Global: Diploma in Refugee Studies

DIPLOMA IN REFUGEE STUDIES
JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY, KRAKOW
DARTMORE INSTITUTE FOR CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, PRAGUE

Diploma in Refugee Studies (RS) is a one-year programme of study and practical work experience. The first five months of academic training in Prague and Krakow are followed by six months of working at partner institutions in non-industrialized countries and Central Europe.

RS provides the only multidisciplinary academic training in the forced migration and refugee field in Central and Eastern Europe. The main idea behind this programme is to link high quality innovative research with improving the conditions, rights and lives of the ever-growing number of refugees and other forced migrants. We aim to achieve this via rigorous academic training and relevant practical internships leading to first-hand experience and networking. The programme is attractive to a wide range of students, academics, policy makers and professionals engaged in reform regarding issues relating to forced migration and refugees.

PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES
RS aims to offer high-quality training in the field of refugee studies through an interdisciplinary approach and first-hand access to refugee communities worldwide via practical training, as well as co-operation with other renowned academic institutions and links with their diploma programmes.

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE
The RS programme is a one-year course organized around two semesters, which encompass two mutually interlinked founding pillars of the studies: ACADEMIC STUDIES and PRACTICAL PLACEMENT. The first semester lasts five months and focuses on obtaining the necessary theoretical background in the mandatory fields. In the second semester, students
undertake six-month-long practical work placements at establishments of partner institutions in non-industrialized countries.

ACADEMIC STUDIES
The academic part of the programme takes place in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is organized into three mutually interconnected parts.
1. All students receive an introduction to refugee studies and insight into the contemporary issues in forced migration, a grounding in psycho-social consequences of forced migration, and substantive knowledge of refugee law and human rights issues related to refugees.
2. In addition, students select two elective courses from a list prepared and approved by the Academic Advisory Board for each academic year. They can choose one elective course from the category of regional studies/country of origin information and one course from the general category of electives.
3. Finally, all students are trained in skills crucial to all workers in the field of refugees and forced migration, such as the art of interviewing, working with interpreters, taking testimony, researching country of origin, and developing legal argumentation skills in the Clinics: Practice of Refugee Law course.

CURRICULUM
REQUIRED COURSES
Students are required to take the following courses:
R1 Introduction to Refugee Studies
R2 Contemporary Issues in Forced Migration
R3 Psycho-Social Consequences of Forced Migration
R4 Refugee in International Law
R5 Human Rights and Refugees
P1 Clinics: Practice of Refugee Law

ELECTIVE COURSES
The following courses are currently recognized as electives:
E1 Anthropology
E2 Introduction to Development
E3 Public International Law
E4 Humanitarian Emergencies
C1 Caucasus Studies
C2 Middle East Studies
C3 Sub-Saharan African Studies
C4 Southeast Asian Studies

PRACTICAL PLACEMENTS
The purpose of this programme component is to provide students with practical experience which complements their studies, enhance their professional development and – at the same time – benefits partner institutions in non-industrialized countries and Central Europe active in the refugee problem, whilst ensuring much-needed dissemination of knowledge and information regarding refugee and forced migration issues.
The mandatory internship approach promotes a better understanding of major global problems confronting the contemporary world among the students, while giving them an insight into the workings of the partner institutions, and exposing them to some of the most efficient policies and programmes in this field.
At the same time the students represent a pool of qualified interns whose work addresses some of the most pressing problems faced by the partner institutions in non-industrialized countries, such as a severe lack of human resources, an expanding workload, insufficient research resources and limited access to information and training.
Finally, the dissemination of refugee and forced migration related information in CEE countries is enhanced due to the emergence of a well-informed and knowledgeable group of graduates who are motivated through the connections and networking made during their practical traineeships.

ABOUT THE STAFF
Barbara Harrell-Bond (DPhil, Oxford University) is an anthropologist of law with many years of research experience in West Africa prior to her founding the Refugee Studies Programme (now the Refugee Studies Centre) at the University of Oxford. She directed the Centre between 1982-96. In 2004, Barbara Harrell-Bond was elected as an Honorary Fellow at Lady Margaret Oxford College Hall for her contribution to the field of refugee studies. In 2005, she was listed on the Queen Elizabeth’s Honours list as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to refugee and forced migration studies.
"The raison d’etre of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford was not only to establish refugee studies as an academic field, but to stimulate the development of similar academic programmes in other countries that were the hosts of refugees and with significant success. Today the list of countries where refugee studies has been established is extensive, but there are no such programmes in Central and Eastern Europe and only a few in the non-industrialized ’south‘… I strongly support the Refugee and Forced Migration Study Programme initiated in the Czech Republic and I indicate my sincere interest in providing any assistance in seeing it through to its fruition."

Richard Wilson is a tenured Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. Richard Wilson has been a law school teacher for more than 20 years, and has directed the Clinic, one of the oldest in the United States dealing with human rights issues, since its founding in 1990. The clinic, which is one of the largest human rights law firms in the United States, provides pro bono legal services in a wide range of human rights and refugee issues.
"I have been involved in the rapidly expanding area of clinical legal education and forced migration in Central and Eastern Europe for more than a decade. One of the key components of the Forced Migration Academy is its inclusion of empirical and practice dimensions to accompany the theoretical aspects covered in the academic curriculum. I believe that such a component is absolutely essential to the training of lawyers and other advocates in this rapidly expanding and multidisciplinary field."

Petra Levrincova (LL.M., Central European University, Budapest) - after working for the Refugee Legal Aid Project in Cairo (now Africa and Middle East Refugee Assistance - AMERA) in 2002 and 2003, and completing a legal internship at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, Petra returned to Prague and started doctoral studies at Charles University, where she also lectures in public international law and international refugee law on the International Economic and Political Studies Programme. She also works as a lawyer at the Czech Development Agency.
"I was privileged enough to obtain a solid educational as well as practical experience in the field of international and refugee law, and at the same time meet people who were committed to the professional development of young academics and practitioners. I have noticed that combining advanced higher education with high-level practical training can bring changes. By setting up RS in Prague I hope I can honour the debt."

ADMISSIONS
RS programme commences in SEPTEMBER 2009
Tuition fees for the 2009 academic year are 4 900 €
Students may wish to seek sponsorship from donor organizations or employers.
Please note that the fees do not include living expenses and travel to/from the place of internships.

General Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must have already earned at least a first degree from a recognized university or institution of higher education, or provide documentation indicating that they will earn their first degree from such a university or institution by the time of enrolment on the RS.

REFUGEE STUDIES CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dartmore Institute for Central European Studies
National Gallery, Museum of Modern Art
Dukelskych Hrdinu 47,
170 00 Prague 7
Czech Republic
Should you like to discuss any aspect of the programme please contact:
Petra Levrincova, email: [email][email protected]