The Ethnic Studies Network was established in 1990 by the Centre for the Study of Conflict at the University of Ulster, which has been functioning since 1977 as an inter-disciplinary research centre with a particular interest in the Northern Irish conflict within a comparative context. The decision to launch the Ethnic Studies Network arose from the Centre’s growing involvement in comparative and cross-national research.

The main aim of the Ethnic Studies Network is to encourage and facilitate comparative and cooperative research into conflict resolution and ethnicity. An Ethnic Studies Network Bulletin is produced twice a year. It provides information on research activity by ESN members; conferences and seminars; relevant job advertisements; descriptions of members’ publications and details of academic courses. It also includes a calendar of future activities and reports from specific geographical areas. Each issue includes a profile of two member organisations, one from the academic or research arena, and the other devoted to action in the field of ethnic conflict.

The Centre aims to support a community of researchers in the area of human rights and to promote cooperation with other academic and human rights institutions, so as to produce a scholarship of excellence in this field.

The Centre offers a LLM in Human Rights course (further details available from the website).

The School of Law also developed ‘The States of Emergency Database’ and ‘Human Rights Conventions Database’. These are legal databases containing legislative texts and other relevant information on these topics in a number of countries. The databases allow users to browse through statutes, orders, military decrees, proclamations of emergency, derogations, summaries of cases, etc. on a country-wide basis.

In 1992 the United Nations University (UNU) commissioned a feasibility study into the establishment of a joint International Research and Training Programme in the general area of Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity (INCORE). The feasibility study examined current activity and provision in research and training, the need for a UNU initiative, the philosophy and rationale for a new initiative and the costings, and at the beginning of 1993, after ratification by the UNU Council, the Research and Training Programme was established, initially as a Joint Institution of UNU and the University of Ulster.

INCORE’s main function is to provide a focus for research and training in ethnic conflict and conflict resolution. INCORE coordinates and supports research worldwide, and conducts its own research programme. The latter focus on causes, dynamics and effects of ethnic violence. The first project INCORE completed was a study of the Training of Military and Civilian Peace-Keepers. Current projects are concerned with peace processes and the problems associated with societies coming out of violence; mediation; education; and the impact of violence on women’s lives. Other topics are under active development.

INCORE has also developed a data centre to support and coordinate research and training, and the conflict data service can be accessed on the World Wide Web. Members of Ethnic Studies Network (see separate entry above) provided much of the information for the INCORE database of researchers, now available on the Web.