.).
- Electives (12 credits): Four elective courses. Each semester the MA administrators will send a list of eligible electives.
- Proseminar (3 credits): Students enroll each semester in the one credit-hour Proseminar, which focuses on social, intellectual, and professional development within the program. In Fall 2018, for example, students will (1) take two trips to Washington DC to meet with leaders in Government, NGO and religious organizations; (2) mentor a small group of RPC undergraduates; (3) receive individualized career counseling; and (4) meet as a group to discuss student research.
- Capstone Project (3 credits): The Capstone Project is the culmination of a student's work in the RPC MA, serving as an MA thesis. Developed throughout the MA course of study, capstone projects include the construction of a research proposal, advanced readings, work in professional organizations, independent research in and outside the university, and the composition of a final thesis that introduces the student's original research as a contribution to the study of religion-related violent conflict. Milestones: By the end of the first full-time semester of coursework, a Capstone Proposal must be submitted to the MA Director. All capstone projects must include research that engages the student in a professional agency or institution relevant to their thesis topic and (ideally) their vocational ambitions. During the final semester of study, students enroll in RELS 8960 Thesis Research (3 credits), to devote time to completing the capstone theses.
- Comprehensive Exam: A 3-hour written exam demonstrating general competence in the field of Religion, Politics, and Conflict. To be completed in the final semester of study.
Spring 2019 Course Offerings
*3000 and 4000 level courses can only be taken for MA credit with permission from the MA Director (Prof. Peter Furia this Spring) and from the course instructor. The course instructor will have to agree to assign additional reading/writing for graduate credit. Please take 5000 level courses or above whenever possible.
**All 7000 level courses and other departmental seminars are subject to approval by the instructor.
***Courses not listed here will be considered on a case-by-case basis with approval of the MA Director (Peter Furia this Spring).
AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND AFRICAN STUDIES
AAS 3000 Women and Religion in Africa
AAS 3500 Intro to Caribbean Studies
AAS 3652 African American History Since 1865
AAS 3810 Race, Culture and Inequality
ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTH 5401 Linguistic Field Methods
ANTH 5480 Literacy and Orality
ANTH 5549 Endangered Languages
ANTH 5885 Archaeology of Colonial Expansions
ANTH 7020 Contemporary Anthropological Theory
ANTH 7370 Power and the Body
ANTH 7420 Theories of Language
ANTH 7480 Language and Prehistory
ANTH 7630 Chinese Family and Religion
ART
ARAH 9595 Topics in Islamic Art
ARTH 3591 Pagans and Christians
ARTH 3591 Conflict in Ancient Cultures
EAST ASIAN LANGUAGES, LITERATURE & CULTURE
CHTR 5122 Sunzi and the Art of War
EAST 5321 China and the Cold War
ECONOMICS
ECON 3630 Economics of the Middle East
ENGLISH
ENGL 5830 Contemporary Jewish Fiction
GERMAN
GETR 3372 German Jewish Culture and History
GETR 3390 Nazi Germany
GETR 3695 The Holocaust and the Law
GLOBAL STUDIES
GDS 3113 A Buddhist Approach to Development
GSGS 3111 Global Studies Epistemology, Methodology & Methods
GSGS 3115 Work, Women’s Work and Women Workers in South Asia
GSGS 3116 Social Movements and Development
HISTORY
HIEA 3321 China and the Cold War
HIEU 3152 History of the British Empire
HIEU 3231 Reformation Europe
HIEU 3372 German Jewish Culture and History
HIEU 3390 Nazi Germany
HIEU 3695 The Holocaust and the Law
HIEU 5063 Late Antiquity AD 235-410
HILA 3111 Public Life in Modern Latin America
HIME 3559 Tel Aviv
HISA 3003 Twentieth-Century South Asia
HIST 3162 War and Society in the Twentith Century
HIST 3452 The Second World War
HIUS 3072 The Civil War and Reconstruction
HIUS 3456 History of U.S. Foreign Relations since 1914
HIUS 3652 Afro-American History Since 1865
HIUS 7041 The Early American Republic, 1783-1830
HIUS 7261 American Political Development in Action
HIUS 7658 Nineteenth-Century American Social and Cultural History
MEDIA STUDIES
MDST 3404 Democratic Politics in the New Media Environment
MDST 3420 Media and Power in Iran
MDST 3559 Propaganda & Digital Politics
MDST 3706 Media in China: Technology, Policy and Commerce
MDST 3760 #BlackTwitter and Black Digital Culture
MDST 3903 Media and Protest: The 1960s
MESALC
ARTR 5290 Modern Arabic Literature in Translation
MESA 3110 Sustainable Environments Middle East and South Asia
MEST 3559 Tel Aviv
MEST 3559 Architecture in Israel
MEST 5559 History of Persian Literature
PETR 5559 Rumi
SATR 3000 Women Writing in India & Pakistan: 1947-Present
PHILOSOPHY
PHIL 5560 International Political Philosophy
PHIL 7560 Democracy in Decline?
