Program MajorSpecialistCore CoursesExperiential LearningPos FormsFaq Top

Major

To complete a major program in Peace, Conflict and Justice, students must take 7.5 FCEs. These 7.5 FCEs are categorized in three clusters as listed below. Each course requirement is individual and cannot be used more than once.  A course taken on a CR/NCR basis may not be used to satisfy program requirements.

Students, after their first year in the program, are strongly encouraged to fill out a POS (program of study) form and submit it to the Program Coordinator. The Program Director and Program Coordinator will review the form for approval. Please consult the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science Annual Calendar before creating your POS form.

 

Cluster 1

( ECO101H1+ ECO102H1)/ ECO105Y1/​ HIS103Y1; ( PSY100H1+ PSY220H1)/ ( SOC100H1+ SOC150H1); POL208H1;

For students admitted in 2020-2021 or later: 0.5 FCE in quantitative methods from one of the following: courses: ECO220Y1, GGR270H1, POL222H1, PSY201H1, PSY202H1, SOC202H1, STA201H1, STA220H1, STA221H1, or an appropriate substitution on the approval of the Program Director.

Except for POL208H1, substitutions may be permitted for other introductory courses in relevant disciplines, based on a student’s rationale and on approval of the Program Director.

Cluster 2

PCJ260Y1; PCJ360H1; PCJ362H1/​ PCJ363H1; PCJ460H1

Due to COVID-19, PCJ363H1S will not be offered in Winter 2021.

Cluster 3

2.0 FCEs of complementary courses, at least 1.0 FCE of which must be at the 300+ series level, from: CRI429H1; ECO200Y1; ECO202Y1; ECO220Y1; GGR240H1; GGR241H1; GGR419H1; HIS241H1; HIS242H1; HIS401H1; JPR364Y1; MUN101H1/MUN102H1; PHL378H1; POL201Y1; POL326Y1; POL340Y1; POL345Y1; PHL373H1, POL412H1; POL417Y1; POL459Y1; PSY220H1; PSY270H1; PSY322H1; RLG280Y1; RLG309H1; SOC210H1; SOC260H1; SOC249H1; SOC367H1 or alternative courses on the approval of the Program Director, based on the needs of students interdisciplinary programs of study.

Please note that H or Y designations may change each academic year.


Specialist

To complete a specialist program in Peace, Conflict and Justice, students must take 12 FCEs. These 12 courses are categorized in four clusters as listed below. Each course requirement is individual and cannot be used more than once. A course taken on a CR/NCR basis may not be used to satisfy program requirements.

Students, after their first year in the program, are strongly encouraged to fill out a POS (program of study) form and submit it to both the director and the program administrator for approval. Please consult the University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science Annual Calendar before creating your POS form.

Cluster 1

( ECO101H1+ ECO102H1)/ ECO105Y1/​ HIS103Y1; ( PSY100H1+ PSY220H1)/ ( SOC100H1+ SOC150H1); POL208H1;

For students admitted in 2020-2021 or later: 0.5 FCE in quantitative methods from one of the following courses: ECO220Y1, GGR270H1, POL222H1, PSY201H1, PSY202H1, SOC202H1, STA201H1, STA220H1, STA221H1, or an appropriate substitution on the approval of the Program Director.

Except for POL208H1, substitutions may be permitted for other introductory courses in relevant disciplines, based on a student’s rationale and on approval of the Program Director.

Cluster 2

PCJ260Y1; PCJ360H1; PCJ362H1/​ PCJ363H1; PCJ460H1; PCJ461H1

Due to COVID-19, PCJ363H1S will not be offered in Winter 2021.

Cluster 3

Three FCEs from ONE of Groups A, B, C, D, E or F (below), or substitutions with a rationale that must be approved by the Program Director. Students may substitute from different disciplines or with different courses from within these disciplines. At least 1.0 FCE must be at the 300+-level.

Courses from cluster 1 cannot be repeated in this cluster. Please note that H or Y designations may change each academic year.

GROUP A – HISTORY 

HIS103Y1,  HIS106Y1,  HIS202H1,  HIS241H1, HIS242H1, HIS271Y1,  HIS303H1,  HIS311Y1,  HIS325H1, HIS329H1, HIS243H1,  HIS244H1, HIS250Y1, HIS251Y1, HIS338H1, HIS343H1, HIS344H1, HIS347H1, HIS355H1,  HIS359H1,  HIS364H1,  HIS376H1,  HIS377H1,  HIS386H1,  HIS390H1,  HIS401H1 HIS405Y1, HIS407H1,  HIS414H1,  HIS415Y1,  HIS424H1,  HIS436H1,  H IS451H1,  HIS461H1,  HIS473H1, HIS475H1, HIS480H1, HIS492H1, NMC278H1, NMC474H1, TRN350H1, TRN421Y1

