Graduate Degree Program Overview
Internship & Practicum (Required)
Effective 7/1/2020: The Conflict Resolution Program is no longer accepting applications. Explore our other program offerings.
For the most current and accurate information regarding degree requirements, graduation requirements, and course descriptions, please download our MA Student Handbook.
The Purpose of Obtaining Practical Experience
A maximum of 8 credits or about 13% of total degree credits (up to 5 for internships; 3 for Practicum) is allowed for these practical learning experiences. Actual work hours do not compare directly to individual traditional courses or the work involved.
These practical experiences provide opportunities for a student to:
- acquire an understanding of the way conflict resolution theories are applied in practice
- realize how practitioners of conflict resolution operate within different theoretical frameworks and under hidden assumptions about human behavior
- become acquainted with varied, real world vocational settings for Conflict Resolution work: career paths, entry-level positions, organizations, services
- become sensitized to the importance of Conflict Resolution work, the multiple modes of implementing it, and the varied settings where it applies
- acquire valuable skills and basic knowledge of Conflict Resolution work
- enhance marketability in the Conflict Resolution job market; evaluate personal strengths and weaknesses and career preferences within the field of Conflict Resolution
Internship Requirement
All candidates for the M.A. degree in Conflict Resolution must complete at least 100 hours in an internship position. The work, undertaken once a student is formally enrolled in the graduate program (i.e. prior work experience will not fulfill the requirement) must be approved in advance by the Graduate Director as relevant and worthwhile. The internship may be undertaken anytime during the student's graduate program enrollment, i.e. near the start of graduate school, at the mid-point, or near the end. Some students spread out the internship work over several months; others compress it into a shorter period of four weeks. In order to fulfill this requirement for the degree, several steps must be completed.
Practicum Requirement
All candidates for the M.A. degree in Conflict Resolution must complete a practicum. The work, undertaken once a student has completed most of the core curriculum courses plus the mediation workshop (mandatory completion) consists of a 15-week period--Spring term in addition to one week in early Summer--where students meet weekly with the professor to discuss the design, execution, and evaluation of conflict resolution interventions based on the cases they are assigned.