Master's Degree in Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Course Descriptions
Culture, Gender, and Power Differences in Conflict (2 credits) This course takes an interdisciplinary look at issues related to the role of culture, gender, and other factors in conflict analysis and resolution. The course provides an overview of relevant theories and research from social psychology, anthropology, sociology, and other disciplines. Topics such as, the meaning of culture and conflict from a cross cultural perspective, cross-cultural communication, stereotypes, and differences in attitudes toward racism, sexism, and ethnicity will be discussed. The importance of differences and dynamics will be examined in detail.
Conflict Specialist Ally Roles: Advocate, Organizer, Strategist, Coach (2 credits) This course examines the range of roles for conflict specialists, with a focus on application of conflict/communication principles. In addition to the common skills required across the different ally roles, the course focuses on specific tasks and techniques involved in each particular role.
Mediation (4 credits)
Mediation (Course includes on-campus residency, pre- and post-session readings and online discussion boards.) This course provides intensive training in mediation skills and techniques. The course explores the theory, law, and practice of mediation. It examines the role of mediation in resolving a wide variety of disputes such as in healthcare, commercial, family, public, workplace, and international settings. The course will include the discussion of several mediation models, their underlying theoretical premises, principles and skills, as well as current research involving mediation. Most of the work will be intensive skills development through role plays, case examples, demonstrations, simulations, and small group sessions.
Specialization (3 credits online and 3 credits residential)
In the online and residential components students will engage in advanced work in negotiation, mediation, and facilitation focused on applying skills in the specific context of the students' chosen area of concentration. Particular attention will be paid to what is special about the substantive area and how concepts learned to date apply in specific professional settings. In the residential session, there will be considerable group work on best practices in context with targeted role plays and other skills exercises focused on substantive areas of concentration. Through discussion, case study, simulation, improvisation and facilitated dialogue, participants have the opportunity to integrate theories of chaos and complexity science with techniques for improving communication, collaboration, and inter-professional teamwork within the context of actual scenarios. The specific areas of concentration are as follows:
Organizational Collaborative Practice and Conflict Resolution In today's competitive environment, organizations increasingly must cope with complexities, uncertainties, and conflict. The ability to build teams for collaborative work and to manage and learn from conflict effectively is critical in today's organization. Students will learn techniques and approaches for organizational team building, conflict management, and process facilitation and consulting.
Collaboration and Conflict Resolution in Health Care Conflicts in health care occur on a daily basis, many of which involve poor clinical outcomes that may result in lawsuits, licensure disputes, credentialing and employment claims, and more simply, a general breakdown in trust of the healthcare system as a whole. There is a growing need for new approaches that address system complexity, consumer needs, clinician autonomy, and quality of care. With a focus on practical application of process tools and systems design strategies, students will learn effective techniques that can be integrated into clinical settings and expand options for managing legal and ethical issues that arise within healthcare organizations.
International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Disputes increasingly occur with an international dimension, including conflicts involving states, corporations, peoples, and political factions. With applications from a variety of disciplinary perspectives including international law, business, anthropology, and political science, students will learn approaches to conflict in the context of globalization with a focus on the implications of growing interconnectedness as both a source and solution for disputes.
Collaborative Practice and Conflict Resolution in Education Diversity, change, and growth are all major issues in today's school, college, and university settings. In areas from special needs to student services, and administration to campus life, conflict is an ever growing part of the landscape. Students will learn the skill sets necessary to engage conflict in a variety of educational organizational settings. Students will also learn how to collaborate with colleagues, students, parents, and community members to assist and develop strategies to accommodate diverse learners so that they can succeed and fulfill their potential.
Practicum (4 credits)
Students select a practical field experience to further develop and apply their skills in a professional or organizational setting of their choice in consultation with the practicum advisor. Working with an on-site instructor/mentor in the student's home community, students will demonstrate their ability to apply theory to practice and analyze situations utilizing knowledge from previous course work.
