Peace Leadership & Research Institute (PLRI) is an institution of higher learning affiliated with the Thabyay Education Foundation. Established in 2018 with the aim to cultivate a culture of responsible leadership and evidence-based decision making in the search for peace and national reconciliation in Myanmar, PLRI offers high quality training in conducting social science research to students and fellows from all over the country and equips them for leadership roles they are expected to play in the peace process.
Graduate Research Diploma in Peace Leadership
In collaboration with national and international experts, including practitioners, leadership coaches, and leading academics in the peacebuilding sector, the PLRI provides this year-long, highly intensive and academically rigorous training to equip emerging leaders in Myanmar to make significant advances for peace.
Course Descriptions
Conflict Studies: Laying the Foundation for Peace (42 hours)
This course aims to equip fellows with the tools to analyze the causes and dynamics of some of the world’s major contemporary conflicts. Fellows will explore the role of perspectives, common narratives, history, imagination, political power dynamics, and international influences in conflicts in Myanmar and abroad. Participants in this course will be asked to conduct a case study on Myanmar and in doing so develop an understanding of a specific conflict, as well as an ability to propose possible strategies toward peace and reconciliation. Fellows will also be encouraged to discuss their own roles and biases in conflicts through self-assessment.
Peace Building: Theories and Approaches (42 hours)
This course will explore various theories and approaches employed in peace building throughout the world. Fellows will be exposed to strategies for conflict resolution, conflict reconciliation, and conflict transformation, and learn how these can be applied to support efforts for the transition to a post-conflict society and the realization of sustainable peace. Emphasis will be placed on strategies that engage all actors in the conflict, including the ordinary public, in dialogue that promotes participatory decision-making in the peace process. Course activities and assignments will encourage fellows to produce creative and contextually relevant peace building strategies, in addition to strengthen their ability to listen and communicate effectively, recognize and promote diversity, and develop their vision and values in accordance to Myanmar’s peace process.
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (35 hours)
Negotiation for peace often includes multiple players and stakeholders – political parties, government officials, military leaders and diplomats. This course will explore the different roles these parties can play and how they can work together to establish common objectives and find a resolution. This course will also investigate the different approaches to negotiation – hard-bargaining vs. problem-solving approaches, interests vs. positions, short-term agreements vs. long-term relationships, and other considerations towards developing effective overall negotiating strategies.
Gender, War and Peace (30 hours)
This course will explore the impact of civil war and the differential patterns of suffering and violence; and the consequences for women and men. It aims to develop an understanding of the complex role that gender plays in patterns of war and peace. Possible ways and means to close the gender gap for leadership roles in the peace process will be studied. We will look at the issue from both access and empowerment perspectives in the context of civil war and the peace process in Myanmar.
Peace Research Courses
Research Methodology I (42 hours)
This course will introduce fellows to the fundamental principles of empirical research, both quantitative and qualitative, and to the essential activities of every researcher, such as searching for and reviewing literature, linking previous knowledge to new research inquiries, comparing and contrasting quantitative and qualitative approaches, examining and differentiating between the most commonly utilized research methods, and evaluating the quality of research studies.
Research Methodology II (15 hours)
Building on the knowledge gained in Research Methodology I, this course will specifically focus on two key research skills; academic English reading and writing as well as research design. On the one hand, fellows will practice summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting both academic and grey literature sources; on the other hand, they will explore the relationship between theory and methodology in concrete previously conducted research studies.
Research Projects Sessions I, II & III (115 hours over the course of the program)
These in-class sessions will give fellows an opportunity to perform an independent research project within the field of peace and conflict studies under the supervision of in-residence research instructor and mentor. Spanning the whole duration of the program, this course will guide fellows through all phases of the research process, from choosing a research topic and arguing for one’s research question, through compiling a theoretical background and developing a research design based on that, to collecting and analyzing primary data and discussing one’s findings in the context of the national peace process.
Co-Curricular Program Components:
Research Project:
The essential outcome of the program will be a completed, independently designed and executed research project, described in a detailed research report and defended in front of a panel of both local and foreign peace and conflict experts. The ultimate goal of the research project will be to provide relevant and evidence-based recommendations to the national peace process. The execution of the research project will be supported through the Research Projects Sessions course.
