Irish President, Catherine Connolly Speaks

Great to hear Irish President, Catherine Connolly, speak today at Ulster University. 

A takeaway: "in a world unfortunately that is ever-more consumed with war and militarism...a lesson that we should all tell the world: that peace is normal and that war is not normal and that peace is possible".

Full speech is here if you are interested.

Irish President, Catherine Connolly, Ulster University, 4 Feb 2026

New PhD Scholarships

I am delighted to be involved in this new scheme. Ulster University has announced the launch of a new Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) for social sciences funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). This DTP will focus on the provision of exceptional PG social sciences training producing world-class research across the full range of social science disciplines. The closing date for receipt of completed applications is 16 January 2017 (5.00 pm). Interviews will be held late January/Early February 2017.

For more information, click here.

John J Sweeney Scholarship at Ulster University

I am very proud to have been involved in the efforts of Ulster University and AFL/CIO in the establishment The John J Sweeney Scholarship. The John J Sweeney Scholarship at Ulster University’s International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) is now open for applications for our MSc Applied Peace and Conflict Studies programme. The deadline for applications is 31 May 2016, midnight. This is the second year of this scholarship which is supported by the AFL-CIO.

For more details click here.

Ulster University presents the INCORE Global Peace and Social Justice to AFL-CIO President Emeritus John J Sweeney, Washington, July 2014. L-R: Professor Brandon Hamber, Director of INCORE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Hugh McKenna, AFL-CIO President Emeritus John J Sweeney, Eddie Friel, Director of Development and Alumni Relations Ulster University

Digital Futures

Here is a short film in which I, along with others at Ulster University,  explain what the three strands of the ‘Digital Futures – a strategy to shape the future of Blended, Open and Online Learning at Ulster University’ means to our teaching, the student experience and research.
Digital Futures - the academic voice from Office for Digital Learning on Vimeo.

Seminar - Sexual Assault Among University Students

Glad to be involved in this important seminar. INCORE, the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) and UUSU cordially invite you to a seminar entitled "Sexual Assault Among University Students: Parallels Between USA and UK/Ireland?"by William F. ("Bill") Flack, Jr.

Survey research in the USA and UK/Ireland indicates significant rates of sexual victimization among university students. This talk will summarize the available research, focusing on the import roles of student activism and faculty/staff advocacy in recent developments in the USA, with implications for the same in the UK/Ireland.

Date: 2 December 2015
Time: 12:30 to 14:30
Venue: Ulster University, Belfast campus, Conor Lecture Theatre

Refreshments will be served from 12.30pm with the talk commencing at 1.15pm.

William F. ("Bill") Flack, Jr. is a US-UK Fulbright Scholar (Northern Ireland Governance and Public Policy) at INCORE at Magee campus and Psychology at Coleraine campus from September through December 2015.

RSVP here.

Conference: Masculinities, Violence and Post-Conflict

Call for Papers

Postgraduate Conference: Masculinities, Violence and (Post-)Conflict

Date: Thursday, 14 January 2016, 09:00 – 17:00

Venue: Ulster University, York St. Campus (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

The Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) and the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE) at Ulster University invite proposals for a one-day postgraduate conference on “Masculinities, Violence and (Post-)Conflict” on Thursday, 14 January 2016. This student-led event will offer academic presentations, peer discussion, networking opportunities and expert feedback in a supportive environment. The conference will be followed by an international high-level workshop on Masculinities and Violence on Friday, 15 January 2016, organized by International Alert, Saferworld and Conciliation Resources (CR), providing a forum for both practitioners and international academics to engage on the topic.

The conference will bring together postgraduate students working on the interface between social constructions of masculinities as well as violence and (post-)conflict. Specifically, the conference will focus on the relationship between these areas, assessing how socially constructed notions of masculinities - in their varying forms, including hegemonic and subordinate conceptions - theoretically and conceptually can, and empirically do (or do not), fuel violence or impact the advancement of women's rights. At the same time, we aim to explore how situations of violence and victimisation influence and (re-)shape notions and dynamics of masculinities (both combatant and civilian identities), in itself and in relation to femininities and gender-hierarchies. The conference will therefore move beyond simplified conceptualisations of gender identities and critically explore the largely ambivalent role of masculinities. We thus aim to approach masculinities as both potentially contributing to violence and at the same time as potentially (and factually) vulnerable. Questions to be explored thus include, but are not limited to:

How, conceptually and empirically, can masculinities be linked to violence, including sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and violence against women (VAW)?

Conceptually and empirically, what are the relationships between masculinities and femininities, gender equality as well as women's rights within (post-) conflict contexts?

How do situations of violence and (post-)conflict shape masculinities, and how are masculinities (re-)shaped and influenced during conflict and post-conflict lived realities?

How and to what extent do post-conflict peace-building and transitional justice processes consider and address masculinities?

We invite paper proposals from postgraduate students across various disciplines that utilize a gendered lens while exploring the dynamics of, and/or relationships between masculinities, violence and (post-)conflict either conceptually or empirically in different geographical contexts and across time. In-depth case study analyses alongside theoretical explorations and empirically-grounded papers, including feminist theoretical and methodological approaches, are welcome. Speakers and discussants at the conference include, inter alia, Prof. Fionnuala Ni Aolain, Prof. Brandon Hamber (both Ulster University) and Dr. Henri Myrttinen (International Alert).

