University for Peace (UPEACE)

Course Dates:

Offered from July 13 - 20, 2008. Registration deadline: June 30, 2008.

Course Format:

The course is designed to be practical and hands-on, with space for sharing and reflection. The mornings will be typically spent on the campus of the University for Peace, complemented by afternoon fieldtrips. The course will travel to the most scenic cloudforest region of Monteverde for the last 2 days of the course. For a more detailed itinerary, please see 'Overview of week'.

Course Facilitators:

Mohit Mukherjee is the Director of the UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education and a faculty member at UPEACE where he teaches a variety of courses, including 'Sustainable Development Education' and 'Foundation in Peace and Conflict Studies'. Prior to this position, he led the Education Programme of the Earth Charter Initiative, an international nonprofit organization. He has a Bachelor's degree from Stanford University and his Master's from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Meenakshi Chhabra is a faculty in the Graduate Program of Intercultural Relations at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA. She earned a PhD in Educational Studies from the same University. The focus of her research and practice has been in the field of Peace Education. In addition to her doctoral research, she has received academic and practical training, at the International Institute in Peace Education at Columbia University. She has been a Fulbright Scholar and has taught in Universities in India and Israel.

As a practitioner in the field, she has received training in multiple approaches to conflict transformation. She has been actively engaged in conflict zones since 1999. In that capacity she has been working with adults and youth, bringing them together across international conflict lines and conducting dialogue and coexistence workshops with them. She has been doing this work through the Seeds of Peace, a non-profit that is leading the way in working with youth from conflicting countries. She also works with elementary school educators in the East coast in the US, around teaching young kids social and emotional skills. She is a mother of two kids, 12 and 8. She enjoys walking and reading and is actively engaged in her community on issues of social justice.

Course Cost: $1,800.00

This tuition fee includes all course materials, field visits, accomodation with a local host family (hotel accommodation can be arranged for an additional $200), 2 nights hotel in Monteverde (double occupancy) and most meals. Not included: Air travel to Costa Rica, airport pick-up and drop off, and personal items. All participants will be awarded a certificate from UPEACE upon completion of the course.