Vesalius College, one of NSHSS collaborating university partners offers a great ground-breaking program every fall semester.
The European Peace and Security Studies (EPSS) certificate program is a semester-long program that provides in-depth and unique insights into the changing nature and fundamental challenges of contemporary security issues from a distinctly Brussels perspective.
By pooling the combined expertise and resources of 4 leading educational institutions in Brussels – the Belgian Royal Military Academy, the Institute for European Studies (IES) and the University of Kent, as well as the Global Governance Institute (GGI), students are taught by prominent specialists in the field of civilian and military security issues, in both theory and practice.
Conflict and crisis management from a NATO and EU perspective
The courses emphasizes theoretical and practical analysis of the comprehensive, civil-military nature of contemporary conflict and crisis management from a NATO and EU perspective. They also examine the history, institutional procedures and policies of, and interrelations between, these two organizations, as well as their interaction with a wide range of civilian and military partners. The program also sheds light on the complex roots and causes of contemporary conflicts in Europe’s periphery and beyond.
Hence, at the end of the semester, students will have acquired an extensive knowledge of the institutional, theoretical and practical dimensions of contemporary issues and of the core actors in the field of European peace and security.
Direct access to EU policy-making
In addition to the 5 core courses offered, the EPSS program includes a high-profile guest lecture series and symposium given by academic experts and leading practitioners from the European Union, NATO, the United Nations and related security organizations. Students are actively encouraged to establish and maintain such contacts with key practitioners from Brussels-based institutions and the wider international academic community.
The program is supported by an outstanding network of leading scholars (from, among others, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Yale University and the London School of Economics) as well as senior practitioners from NATO, the EU and United Nations (for more information on the Advisory Council, click here).
While students can attend all five of the EPSS courses in the same term in order to earn the EPSS certificate, they can also take any number of the EPSS courses alongside non-EPSS courses in order to fulfill their other academic needs.