GROUP B – POLITICAL SCIENCE

POL101H1, POL106H1, POL107H1, POL109H1, POL195H1, P OL201H1, POL205H1, POL208H1, POL211H1, POL223H1, POL301Y1, POL305Y1, POL312Y1, POL324H1, POL326Y1, POL330Y1, POL340Y1, POL354H1, POL412H1, POL416H1, POL417Y1, P OL419H1, POL432H1, POL442H1, POL447H1, POL459Y1, POL464H1, POL467H1, POL468H1,  POL476H1, POL479H1, POL480H1, POL486H1, POL487H1, NEW250Y1, NEW354H1, NMC476H1, NMC477H1

GROUP C – PSYCHOLOGY

PSY100H1, PSY321H1, PSY201H1, PSY210H1, PSY220H1, PSY270H1, PSY280H1, PSY311H1, PSY312H1, PSY320H1, PSY322H1, PSY324H1,PSY326H1, PSY328H1, PSY331H1, PSY370H1, PSY372H1, PSY420H1, PSY471H1, JLP374H1, JLP471H1

GROUP D – ENVIRONMENT & GEOGRAPHY

ENV200H1, ENV234H1, GGR107H1, GGR112H1, GGR124H1,GGR203H1,GGR240H1, GGR241H1, GGR314H1, GGR320H1, GGR338H1, GGR343H1, GGR398H0, GGR399Y1, GGR418H1, GGR419H1, GGR452H1, PHL273H1, PHL373H1

GROUP E – ECONOMICS

ECO200Y1,  ECO202Y1,  ECO210H1,  ECO220Y1,  ECO231H1,  ECO232H1,  ECO313H1,  ECO314H1, ECO316H1,   ECO320H1,   ECO324H1,  ECO336H1,  ECO401H1,  ECO403H1,  ECO406H1,   ECO423H1, ECO439H1, ECO446H1

GROUP F – ANTHROPOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY and SOCIOLOGY

ANT100Y1,   ANT204H1,   ANT358H1,   ANT364H1,   ANT395Y0,   ANT396Y0,   ANT425H1,   ANT426H1, ANT440H1, ANT450H1, COG250Y1, CRI364H1, CRI427H1, CRI429H1, INS360Y1, JPR364Y1, PHL232H1, PHL235H1, PHL240H1, PHL244H1, PHL271H1, PHL273H1, PHL275H1, PHL317H1, PHL340H1, PHL341H1, PHL351H1, PHL357H1, PHL365H1, PHL370H1, PHL373H1, PHL375H1, PHL380H1, PHL394H1, RLG309H1, RLG389H1, SOC205H1, SOC210H1,SOC212H1, SOC213H1, SOC220H1,SOC249H1, SOC250Y1, SOC260H1, SOC306H1, SOC312H1, SOC320H1, SOC330H1, SOC344H1, SOC348H1, SOC356H1, SOC360H1, SOC365H1, SOC367H1, SOC386H1, SOC495H1, SOC498H1

MUNK ONE

MUN101H1 or MUN102H1 (maximum 0.5 FCE)

Cluster 4

Three complementary FCEs with either a disciplinary, regional, or thematic focus relevant to Peace, Conflict and Justice (on approval of the Director, based on the needs of students’ interdisciplinary programs of study). At least 1.0 FCEs must be at the 300+-level. Up to 1.0 FCEs of MUN courses may be used to fulfill this requirement, subject to approval by the Director.

Courses used in clusters 1 and 2 cannot be repeated in this cluster.

Disciplinary focus:

3.0 FCEs from one of ANT, ECO, GGR and Environmental Studies (combined), HIS, PHL, POL, PSY, RLG, SLA, SOC, or from other units with a rationale approved by the Program Director.

(Note: The disciplinary focus in this cluster must be different from the discipline chosen in Cluster 3. For instance, HIS is excluded for students who have taken 3 HIS FCEs to meet Cluster 3; POL is excluded for students who have taken 3 POL FCEs, etc.)

Regional Studies focus:

3.0 FCEs on, for example, Canada, Southern Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, or the Slavic countries.

Thematic focus:

3.0 FCEs on a thematic topic proposed by the student and approved by the Program Director. Examples include negotiation and conflict resolution, diplomatic history, gender and conflict, morality of war, quantitative analysis, group-identity conflict, economic development and conflict, literature, culture, and everyday life of conflict, or environmental change and conflict.

 


Core Courses

 

 

PCJ260H1F – Introduction to Peace, Conflict and Justice I: Data and Applications

Syllabus – TBC

This course introduces students to reading, interpreting, and communicating data relevant to issues in peace, conflict and justice. Students will develop concrete skills, such as understanding data sources in conflict and justice, exploring applications of data, and methods of data collection. They will reflect on how social constructs can be operationalized into variables that can be employed for qualitative and quantitative analysis in research and policy, and will learn how to use visualizations and descriptive statistics to support arguments and research. Through this course, students will develop a set of essential skills to work on real-world questions related to issues in peace, conflict and justice, while engaging with existing data and their applied research findings to understand their policy relevance. Students must be enrolled in either the PCJ Major or PCJ Specialist program to take this course.

