Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution

This program’s title has recently been changed from Conflict Resolution & Peace Studies. Students graduating in fall 2026 or later will receive a certificate in Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution. Students graduating before fall 2026 will receive a certificate in Conflict Resolution & Peace Studies.

Through the Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution BDP, you will learn tools and frameworks for preventing, mitigating, and resolving conflicts across multiple dimensions, from complex global and societal conflicts around the world to the everyday conflicts in organizations and interpersonal relationships. Students in this program will explore the causes and consequences of conflict and its intersections with structures that perpetuate inequities and violence, as well as the conditions for collaboration and peace, for engagement across diverse stakeholders, and for effective conflict resolution. You will learn to understand a multi-faceted vision for transformed human relations incorporating a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including government, communications, history, management, and sociology, among others.  In addition, you will also learn about and practice skills necessary for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.

Students in the Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution BDP may choose to focus on a wide range of topics, from disarmament to interpersonal and cross-cultural communication, from managing conflicts within organizations to political, religious, and social pluralism. This BDP provides the flexibility to pursue your specific interests in conflict mitigation and resolution, and students may apply these interests to work in law, organizational leadership and business, policy, international diplomacy, and much more.

For a complete list of courses and requirements, view the Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution BDP curriculum sheet.

Students must focus their work in at least two of the following categories:

  • Global Conflict Resolution
  • Institutional Conflict Resolution
  • Interpersonal Conflict Resolution
  • Societal Conflict Resolution

Requirements

With 19 credit hours of coursework and Connecting Experiences, students may earn a BDP certificate in Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution.

Courses counting toward a BDP in Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution may also satisfy core, major, and elective requirements in a student’s degree plan. With planning, the BDP should not add time to students’ UT careers, but instead helps students choose the courses they already have to take in an integrated way.

Foundation Courses [4-7 hours]

  • Forum Seminar
  • Skills Foundation Course(s)

Courses in a Strand [9 hours]

  • Global Conflict Resolution
  • Institutional Conflict Resolution
  • Interpersonal Conflict Resolution
  • Societal Conflict Resolution

Connecting Experiences [3-6 hours]

BDP advisors assist students in finding meaningful connecting research and/or internship experiences related to Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution. For examples of Connecting Experiences Conflict Prevention, Management & Resolution students have completed in the past, read these Connecting Experience spotlights.

Integration Essay

Students write a three to four-page essay written at the end of the BDP experience, drawing together the different pieces of the BDP.

Faculty Panel

An interdisciplinary faculty panel guides students in choosing courses and identifying connecting research and internship experiences that allow them to explore issues related to conflict resolution and peace as they relate to their majors and career goals.