Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
Curious about the foundational courses in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo? Enroll in PACS 201: Roots of Conflict, Violence and Peace, one of the four foundational courses [including PACS 101, PACS 202, and PACS 203). In this video, two PACS Major students, Robin and Beth, are sharing about their experience in PACS 201.
PACS 201 introduces students from a variety of backgrounds to the study of conflict, violence and peace. It is the first of three preliminary core courses in the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at the University of Waterloo. Like peace and conflict studies, this course draws on works that synthesize insights from various academic fields in the humanities and social sciences, as well as those produced outside of the university. As such, it engages with works that offer not only different ways of understanding and dealing with conflict and violence but also differing methodologies and styles.
Among the questions we will explore in this course are:
1. What do we mean when we speak of “conflict,” and “violence” and “peace”? Are there different kinds of violence? Is peace simply an absence of conflict or violence, or is it something more than that? What is the relationship between peace and justice?
2. How is warmaking perpetuated? What are the ways in which individuals and groups have responded to warmaking?
3. What role does power play in conflict, violence and peace?
Curious about the foundational courses in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Waterloo? Enroll in PACS 201: Roots of Conflict, Violence and Peace, one of the four foundational courses [including PACS 101, PACS 202, and PACS 203). In this video, two PACS Major students, Robin and Beth, are sharing about their experience in PACS 201.
PACS 201 introduces students from a variety of backgrounds to the study of conflict, violence and peace. It is the first of three preliminary core courses in the Peace and Conflict Studies Program at the University of Waterloo. Like peace and conflict studies, this course draws on works that synthesize insights from various academic fields in the humanities and social sciences, as well as those produced outside of the university. As such, it engages with works that offer not only different ways of understanding and dealing with conflict and violence but also differing methodologies and styles.
Among the questions we will explore in this course are:
1. What do we mean when we speak of “conflict,” and “violence” and “peace”? Are there different kinds of violence? Is peace simply an absence of conflict or violence, or is it something more than that? What is the relationship between peace and justice?
2. How is warmaking perpetuated? What are the ways in which individuals and groups have responded to warmaking?
3. What role does power play in conflict, violence and peace?
