Turbulent times like ours call for people who understand systems of violence and conflict, and who are prepared to build peace with justice. This involves identifying and transforming systems of violence, marginalization, and oppression, including racist, gendered and colonial violence at home as well as around the world. Whether working locally or globally, Peace and Conflict Studies is committed to imagining, educating, and ongoing learning that equips our graduates to pursue justice and peace.
PACS as a department is located on territory that is governed by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and land promised to the Six Nations Confederacy in 1784 as part of the Haldimand Declaration. For more information, see Conrad Grebel University College's land acknowledgement and read about decolonization at the University of Waterloo's Office of Indigenous Relations.
Why Study Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS)?
Learn diverse ways to promote peace, equitable justice, and social change through a vibrant interdisciplinary program that combines the study of history, political science, sociology, and psychology to understand better the causes and impact of interpersonal, communal, and international conflicts and violence in different societies. You will explore theory, research, and practice in classes taught by leading peace and justice scholars and practitioners. As an arts student, you will bring a unique perspective and set of skills to peace and conflict studies. Your creativity, critical thinking, and empathy can help contribute to finding new and innovative solutions to the complex challenges of peacebuilding and conflict resolution.
Take courses on conflict mediation, non-violent social change, gender and peacebuilding, religion and culture, environment, community transformation, human rights and social justice, refugees and forced migration, negotiation strategies, trauma, healing, and restorative justice.
Prepare to become a peace practitioner, community leader, or entrepreneur in conflict management programs or work with community and international development organizations, education systems, law firms, social services, refugee resettlement program support agencies, and more after graduation.
Who are PACS graduates?
PACS graduates have gone into many careers and used their training in different ways.
To learn more about what students can do after they graduate from PACS, check out our alumni profiles
Events
Grebel Convocation 2026
Conrad Grebel University College proudly hohonours graduates who have lived and studied at Grebel while completing their University of Waterloo degree programs. This special Convocation ceremony takes place several weeks before the University of Waterloo Convocations, where the official degrees are conferred. It is a time for faculty, staff, students, families, and friends to come together and celebrate this significant achievement. We warmly welcome friends and families to join us for this celebration on Sunday, April 12, 2026, at 2:00 PM in the Humanities Theatre, University of Waterloo.
Looking at the Sky
Engaging with art demands vulnerability and builds the muscles we need to navigate conflict, political resistance, suffering, and healing in our community and our world. This exhibit challenges viewers to embrace both the beautiful and the broken parts of themselves. Nina Bailey-Dick’s powerful batiks and collages are a feminist declaration of love for the land, self-love, and a call to action: Speak up, take up space, make art, and share vulnerability to build the resilience needed for personal and collective healing and action.
This exhibit asks us to own and even value our own cracks and messy layers, refusing to choose between suffering and contentment, brokenness and beauty. Nina reminds us that holding both in tension is our work.
This exhibit will be open from Saturday, April 4 to Wednesday, April 29.
News
The Freedom to Learn Through PACS
Originally studying political science at Carlton University, Dylan-Paige transferred to the PACS program in her second year. She wanted a program that allowed her to pursue her interest in human rights and World War II history more specifically and found that PACS would be a good fit.
The Honourable V. Peter Harder International Experience Fund
Imagine the dreams that become possible when financial barriers are removed for students: a term abroad, an immersive language program, a globally focused internship, or research grounded in another culture. Students might find themselves volunteering in a refugee settlement, researching an issue they care about, immersing themselves in global music, taking a field course in environmental justice, working with a governmental think tank, or collaborating with an NGO overseas. Experiences like these broaden a person’s perspective, change career paths, and contribute to the kind of leadership that Canada will need in the future.
More Than What’s Around You: Thubelihle Mkwalula’s Personal Journey Through MPACS
Thubelihle Mkwalula is in her second year of the MPACS program. She is originally from Eswatini and completed her undergraduate degree in global affairs in the United States. Following her undergrad, she applied directly to the MPACS program because she wanted to diversify her field of study.