Taught by Professor Paola Salardi  (2022-23)

PCJ261H1S – Introduction to Peace, Conflict and Justice II: (TBD)

Syllabus – TBC

This course builds on various multi-disciplinary approaches to explore how inequalities shape conflict and post-conflict dynamics. It aims for students to understand and engage critically in debates in the literature and to discover connections between power structures that shape conflicts and their termination. In addition, PCJ261H will offer students practical tools to analyze the intersection of conflict and inequality, as well as its implications for pursuing peace.

Taught by Professor Laura García-Montoya  (2022-23)

PCJ360H1F – Intermediate Topics in PCJ: Civil Conflicts, Violence and Socio-Economic Development

Syllabus – TBC

This course explores the links between violent conflict and socioeconomic development. It will focus on the macro- and micro-level processes leading to conflict, as well as how conflict and political violence affect people’s lives at the household and community levels. It will also examine how these micro-level processes are linked to wider political and economic issues, including governance and institutional development. Tools from economic theory are applied alongside country-specific and cross-national empirical evidence.

Taught by Professor Paola Salardi (2022-23)

PCJ362H1S - Service Learning

Syllabus – TBC

Students are given a service-learning placement with international not-for-profits or governmental organizations. Students work in teams of 4-5 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 piece, and achieving justice.

Taught by Professor Moussa Blimpo  (2022-23)

PCJ460H1S – Advanced Topics in PCJ: Conflict and Justice in North America

Prior year syllabus: PCJ460H1S Syllabus Winter 2022

This course builds on the PCJ commitment to theorizing and understanding the conflict and struggles for justice that occur in entrenched democracies such as Canada and the US. What role do social movements and protests play in democratic governance? When do they opt for peaceful strategies of persuasion, and when do they choose conflict? Almost all protest is aimed at achieving justice; when is it successful, and how can we theorize what counts as justice? Why do states enter into conflict with their own citizens, and how does theorizing such forms of conflict help us to understand other theoretical frameworks of conflict, absence of conflict, and justice? Specifically, the course will explore conflicts over Indigenous land rights and resource extraction; Black Lives Matter; climate change; immigration; abortion; vaccine and mask mandates; and others.

Taught by Professor Courtney Jung (2022-23)

PCJ461H1S- Research Methods in Peace, Conflict and Justice

Prior year syllabus: PCJ461 Syllabus Winter 2022

This course guides each student through their own individual research project, embedded in an interactive group learning process, in order to offer an applied introduction to research methods for peace, conflict and justice studies. Students work through the full research process, including: identifying a research question, learning how to conduct effective literature reviews, developing a rigorous research design, and applying quantitative and qualitative methods to answering questions. Rather than conducting research independently or studying research methods in isolation, the course combines the two: students learn collectively about the different steps in the research process while simultaneously applying those steps to their own research project. This is then complemented by presenting that research and discussing different research projects in class, so as to receive continuous feedback and be exposed to a variety of research methods and approaches.

Taught by Paola Salardi (2022-23)

ELECTIVE COURSE : PCJ499H1/PCJ499Y1 - Peace and Conflict Study Independent Studies Course

This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to explore topics not covered in the curriculum, or to develop a more detailed focus on topics covered. Approval of the program director is required. The student must obtain written agreement of the instructor who will supervise the independent study, submit the proposal to and obtain approval from the director and program administrator, who will then add the student to the course.

Deadline for Fall 2022 applications TBA.

PCJ499 Proposal


Experiential Learning

The Trudeau Centre for Peace, Conflict and Justice understands that in order for students to leverage the academic training they obtain from the program, they must also have direct exposure to these topics.  All PCJ students are required to complete PCJ362H1S: Service Learning in the Winter semester of their third year of studies. Students can also participate in other experiential learning opportunities such as study abroad programs offered by the Centre for International Experience and PCJ499 advanced service learning opportunities

Service Learning:

All PCJ students must complete PCJ362H1S as part of their PCJ core requirements.  They will be matched with a local host organization, spending several hours on site and an additional two hours in the classroom, per week.   Students will contribute ideas and practices learned from the PCJ curriculum to the organization, and bring their experiences back into the classroom to compare with peers.  Through readings, assignments, and discussion, the course will emphasize how groups work to achieve community goals, how grassroots politics works, the power of social capital, and engage in questions of how such structures are needed to resolve conflict, broker peace, and achieve justice.

