Uganda: Post-Conflict Transformation

Examine the human cost of conflict in northern Uganda and the ways local communities are fostering peace, economic development, and sustainable reconciliation.

The combination of a colonial legacy and postcolonial politics contributed to wide divisions in many African nation-states, including Uganda. Colonial policies created significant discrepancies between northern and southern Uganda that have continued to fuel ethnic tensions.

This program examines the origins of the conflict in northern Uganda; issues of identity construction in the Ugandan context; and ongoing efforts by Ugandans to advance peace, community building, and reconciliation.

A major focus of the program relates to the challenges associated with displacement; estimates suggest that the number of internally displaced Ugandans reached 1.7 million people at the height of the now-ended northern conflict, amounting to roughly 80 percent of the regional population.

Students learn from Ugandan academics, community and business leaders, and international professionals working in the areas of post-conflict transformation, peacebuilding, sustainable reconciliation, and community development. Learn more about the program's coursework.

The program's eight-day excursion to Rwanda gives students the opportunity for a comparative study — in this case, post-genocide restoration and peacebuilding — while considering post-conflict transformation efforts in the broader Great Lakes region.

Students are strongly encouraged to become fully immersed in the local culture. They receive intensive instruction in the Acholi language and spend five weeks living with an urban host family in Gulu and one week with a rural host family in northern Uganda.