Saubhagya Shah, Ph.D. Program Coordinator

Dear faculty, students, and the larger academic and professional community,

It is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Conflict, Peace and Development Studies (CPDS), Tribhuvan University’s latest Masters programme in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The two-year, four-semester CPDS program commenced in September 2007 with 38 students and we have successfully completed two semesters of teaching, workshops, fieldwork, and exams. We are now in the process of admitting the new class of students for the academic years 2008-10. The interest amongst the students and faculty and the larger public towards the new MA program has been very encouraging. I believe that this interest will be essential in building CPDS as a centre of excellence devoted to high quality teaching and research.

As a multidisciplinary program, CPDS is designed to develop the analytic and practical skills of the students so that they can critically examine, diagnose, and offer preventive solutions to various aspects of conflict and peace in various contexts.

In order to develop comparative regional and global perspective, CPDS has partnered with University of Life Sciences (UMB) in Norway and Ruhuna University, Matara, and Eastern University, Batticola in Sri Lanka to enable sharing of knowledge and expertise through regular exchange of students and faculty.

CPDS is committed to the idea of equal opportunity and thus encourages qualified applicants from disadvantaged groups such as women, Dalits, ethnic groups, and remote areas. The program a limited number of NOMA scholarships to outstanding candidates.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the TU faculty, experts, visiting professors from Sri Lanka and Norway, students, staff, our partner institutions in Sri Lanka and Norway, Tribhuvan University and its Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences for making the CPDS idea into a reality after several years of hard work and planning. I feel proud to have been asked to work in such an exciting project. I also feel confident that this level of goodwill and cooperation will strengthen amongst the stakeholders to allow the new discipline to grow in the coming years.

With the aid of this website, it will be much convenient for us to update you with our programs, events, and activities. It will also make it easy for you to get in touch with us for correspondence and information. I hope you will find time to visit us here.

At the end, good wishes to the students preparing for their second semester exams and those appplying for admission to the new academic year. We look forward to welcoming the 2008-10 class soon!