Thematic Seminars:
Six day-long seminars led by either international or local experts on a particular topic related to the PLRI curriculum. The goal is to expose fellows to leading practitioners and academics working within disciplines related to the Myanmar peace process. Potential topics include security sector reform, constitution building, and federalism.
Conflict Studies: Laying the Foundation for Peace (42 hours)
This course aims to equip fellows with the tools to analyze the causes and dynamics of some of the world’s major contemporary conflicts. Fellows will explore the role of perspectives, common narratives, history, imagination, political power dynamics, and international influences in conflicts in Myanmar and abroad. Participants in this course will be asked to conduct a case study on Myanmar and in doing so develop an understanding of a specific conflict, as well as an ability to propose possible strategies toward peace and reconciliation. Fellows will also be encouraged to discuss their own roles and biases in conflicts through self-assessment.
Peace Building: Theories and Approaches (42 hours)
This course will explore various theories and approaches employed in peace building throughout the world. Fellows will be exposed to strategies for conflict resolution, conflict reconciliation, and conflict transformation, and learn how these can be applied to support efforts for the transition to a post-conflict society and the realization of sustainable peace. Emphasis will be placed on strategies that engage all actors in the conflict, including the ordinary public, in dialogue that promotes participatory decision-making in the peace process. Course activities and assignments will encourage fellows to produce creative and contextually relevant peace building strategies, in addition to strengthen their ability to listen and communicate effectively, recognize and promote diversity, and develop their vision and values in accordance to Myanmar’s peace process.
Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (35 hours)
Negotiation for peace often includes multiple players and stakeholders – political parties, government officials, military leaders and diplomats. This course will explore the different roles these parties can play and how they can work together to establish common objectives and find a resolution. This course will also investigate the different approaches to negotiation – hard-bargaining vs. problem-solving approaches, interests vs. positions, short-term agreements vs. long-term relationships, and other considerations towards developing effective overall negotiating strategies.
Gender, War and Peace (30 hours)
This course will explore the impact of civil war and the differential patterns of suffering and violence; and the consequences for women and men. It aims to develop an understanding of the complex role that gender plays in patterns of war and peace. Possible ways and means to close the gender gap for leadership roles in the peace process will be studied. We will look at the issue from both access and empowerment perspectives in the context of civil war and the peace process in Myanmar.
Peace Research Courses
Research Methodology I (42 hours)
This course will introduce fellows to the fundamental principles of empirical research, both quantitative and qualitative, and to the essential activities of every researcher, such as searching for and reviewing literature, linking previous knowledge to new research inquiries, comparing and contrasting quantitative and qualitative approaches, examining and differentiating between the most commonly utilized research methods, and evaluating the quality of research studies.
Research Methodology II (15 hours)
Building on the knowledge gained in Research Methodology I, this course will specifically focus on two key research skills; academic English reading and writing as well as research design. On the one hand, fellows will practice summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting both academic and grey literature sources; on the other hand, they will explore the relationship between theory and methodology in concrete previously conducted research studies.
Research Projects Sessions I, II & III (115 hours over the course of the program)
These in-class sessions will give fellows an opportunity to perform an independent research project within the field of peace and conflict studies under the supervision of in-residence research instructor and mentor. Spanning the whole duration of the program, this course will guide fellows through all phases of the research process, from choosing a research topic and arguing for one’s research question, through compiling a theoretical background and developing a research design based on that, to collecting and analyzing primary data and discussing one’s findings in the context of the national peace process.
Co-Curricular Program Components:
Research Project:
The essential outcome of the program will be a completed, independently designed and executed research project, described in a detailed research report and defended in front of a panel of both local and foreign peace and conflict experts. The ultimate goal of the research project will be to provide relevant and evidence-based recommendations to the national peace process. The execution of the research project will be supported through the Research Projects Sessions course.
Thematic Seminars:
Six day-long seminars led by either international or local experts on a particular topic related to the PLRI curriculum. The goal is to expose fellows to leading practitioners and academics working within disciplines related to the Myanmar peace process. Potential topics include security sector reform, constitution building, and federalism.