Applications are currently being accepted for the M.A. program in Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation & Peacebuilding (EXA-CT) at the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland. EXA-CT is a low residency master’s program completed over three summer sessions of three weeks each in Switzerland.  During non-residency periods, students complete an internship and write their master’s thesis.
EXA-CT’s unique emphasis on art practice, human rights, and peacebuilding in international settings provides students with the skills and experience to use art in the public sphere for social change. Artists, humanitarians, therapists, conflict transformation professionals, peacebuilders and policymakers are encouraged to apply.
2012 Summer Session Dates in Saas-Fee, Switzerland
June 12 to July 4: Expressive arts, digital arts, and media
July 10 to August 1: Expressive arts in conflict transformation and peacebuilding
US Federal Government student loans, and limited scholarships from the European Graduate School, are available for eligible EXA-CT students.
Applications are due by April 30, 2012
Late applications will be accepted on a case-by case-basis. For more information, please contact the Interim Program Director, Prof. Ellen Levine (ellen.levine@egs.edu), follow us on Facebook, or visit the European Graduate School’s website:expressivearts.egs.edu
Program Description
The EXA-CT M.A. is a three-year low residency summer program concentrating on the use of creative methods through the arts to address conflicts within teams, in communities, and across cultures. The EXA-CT program provides students with frameworks for merging the arts with conflict analysis interventions, restorative justice, trauma awareness and healing, mediation, humanitarian response, and research. EXA-CT’s emphasis on art practice, human rights, and peacebuilding in international settings provides students with the skills and experience to use art in public settings for social change.
Distinguished faculty in the fields of the expressive arts and conflict transformation provide instruction during three summer school sessions, with continued support and supervision throughout the year as students complete their internship, thesis, and community of practice.
Summer residency in Switzerland
Students spend three summer sessions in residence in the beautiful Alpine resort town Saas-Fee, Switzerland. Students needing additional prerequisites may complete the coursework over five summer sessions. Each residential session is 21 days long. During the first two summer residency periods, students follow courses on the principles and practice of both expressive arts and conflict transformation and peacebuilding. Within each course, students are challenged to experiment with the application of the arts in conflict transformation and peacebuilding paradigms, along with group discussions and reflective exercises. During the third summer session, students complete oral and written exams, and defend their master’s theses.
Sample courses include:
- Principles and Practice of Expressive Arts: Aesthetic Responsibility in Action
- Conflict Transformation and Arts-based Approaches to Peacebuilding
- Community Arts: A Collective Response to Conflict and Crisis
- Project Design and Implementation in the Field: A Multi-System Approach
- Conflict and Crisis Intervention: Human-Rights Perspectives
- Building Resilience in Refugee and Displaced Communities
- Trauma and Resilience: Expressive Arts Perspectives
- Biography as a Resource in Humanitarian Interventions
- Professional Ethics In Community Based Interventions
Non-residency requirements
In between the summer residencies, EXA-CT students are expected to complete a prescribed self-study plan, an internship, and a master’s thesis supervised by an EXA-CT faculty member. Students also participate in the design and creation of the EXA-CT in an ACTION group project and meet in a virtual classroom to discuss assigned readings and videos.
To receive a full description of the EXA-CT program, please visit:Â expressivearts.egs.edu/academic-programs/masters-programs/master-of-arts-in-expressive-arts-conflict-transformation-and-peacebuilding
For additional information, please contact Prof. Ellen Levine, EXA-CT Interim Program Director: ellen.levine@egs.edu
European Graduate School
Arts, Health & Society Division
Alter Kehr 20
CH-3953 Leuk-Stadt
Switzerland
T + 41 27 474 99 17
F + 41 27 474 99 18
expressivearts.egs.edu