Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution
The Department of Communication announces the Stanley "Hank" Marx Annual Lecture in Dispute Resolution, October 20, 2011 Click here!
Academic Director: Loraleigh Keashly, Ph.D.
l.keashly@wayne.edu
(313) 577-2959
FALL 2011 MADR Courses
DR 7100 Roots of Social Conflict Mondays, 6-9 p.m., 0319 State Hall Instructor: Bill Warters
The Stanley "Hank" Marx Annual Lecture Series in Dispute Resolution
2010 Speaker: Colin Rule
Title: Director of Online Dispute Resolution for eBay & PayPal
Topic: "Making Peace Online: Dispute Resolution & the Future of the Internet"
Time: Thursday, October 28th from 1:30-3:30pm
Location: Spencer Partrich Auditorium, Law School Wayne State University
Description: eBay and PayPal generate more than 60 million disputes a year, in more than a dozen languages. That’s a lot of disputes. But it’s only the tip of the iceberg in the total number of online issues that need resolution. Business-to-business and Business-to-consumer eCommerce is growing rapidly, which in turn is generating many millions of online disputes. Most of these disputes are not over very large amounts of money; they can be for as little as $5. But online disputants are just as passionate about their disagreements as face-to-face disputants, and because they are spread all over the world, their disputes can involve cultural misunderstandings, language barriers, and class differences. Come hear Colin Rule, eBay and PayPal’s first Director of Online Dispute Resolution, and author of Online Dispute Resolution for Business, discuss the challenges of resolving disputes in cyberspace and what useful lessons can be drawn for the practice of dispute resolution more broadly.
Program Information Table of Contents
Program Philosophy
Educational Environment
Admission Requirements
How to Apply
Core Courses (MADR)
Elective Courses (MADR)
Graduate Certificate Courses
Joint Degree
Links
Newsletter (Archived)
Program Philosophy
The Master of Arts in Dispute Resolution (MADR) offers a challenging program, informed by a multicultural perspective, in the growing and recognized field of dispute resolution. As an interdisciplinary field, grounded in the fundamental idea that dispute resolution techniques are inherently democratic in giving voice to disputants, the program provides practical and academic experience that constitutes the range of dispute resolution activities: labor and school mediation, commercial arbitration, family counseling, legal negotiation, and international diplomacy. All students participate in a practicum experience intended to strengthen student knowledge, introduce the students to new forms of dispute resolution and build professional relationships both inside and outside the university.
Recent recipients of undergraduate degrees, professionals whose work involves them in conflict resolution activities and students seeking a cognate for graduate degree programs are invited to apply.
Educational Environment
The MADR program is marked by a highly diverse student body; diverse in race, ethnicity, gender, age, work experience and educational background.
Depending on work and family responsibilities, students enroll in one to three courses per semester, including summer semesters. To accommodate the scheduling needs of students, classes meet for three-hour periods in the evenings throughout the week. Most MADR classes are relatively small with between 10 and 20 students enrolled. The educational environment is highly conducive, therefore, to student collegiality, personal interaction with instructors, and the establishment of lasting personal and professional relationships.
Admission Requirements
Baccalaureate degree in any subject from an accredited university; minimum 3.0 undergraduate honor grade point average; evidence of ability to complete graduate level work; written statement of 200 words explaining interest in the program; three letters of recommendation (at least one academic reference); and successful completion of a graduate level research methods course.
Students in the MADR Program must complete a minimum of 32 credits in the required and elective courses as listed below and must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0.
How to Apply
There are at least four basic components of the M.A. application: the completed Application form, Official transcripts, personal statement, and writing sample.
A completed Application for Graduate Admission. The form must be completed and submitted electronically at http://www.gradadmissions.wayne.edu/process.php. A fee of $50 is due at the time of application
- Official transcripts from every college or university previously attended. Transcripts are to be mailed directly from the degree-granting institution to the office of Graduate Admissions. Please ensure that they arrive by the application deadline date of April 1 for Spring admission or August 1 for Fall admission.
- International students are also required to submit TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) results; the minimum acceptable score is 100 on the iBT (internet based test). This is equivalent to a score of 250 on the computer-based test, which was phased-out as of Fall 2006. We do not admit graduate students on a “qualified” basis in the hopes that they will improve their TOEFL scores. International students whose native language is English do not need to take the TOEFL.
- A 1-2 page statement describing your academic interest and professional goals. See this link for guidelines on writing a good personal statement. http://gradadmissions.wayne.edu/pdfs/URCPersonalStatementHandout.pdf
- Three letters of recommendation. In the online application, you may submit the names of your referees as well as their email addresses. The system will then notify the person that a recommendation letter is requested. Alternatively, you can have the letters sent directly to the Graduate Secretary at mealleyne@wayne.edu, noting that the letter is for your MADR application.