PHIL 7770 Political Philosophy
POLITICS
PLAP 3140 Mass Media and American Politics
PLAP 3400 American Political Economy
PLAP 3500 Race and the Obama Presidency
PLAP 3500 Men, Women, and U.S. Politics
PLAP 3820 Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
PLCP 3500 Politics of the Holocaust
PLCP 8140 Origins of Democracy and Dictatorship
PLCP 8500 Civil Wars in Theory and Practice
PLIR 3310 Ethics and Human Rights in World Politics
PLIR 3610 European Union in World Affairs
PLIR 5500 Civil Wars in Theory & Practice
PLIR 5500 Analyzing US-China Relations
PLIR 5810 Asymmetry and International Relations
PLIR 7080 Military Force in International Relations
PLIR 7500 Approaches to Environmental Politics
PLPT 3020 Modern Political Thought
PLPT 3500 Liberal Theory and Its Critics
PLPT 8020 Problems of Political Philosophy
PLPT 8500 Freedom, Empire, Slavery
PSYCHOLOGY
PSYC 5326 Neuroscience of Social Relationships
PSYC 7506 Contemporary Issues: Social Psychology
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
RELA 3000 Women and Religion in Africa
RELB 3495 Early Buddhism in South Asia
RELB 3655 Buddhism in America
RELC 3030 Jesus and the Gospels
RELC/J 3090 Israelite Prophecy
RELC 3115 Evangelicalism
RELC 3215 American Religious Innovation
RELC 3231 Reformation Europe
RELC 3625 Christ
RELC/J 3665 Gender and Sexuality in the Bible
RELC/J 5559 Histories and Fictions
RELG 3255 Ethics, Literature, and Religion
RELG 3559 Religion, Citizenship, Secular
RELG 3559 American Religion American War
RELG 3605 Religion, Violence, and Strategy (strongly recommended)
RELG 5070 Interpretation Theory
RELG 5170 Seminar in History of Religions
RELG 5321 Proseminar in Religion, Politics & Conflict (required)
RELG 5395 Religion and the Common Good
RELG 5485 History of American Religion and Social Reform
RELG 5559 Religion and Ecology
RELG 7460 Religion, Theory, Theology, and Modernity
RELH 3740 Hinduism Through Its Narrative Literatures
RELH 5450 Hind-Buddhist Debates
RELI 3120 Sufism: Islamic Mysticism
RELI 3559 Islamic Moral Philosophy
RELI 5540 Introduction to Islamic Studies
RELJ 3170 Modern Jewish Thought
RELJ 3372 German Jewish Culture and History
RELJ 5365 Herman Cohen and Modern Religious Thought
RELS 8500 Christ
SOCIOLOGY
SOC 3410 Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 3480 Sociology of Globalization
SOC 3820 Social Movements
SOC 5060 Contemporary Sociological Theory
SOC 5080 Comparative Historical Sociological Theory
SOC 5100 Research Design and Methods
STATISTICS
STAT 3250 Data Analysis with Python
STAT 5330 Data Mining
STAT 6130 Applied Miltivariate Statistics
WOMEN, GENDER, AND SEXUALITY
WGS 3340 Transnational Feminism