Future Students

Two hands holding origami

In the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) Department at the University of Waterloo, find out how peace is built in complicated situations around the world by connecting theory and practice.

PACS Streams 

The field of Peace and Conflict Studies is very broad and covers a lot of territory from interpersonal to international conflict, theory and practice, local and global issues. There are four streams in PACS that are designed to give students a suggested direction of study within the broader field of PACS and assist in course selection based on your area of interest.

These are not formal specializations, but rather suggested courses based on student interest. Taking courses in a specific stream will help you focus your studies on a particular theme, but there will be no notation on your final diploma of this concentration. Learn more about the PACS degree →

1) Development, Human Rights, and Social Justice

Suggested PACS courses:

  • PACS 311 - Doing Development: Issues of Justice and Peace

  • PACS 318 - Peacebuilding in Divided Societies

  • PACS 321/GSJ 311 - Gender in War and Peace

  • PACS 324 - Human Rights, Peace, and Business

  • PACS 332 - Ethics of Peace Building

Suggested PACS Approved courses:

  • BLKST 201: Taking B(l)ack History
  • BLKST 203: Introduction to Anti-Racist Communication
  • PSCI 350: Political Economy of Development
  • GEOG 462/ERS 462/PSCI 488: Global Food and Agricultural Politics
  • LS 352/PHIL 328: Human Rights
  • HIST 321: Human Rights in Historical Perspective
  • HRTS 201: Foundations and Critiques of Human Rights
  • HRTS 301: Human Rights and the United Nations
  • SOC 256: Ethnic and Racial Relations
  • SDS 311R: Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Public Policy
  • SDS 411R: Decolonization and Social Action
  • SPAN 400: Memory, Human Rights, and Reconciliation

2) Applied Conflict Resolution

Suggested PACS courses:

  • PACS 313 - Community Conflict Resolution

  • PACS 314 - Restorative Justice and Transformative Education

  • PACS 315 - Engineering and Peace

  • PACS 323/LS 319 - Negotiation in Theory and Practice

  • PACS 329/LS 344 - Restorative Justice

  • PACS 331 - Trauma and Healing and Social Transformation

  • PACS 333 - Advanced Mediation Practice

  • PACS 391 - Conflict Resolution Skills Training Workshops

  • PACS 390 - Internship

Suggested PACS Approved courses:

  • COMMST 432: Conflict Management
  • SYDE 533: Conflict Resolution
  • SMF 307: Conflict in Close Relationships
  • PSCI 369: The Politics of Decolonization
  • PSYCH 439: Negotiation in the Workplace: Theories and Practice

3) Violence and Non-Violence

Suggested PACS courses:

  • PACS 316/PHIL 329 - Violence, Nonviolence, and War

  • PACS 320/RS 256 - Christian Approaches to Peacemaking

  • PACS 321/GSJ 331 - Gender in War and Peace

  • PACS 330/RS 353 - War and Peace in Christian Theology

Suggested PACS Approved courses:

  • BLKST 103: Combating Racisms
  • INDG 201: The Indigenous Experience in Canada
  • INDG 272: Issues in Contemporary Indigenous Communities in Canada
  • INDG 301: Critical Theories of Indigeneity in a Global Perspective
  • PSCI 481: Interstate War
  • RS 335: Christianity, Violence, and the Bible
  • ENGL 309G/COMMST 434: The Discourse of Dissent
  • LS 327/SOC 327: Policing in a Democratic Society
  • LS 386: Law and Violence
  • SOCWK 357R: Family Violence
  • SDSR 449R: Prejudice and Discrimination

4) Religion and Culture

Suggested PACS courses:

  • PACS 312 - Quest for Peace in Literature and Film

  • PACS 320/RS 256 - Christian Approaches to Peacemaking

  • PACS 326/RS 380 - Religion and Peacemaking

  • PACS 327 - Cultural Approaches to Conflict Resolution

  • PACS 330/RS 353 - War and Peace in Christian Theology

Suggested PACS Approved courses:

  • ANTH 202: Social and Cultural Anthropology
  • ANTH 311: Anthropology of Religion
  • INDG 318: Indigenous Worldviews and Spirituality
  • JS 237/RS 237: Insiders and Outsiders in the Bible
  • LS 224/SOC 201: Victims and Society
  • MUSIC 334/WS 334: Women, Music, and Gender
  • PSYCH 352: Culture and Psychology
  • PSCI 362: Politics of Indigenous Peoples
  • RS 121: Evil
  • SDS 421R: (Re)framing Indigenous-Settler Relations
  • SMF 205: The Dark Side of Sexuality
  • SPAN 150: Welcome to Latin America
  • SPAN 217: First Nations, Native Americans, Pueblos Originarios