Applicants are typically admitted twice a year, for the Fall Semester and for the Spring Term. Deadline dates for application and receipt of transcripts for the Fall Semester are August 1; for the Spring Term they are April 1. Admission to departmental offerings at the graduate level is contingent upon admission to the Graduate School of Wayne State University.
Admission is only applicable for the semester requested. If an admitted student does not register for classes within the requested semester, a Renewal Application must be completed. This application can be found online at http://gradadmissions.wayne.edu/renew.php
MA in Dispute Resolution (MADR) Core Courses
PCS 6100 Introduction to Graduate Peace and Security Studies (3 credit hours) Prereq: graduate standing. Survey of the peace and security studies fields at the graduate level
COM 6350 Communication, Culture & Conflict (3 credit hours)
Prereq: COM 6250 or graduate standing. Overview of communication theory and practice as it relates to issues of culture, conflict, and dispute resolution.
DR 6120 Human Diversity & Human Conflict (3 credit hours)
Prereq: graduate standing. Relationship of human differences and conflict, and ways to nonviolently confront and work with them; differences as defined by ethnicity, race, gender, class, age, etc.
DR 7100 Roots of Social Conflict (3 credit hours)
Prereq: graduate standing. Background and immediate causes of social conflict, from interpersonal to national to international settings, from ethnic to gender conflict; review of destructive and constructive aspects of conflict.
DR 7210 (MGT 7780) Concepts & Processes of Dispute Resolution I: Negotiating Theory & Practice (3 credit hours)
Prereq: graduate standing. Theoretical foundations of the processes of negotiation and multi-party collaborative problem solving. Skill building simulation to integrate theory and practice.
DR 7220 Concepts & Processes of Dispute Resolution II: Neutral Intervention Theory & Practice (3 credit hours)
Prereq: MGT 7780 or DR 7210. Dispute resolution growth and methods; mediation, facilitation, conciliation, fact-finding, arbitration; hybrids; dispute resolution institutions and practitioners.
DR 7310 Practicum in Dispute Resolution (3 credit hours)
Prereq: DR 7210, DR 7220, and preferably DR7100; consent of Academic Director. Field placement in dispute resolution.
DR 7890 Final Seminar in Dispute Resolution (3 credit hours)
Prereq: Completion of all core courses.
Focus on issues and assumptions of dispute resolution that are critical to work as dispute resolvers in both the practice and research spheres. (Y)
MADR Elective Courses
In addition to the core courses, students are required to take a minimum of three electives (minimum 8 credits) from offerings across campus. Click here for a list of some of the electives.
Now offered as an elective, in addition to the list above,
DR 7990 Directed Study in Dispute Resolution (1-4 credits)
Prereq: Permission of Academic Director.
Advanced independent readings and writing under supervision of graduate faculty member in areas of special interest.
Dispute Resolution (DR) Graduate Certificate Program
This program provides professional study and certification to persons holding a graduate degree from an accredited educational institution or those actively pursuing a graduate degree from Wayne State University
Students in the DR Graduate Certificate Program must complete a minimum of fifteen credits in the required courses as listed below and must maintain a grade point average of at least 3.0. Transfer of credit from other institutions may not be applied toward the credits required for the graduate certificate. The DR Graduate Certificate Program must be completed within three years.
DR Graduate Certificate Core Courses
PCS 6100 Introduction to Graduate Peace and Security Studies (3 credit hours)
DR 7210 Concepts & Processes of Dispute Resolution I: Negotiating Theory & Practice (3 credit hours)
DR 7220 Concepts & Processes of Dispute Resolution II: Neutral Intervention Theory & Practice (3 credit hours)
DR 7890 Seminar in Dispute Resolution (3 credit hours)
Plus One of the Following Courses
DR 6120 Human Diversity & Human Conflict (3 credit hours)
DR 7100 Roots of Social Conflict (3 credit hours)
JD-MADR Joint Degree
The joint JD-MADR program allows law students to develop greater breadth and depth in alternative dispute resolution than is possible from taking only one or two courses. It also permits the achievement of this knowledge in less time than would be required if the student had to pursue an LLM degree or the MADR degree as a separate academic program. Students will be able to complete the joint degree program in as little as one semester more than the three year period normally required for the JD degree alone. Click here for more details.
Links
CR Info
Center for Peace & Conflict Studies
Conflict Management in Higher Education Resource Center
Association for Conflict Resolution
Association For Conflict Resolution - Southeast Michigan Chapter
For More Information
Academic Director, Loraleigh Keashly, Ph.D
(313) 577-2959
email: l.keashly@wayne.edu
Volume 3, Number 4 (November 2007)
Volume 3, Number 3 (July 2007)
Volume 3, Number 2 (March 2007)
Volume 3, Number 1 (November 2006)
Volume 2, Number 1 (March 2006)
Volume 1, Number 3 (July 2005)