RRU-ITESO partnership offers project-based learning about human rights

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding.

Royal Roads University's international partnerships were in the spotlight in Guadalajara when Kenneth Christie, director of RRU’s School of Humanitarian Studies and program head of the Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding shared his knowledge and experience with students at ITESO, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara in Mexico.

In a partnership partly funded by Global Affairs Canada's Faculty Mobility for Partnership Building Program, Christie served as a guest professor at ITESO in November 2024 and January 2025 where he taught students from around the world about human rights and the effects of conflicts on those rights, citing examples in Myanmar, Sudan, Chile and elsewhere. 

The ITESO undergrad students showed great interest in the topic, Christie says, noting the project-based learning approach that is common at RRU proved productive in Guadalajara, where learners conducted research and created presentations as part of their education.

Christie also taught students spoke about truth commissions. 

“There have been about 50 truth commissions around the world since the early 1990s,” says Christie, who wrote a book about the South African truth and reconciliation commission. “So, I wanted to focus on truth commissions and their impact on human rights and human rights impact on truth commissions.”

Christie is optimistic about the RRU-ITESO partnership, noting that making contacts and expanding networks is a positive outcome for both students and universities.

Indeed, relationships with universities around the world offer research collaboration opportunities for faculty and study exchanges for students. Royal Roads has expanded international education partnerships to provide custom training to fellow educators, sharing the university’s unique teaching approach for its Bachelor of Business Administration with partner institutions.

The key, Christie says, is to meet people — especially instructors and students — where they are and work within their schools’ structures. He says it’s crucial when collaborating in a different country that the visiting academics arrive with open minds and a willingness to work collaboratively.

Learn more about the Master of Arts in Human Security and Peacebuilding.