If you would like to propose a paper, please submit an abstract of max. 250 words and a short one-paragraph academic bio by 15 November 2015 to Philipp Schulz (Schulz-P@email.ulster.ac.uk) and Seamus Campbell (Campbell-S25@email.ulster.ac.uk).

Papers will be grouped thematically and distributed among three main panels. Each panel will have a designated commentator, an established academic or other expert in the field. Commentators will offer expert feedback as well as complement and stimulate peer-discussion. We are seeking the possibility of a publication of contributions (from conference and workshop), for which selected postgraduate papers might also be considered.

Participation and attendance at the conference are free of charge and participants are invited to attend the workshop on the following day. We regret that we are unable to offer travel bursaries or other assistance with costs. 

MOOCS and Open Learning at Ulster University

By Professor Brandon Hamber and Dr Brian Murphy

These are times of massive change in the digital landscape. Global connectivity through the internet added to the power of communication technologies and the affordability of modern devices makes knowledge more accessible and education more and more distributed. It is in this context that MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – have been making the digital headlines in higher education recently. And it would be fair to say that a University-sponsored group on Open Learning may not have materialised were it not for the MOOC phenomenon.

The membership of the Ulster MOOCs and Open Learning Working Group drew in expertise across learning and teaching, research and innovation, internationalisation and digital learning; all common aspects of a MOOC. On the principle that we could not ignore the changes taking place, we reviewed the MOOC landscape extensively: what, for example, students expected; what others in higher education were doing and had invested heavily in; and what lay behind the power of the platform.

Download MOOCs & Open Learning Report

We started from a conundrum: we saw Ulster as having a proud and long-standing position of strength in depth behind the walls of our digital learning environment, yet some of the new players in MOOCs and Open Learning had moved into this space openly and rapidly. As we researched and reviewed, we increasingly found tensions in the higher education positions on MOOCs. This was reflected locally too in terms of delivery, resources, priority, issues of exclusivity and the additional pressure on lecturers and others for design, production and delivery in this arena. We recognise these tensions in this report. We also recognise the challenge of discerning a business model that works for Ulster, be it on reputation, finance, values, or a combination of these and others.

All paths led us back to the principles of Open Learning re-forged by the white heat of technology and its potential to transform the dissemination of knowledge and distribution of education whilst also remaining true to our institutional values.

We concluded that:

• Openness at Ulster should be as much practical as philosophical; widening access, for example, is a dominant gene in our institutional DNA.
• Openness at Ulster must resonate within our business equation; the tensions of resource must be set in the context of the value of what we want to do, the cost of getting there, and a recognition of where we are coming from.
• Openness at Ulster should draw from our niche educational provision relative to others in the sector.
• Openness at Ulster should draw from our niche and high quality research and enterprise; much of our research is publically funded with funders increasingly requiring open dissemination and public engagement with research that is accessible, substantial and demonstrable.
• Ramping up to massive open courses would be a massive step too far today; we need firstly to underpin a change in culture and capability that moves to openness in an assured manner. A measured approach would be to develop a conventional, for-credit online module and then scale for open access.
• MOOC costs are prohibitive unless in partnership; partners could be drawn from higher education, the commercial, professional body or third sectors; on a global scale there may be synergy with the aspirations of IGOs and NGOs with a remit in education, health, young people, poverty and peace - UNICEF, UNESCO for example.
• We must demonstrate capacity and capability by building our external profile in open learning and dissemination in an assured manner – using Jorum and iTunes U, for example. 
• We should realise the potential for innovation through the research-teaching nexus; using open learning to enhance the student experience and to inject valuable co-creation and collaboration with our students in curriculum and research outputs. 
• We need a policy statement on open learning with aims and objectives to frame an institutional position and calibrate diverse impacts. 
• And we must underpin all our efforts with on- going awareness raising, academic discussion, support and targeted projects.

In the end, our journey traced the sequence in the name of our Working Group: from MOOCs to Open Learning. Ironically, the impact of MOOCs on our University can be celebrated already: MOOCs were the genesis of this study and may yet be one the many academic fruits collectively visioned by this Working Group and endorsed by this University.

Download the MOOCs and Open Learning at Ulster University Final Report

Blog posted originally on Ulster University Access Digital and Distributed Learning: 02 Jul 2015

MSc. in Applied Peace and Conflict Studies

In case there are any of you out there still considering a masters programme for next year I wanted to recommend our new MSc. at INCORE. In 2012 Ulster will celebrate 25 years of masters level provision in peace and conflict studies by launching the newly designed MSc. in Applied Peace and Conflict Studies. Building on the previous MA in Peace and Conflict Studies, this internationally renowned programme, now based at INCORE (International Conflict Research Institute), has been re-structured to offer cutting-edge provision including a focus on comparative lesson learning from Northern Ireland; new technologies and peace; psychosocial approaches; development; and evaluation in conflict zones. The restructuring is timely and reinforces Ulster's position as a leader in terms of provision in the area. For more information.