Fred C. Cuny Center for Peace & Conflict Studies

Fred C. Cuny Center for Peace & Conflict Studies

About Us

Mission Statement

Named after humanitarian and disaster relief specialist Frederick C. Cuny, the Fred C. Cuny Center for Peace and Conflict Studies provides an academic and multidisciplinary platform for studying and teaching the causes, practices, and consequences of war and political violence, as well the methods of conflict management and conflict resolution. The research undertaken by the Center helps academics, governments, practitioners, and civil society to understand the multifaceted nature of conflict, assist in the formulation of policies that effectively manage and resolve conflicts, and advise on international peacekeeping and state-building efforts. It is the Center’s vision to bring understanding, reconciliation, and transformation to communities across the globe through the development of tomorrow’s humanitarian leaders.

Vision

The core of the Center’s aspirations is derived from its namesake, Frederick C. Cuny, a humanitarian and disaster relief specialist who revolutionized aid and relief operations. Having responded to emergencies in more than 50 countries, Cuny garnered a reputation for accomplishing the impossible by saving lives in incredibly complex circumstances, often at risk of his own. He was unrelenting in his quest to help others based on visions of a shared humanity and the larger dream of peace. In his memory, it is the Center’s vision to pursue the same mission to bring understanding, reconciliation, and transformation to communities across the globe by empowering youth through peace education. Students involved in the Center will not only develop a passion for humanitarian work but will also develop the critical thinking necessary for confronting, resolving, and transforming conflict through engaging classes, language/culture exposure, skill-applicable internships, and practical research opportunities. The Center will educate students by drawing extensively from experiences with conflict, peacekeeping, and state-building in the Western Balkans, but it will also draw from related experiences in other conflict areas in the Middle East and Africa. In this sense, the Center’s vision rests on developing tomorrow’s humanitarian leaders and preparing them for a future similar to Cuny’s: riddled with impossible missions waiting to be transformed into opportunities for lasting peace.

Every summer, the Center hosts a summer program at RIT Kosovo’s campus in Prishtina, Kosovo. The Summer Program is a premier international leadership and peace-building seminar taught by renowned practitioners and academics who have hands-on experience in the United Nations, national governments and militaries, humanitarian organizations, and the private sector. Under-graduate and graduate students are offered courses on war, diplomacy, state-building, peace-keeping, conflict transformation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, post-conflict and transitional justice, international human rights, and development economics. This program will equip students with the necessary skills from a practitioner’s perspective for careers in government, international organizations, think tanks, and academia. The Summer Program’s courses are accredited by the Rochester Institute of Technology in Kosovo (RIT Kosovo).

Our program offers the following unique features: 

• Regional Travel: The programs include a joint, one-week study tour to Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where students learn about the region and its history by meeting local stakeholders and activists and visiting historical and recreational areas.
• Live What You Are Learning: Kosovo is a ‘living laboratory' of history and state-building in the heart of the Balkans and an ideal location to explore the origin and resolution of armed conflict and mass atrocities, reconstruction, international peacekeeping, institution-building, justice, and reconciliation efforts at the end of wars.
• Practitioner-Focused and Mentorship Based: Courses are taught by senior civilian and military officials, NGO activists, and academics with hands-on experience in the Balkans, Middle East, and elsewhere. The staff function not just as instructors but as mentors invested in your professional development as a leader in international affairs. 
• Professional Exposure: You will meet Kosovo government senior officials, activists, and officials from diplomatic and international missions. 
• Intellectual Stimulation: Visit historically significant sites in Kosovo, take part in informal late-afternoon seminars on current issues, and participate in workshops/simulations of peacekeeping operations and reconciliation efforts. 

You can learn more about our Fred Cuny Peace and Conflict Summer Program and apply here

The Center undertakes research and offers policy advice on peace and conflict related topics to international organizations and governments. It also serves as a platform for the exchange of research and experiences between academia and peacekeeping and state-building practitioners to evaluate existing policies and propose new or improved approaches. The Center’s publications, primarily in the form of policy papers, policy briefs, and policy newsletters inform academics and practitioners of the latest developments in peace and conflict studies, policies, and policy proposals.

The Center offers research fellow and intern positions where students design and implement a specific research project in association with the Frederick C. Cuny Peace & Conflict Center. These roles represent an opportunity to gain academic research experience and contribute to academic literature on peace and conflict or genocide studies. Work will be performed in accordance with the RIT Kosovo’s research integrity policy and all other relevant policies.

• These two positions have dual goals in terms of the research project and career development. The training and development relevant to this position will be completed within the timeline developed by the fellow/intern and their supervisor in which time fellows/interns will continue to develop skills and competencies with respect to the role and future career options.
• It is a legitimate objective of the Center to provide Research Internship training opportunities which are of limited duration. This will allow for the progression over many years of intergenerational researchers trained in the methods and practice of research and scholarship.

We are not currently accepting new interns and fellows, but please check back for future opportunities.