Mediation in Conflicts [2625]

General Information

• Credits: 3 ECTS
• Prerequisites: Bachelor's or Licence level (or equivalent); proficiency in French
• Learning format: asynchronous distance learning – 100% e-learning
• Language of instruction: French
• Course access: available at any time of year
• Disability liaison officer: Cécile Boucherle

Course Overview

This course presents mediation as a conflict-resolution process based on dialogue, responsibility, and the parties’ autonomy, while respecting their dignity. It examines the origins of mediation, its core principles and ethical rules, as well as the mediator’s role in restoring communication and helping the parties find a solution of their own making. The course also explores international and intercultural mediation and its relationship with judicial proceedings. The second part provides a more in-depth analysis of conflict dynamics through the issues of argumentation and power, before presenting the “U Mediation” process, structured around the successive stages of co-detection, co-version, co-creation, and co-evolution.

Course Objectives

This course enables you to:

• Understand the foundations, characteristics and different forms of mediation in conflicts.
  Identify the role of the mediator and the principles governing their intervention, notably independence, impartiality, neutrality and the pursuit of dialogue.
• Analyse the dynamics of conflict, taking into account perceptions, power relations, argumentation and the participation of the parties.
• Understand the relationship between mediation and law, and distinguish in particular between court-ordered mediation and contractual mediation.
• Master the different stages of the "U Mediation" process and understand how it seeks to foster the transformation of the conflict and the co-construction of new solutions by the parties.

Course Competencies

This course is linked to the following competency:

• Evaluate the ethical and practical conditions of a humanitarian intervention or of a post-conflict transition

Course Outline

Section 1 – General introduction to mediation

Section 2 – New paradigms

Section 3 – Argumentation and conflict

Section 4 – The power of the candidates

Section 5 – U Mediation: the process

Section 6 – Application

Assessment Methods 

Course assessment is based on:

• tracking and completion of the course and of all learning activities. These activities, designed as essential practice and learning exercises, may be completed multiple times and are not factored into the final grade,
• the final assessment quiz, which constitutes the graded evaluation.

Learning Format

The course is taught entirely online via the MyDomuni platform, accessible 24/7.
Learning resources include:

• written course materials;
• supplementary documents and, depending on the content, video resources;
• interactive learning activities (quizzes, exercises);
• a discussion forum with the course instructor and fellow participants.

Prerequisites

This course is open to anyone holding a Bachelor's degree or Licence (or an equivalent qualification) in law, the humanities, social sciences, theology, or a related field connected to human rights, or with significant personal or academic experience related to the topics covered.

A good command of written French is recommended to facilitate understanding of the content and participation in the activities offered.

Accessibility

The course is accessible at any time, from any internet-connected device, via the MyDomuni platform.
For students with disabilities, specific support can be arranged upon request to ensure equitable access to course content and activities.

Disability liaison officer: cecile.boucherle@domuni.eu.

Selective Bibliography

Roger Fisher, William L. Ury and Bruce Patton, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, revised edition, New York, Penguin Books, 2011.
Béatrice Blohorn-Brenneur, Synthèse des cours de médiation, Médias & Médiations, 2013.
Béatrice Brenneur, Panorama des médiations du monde. La médiation, langage universel de règlement des conflits, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2010.
Elena I. Highton et Gladys S. Álvarez, Mediación para resolver conflictos, 2e éd., Buenos Aires, Ad-Hoc, 2004.
Remo Entelman, Teoría de los conflictos: hacia un nuevo paradigma, Barcelone, Gedisa, 2002.