On 26th June 2015 I attended the Liverpool Hope University open day as part of my investigation into where to do my Peace Studies master’s degree.

It is a small university which started as a teacher training college; apparently it has an excellent reputation for all its teaching as a consequence of this.  I was concerned this means a small number of teaching staff for the MA or a limited range of knowledge.  Also, whether it means less resources, e.g. books and journals, relating to peace studies.  Since it is part of the SCONUL Access scheme and interlibrary loans are only £2, any limitations to the collection should not be an issue.

It has a Christian background / origin which I think explains their peace studies department.

It is just outside the centre of Liverpool and so has an atmosphere of being populated by students focused in study and learning rather than the city’s night-life and uni social opportunities.

It is the cheapest peace-related MA I have found in the UK at £4,500.  When I asked about why this was I was told there is no desire for growth and so none of the funds are needed for building new buildings or buying land as other universities are doing.  Also, it is university policy to keep MA costs down as students have already paid to do a first degree.

We were spoiled by the staff and students who took us round and showed us the facilities.  The free bus to Liverpool Lime Street was a nice touch.

I spent some time talking to Dr Stefanie Kappler, Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Director of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies.  (She did her PhD at St Andrews in Edinburgh which is also on my list of universities to investigate.)

The MAs have 4 contact hours per week on various days.  Class sizes vary between 25 and 8 students.

As for peace-related events outside the curriculum, they have said I can subscribe to their Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies‘ mailing list.

The campus is quiet and peaceful.  It has an air of contemplation.  Their library is very professional, would be a pleasure to use and has a good size collection on peace.  [Note to self: the class mark in their library for peace-related material is 327.17]

The modules for the MA Peace Studies is relevant to what I want to learn.

The atmosphere felt right; I left the open day feeling that was where I want to do my master’s degree.