Department of Anthropology Announces New Peace and Human Rights Master's Degree Program

The Department of Anthropology will debut its new master's degree program in the Anthropology of Peace and Human Rights in January 2017. 

The University of Alabama System Board of Trustees gave its final approval for the program at its September 23, 2016, meeting.

The new program, only the second of its kind in anthropology in the U.S., focuses on peace as behavioral process at multiple levels including at the level of individuals, families, groups, communities, cultures and nations. Students will critically analyze how factors such as ecological sustainability, human security, democracy, justice, non-violence, conflict resolution, and human rights are interconnected constructs related to the unifying construct of peace.

Anthropology offers an important set of perspectives that address knowledge about and appreciation of cultural diversity, cultural relativism, multiculturalism, cross-cultural interaction, variation in norms, values, beliefs, conflict resolution styles, and respect for cultural differences and human rights. This unique set of perspectives is at the basis of the new program’s focus on peace and human rights and makes it relevant to the goals of diversity and the challenges and opportunities posed by globalization.

The new program complements the educational and outreach activities of the recently established UAB Institute for Human Rights (IHR). By working with the IHR, the program aims to prepare students for doctoral studies and professional careers in the general areas of peace and human rights. Graduates of similar programs have found positions in human and social services, community mediation organizations, in multicultural education, at legal centers, as U.S. Congressional staffers, at NGOs and human rights organizations, and at the United Nations.

In line with the UAB Graduate School admissions schedule, the application deadline for the Spring 2017 semester is November 1, 2016. However, students who are unable to make the November 1 application deadline should contact the Department to discuss a possible deadline extension. Applications must be submitted online via UAB ApplyYourself.  The ApplyYourself link for the program will be functional during the early part of the week starting October 10.

A detailed program description and application checklist stating the graduate school and departmental requirements will be posted on the academic programs page of the Department of Anthropology website.  

Further information about the new program can be obtained from Dr. Lori Cormier, lcormier@uab.edu, Graduate Program Director, and the Department’s Administrative Associate Ms. Vern Bush, vern@uab.edu.