Master of Arts: Theology and Peace Studies
The MATPS is a 60-credit-hour academic degree program that prepares students interested in careers and scholarship at the intersection of theology and transformative peacebuilding. Students combine academic study with sustained engagement in the field. Through this integrated approach, students develop interdisciplinary knowledge that draws insights from theological, biblical and historical studies into conversation with social science analysis and peacebuilding practices. These peacebuilding practices address the structural roots of conflict and forge multilevel (personal, relational, hermeneutic, societal and international) initiatives to transform violence.
The program, which grows out of the Anabaptist tradition of Christian peace witness, is grounded in the assumption that Christ calls us to become part of a new community whose mission is to participate in God’s reconciling mission throughout the world. Our theological approach to peacebuilding brings Christian eschatologies undergirding transformative approaches to conflict together with a concern for embodying nonviolence in a pluralistic world. For more details, please review the AMBS Catalog.
Graduates with a MATPS degree will be able to:
- Analyze theological and biblical foundations of peace and justice, considering Anabaptist perspectives.
- Evaluate multiple forms and consequences of violence using multidisciplinary methods and insights.
- Deploy the skills and habits of a reflective practitioner: a) create context-sensitive transformative approaches to violence and conflict; b) synthesize theological and theoretical concepts with practical experience; and c) discern practices that cultivate nonviolence and spiritual development.
- Primary program
- Environmental Sustainability Leadership, in cooperation with Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College
MA: Theology and Peace Studies students can complete the program of study in two years of full-time study by taking 27–30 credit hours per year through courses in three terms: Semester One, Semester Two and Intensive Term in summer.
Download our Admissions Calendar to see an overview of AMBS’s academic year and note important application deadlines.
- Ph.D. studies in peace and theology
- work in a nongovernmental organization
- work with an international church-based relief organization
- coordinating a public school anti-bullying program
- organizing a community farming program in Japan
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