The Trudeau Centre is working with existing partner organizations and joining with the Centre for Community Partnerships to create new service learning opportunities.  While opportunities vary, and are subject to change, we strive to place students in organizations that align with their academic interests.  We look for organizations that focus on:

  1. Accessibility services
  2. Conflict resolution training
  3. Environment/conservation
  4. Health
  5. Indigenous rights
  6. Legal assistance
  7. Minorities and multiculturalism
  8. Refugees and immigration
  9. Social justice advocacy (religious or secular)
  10. Homelessness/employment services
  11. Women’s issues
  12. Youth issues

If you work for an organization that is interested in partnering us, please send an email to: pcj.program@utoronto.ca

Study Abroad:

Students who select study abroad will engage in a traditional international exchange through the Centre for International Experience. With the approval of the program, students can count transfer credits received while on academic exchange towards their PCJ program requirements.


POS Forms

POS Form Instructions

  1. POS forms are only for current PCJ students.  Admissions information is available in the section below.
  2. Complete every section of the form. We can only approve complete programs of study, and not individual course substitution requests. We need to understand the context in which you are making the request including how the requested courses are linked together.  Even if you haven’t taken a course yet, we need to know what your plans are.
  3. Make sure each section fulfills the required credit amounts. If cluster three requires 2.0 FCE, please ensure your requested courses (pre-approved and/or substitution) add up to the required number of credits.
  4. When listing courses, include complete course codes, weights, and titles. E.g – POL208H1: Introduction to International Relations
  5. Include rationale for all requested substitutions. Please be concise.  We need to know why you want to take the course, and how it fits into your academic objectives.   For example, if you are interested in a particular aspect of gender equality, please explain how the requested courses fit into that theme, and how that theme connects to PCJ.
  6. Please send completed POS forms with the naming convention “lastname, firstname POS form” to pcj.program@utoronto.ca
    • Example: Email subject line and file name: Smith, Jane POS form

POS Form Submission Deadlines

POS forms will only be reviewed on the following dates.  Please submit your form prior to each date.

Deadline to submit to pcj.program@utoronto.ca PCJ will respond by this date
November 4th, 2022 November 18, 2022
December 7th , 2022 December 16, 2022
February 17th, 2023 March 3, 2023
April 6th, 2023 April 20, 2022

Please ensure you fill out the POS form that corresponds with your admission to the PCJ Program. Before filling out the form, download it and and save it to your computer to ensure your changes are saved.

Students admitted from June 2020 and onwards:

POS Form – Major

POS Form – Specialist

Students admitted prior to June 2020:

POS Form – Major

POS Form – Specialist


Frequently Asked Questions

I’m a first-year student interested in PCJ, but I didn’t take HIS103Y1 or ECO100Y1 or ECO105Y1; PSY100H1 + PSY220H1 ; SOC101Y1; POL208Y1 this year. Can I still apply to the subject POSt?

Yes. You can apply to a PCJ major/specialist subject POSt even without any of these courses. They are program requirements and NOT admission requirements; therefore, as long as you have 4.0 FCE in any subject and complete these courses before you graduate, you are eligible to apply.

What’s a POS form?

A POS form is short for a “program of study” form. The form helps you design your major/specialist program and can be downloaded from the “documents” section. Students are encouraged to fill out the appropriate form and email it to the program administrator and director after completing their first year in the program.

Why do I need to make sure I have an updated POS form?

The nature of the program is such that you are to take courses that are complementary so that you get a more focused understanding of peace, conflict and justice as it relates to your own interests. If you register for courses without approval, there is no guarantee that they will be accepted as necessary credits to graduate. In this instance, you may be required to take additional courses. It is important to the integrity of the program that you take courses that fit the scope of the program, and to obtain approval.

What is meant by complementary courses?

You are encouraged to design a program of study that will allow you to apply PCJ themes to your own interests. Courses that are complementary are ones that relate to a certain issue or topic you would like to focus on in peace, conflict and justice. For instance, if you were interested in global health in relation to peace, conflict and justice, courses that are complementary are: AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, issues in Global Health, etc. Courses that are not complementary would be Trade in China and AIDS and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Your rationale for the courses you have chosen for your program of study is what is crucial to having your program of study approved.

Occasionally there are issues with complementary courses – typically this occurs with PCJ majors who are enrolled in another major and are using one course as a program requirement for two programs. If you are a PCJ major intending to graduate soon, you are encouraged to check with your registrar to make sure you are satisfying your degree requirements.

The requirements of the program are clear and exceptions will not be made for those students who want to graduate but do not have complementary courses.

Can a language course be a complementary course?

While knowledge of a language other than English can be very valuable to your program of study and future studies, language credits will not satisfy any of your program requirements. Language courses do not provide substantive information relevant to PCJ program themes.

Can I my transfer credits from another university to fulfill my core course requirements?

No PCJ course can be substituted with a course from another university.


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