Introduction	Pacific Program	Learning Objectives
Program Requirements	Peace Corps Master's Program	Tuition & Financial Aid
Faculty	Students	Apply

The Peace Corps Master’s International/MAIR Program

The M.A. in Intercultural Relations (MAIR) program at University of the Pacific's School of International Studies is pleased to partner with the Peace Corps Master’s International program. The Master’s International allows MAIR students to combine Peace Corps service with graduate study in order to complete the requirements for the degree. MAIR students have the opportunity to gain substantive international work experience and earn academic credit while serving overseas. In order to participate in the Master’s International program, applicants must apply to and be accepted by both the MAIR program and the Peace Corps. Students are encouraged to apply to both simultaneously, using the MAIR program’s admission deadlines as their guide.

Master’s International students apply their Peace Corps service toward completion of the MAIR program’s elective unit requirement up to the maximum of eight elective units, and are not charged tuition while serving as Peace Corps volunteers.

Master’s International students will have an individualized aspect to their learning that will address the unique variables that their Peace Corps service presents. Certain courses in the program will be particularly useful prior to their departure, and these will each include assignments that allow the student to prepare thoroughly for the Peace Corps experience. Students will complete two of the three required two-week limited residency semesters of core coursework before Peace Corps service. The elective units to be completed during the overseas assignment will be designed to focus on the work the volunteer is doing, the culture in which s/he is living, and the personal development inherent in the process. The volunteer will receive a specially-designed study guide for these elective units. Upon return to the United States, the student will have opportunities to reflect on reentry issues, and will complete the final set of core coursework, thesis research, and the thesis. The last year of participation in MAIR will complete a coherent cycle of learning, putting theory into practice as a volunteer, and using that practice to build further conceptual insights upon return.

A Typical Course of Study for the Master’s International Student

Core Courses completed prior to service:

Residence 1

MAIR 200 Concepts of Intercultural Relations -- 3 units
MAIR 201 Ethnicity and Intergroup Relations -- 3 units
MAIR 202 Research I: Ways of Knowing -- 2 units

Residence 2

MAIR 221 Research II -- 3 units
MAIR 222 Process of Change -- 2 units
MAIR 241 Change-Agentry -- 3 units

Electives and Research completed while overseas:

Peace Corps Service

MAIR 291 Independent Study (elective unit requirement) -- 4 units
MAIR 291 Independent Study (elective unit requirement) -- 4 units

Core Courses completed after service:

Residence 3

MAIR 240 Leadership and Adult Learning -- 3 units
MAIR 220 Advanced Intercultural Communication Theory -- 3 units
MAIR 242 Culture in the Organizational Context -- 2 units

Research and Thesis

MAIR 297 Research -- 4 units
MAIR 299 Thesis -- 4 units

For more information, please contact the Master’s International University Coordinator for the MAIR, Katrina Alison Jaggears, at kjaggears@pacific.edu.