Challenges to Peacebuilding is a structured, academic field course. The course seeks to help participants be able to link the theory of peacebuilding to its practice through field research. The course is especially useful for students in the fields of conflict studies, human rights, development, business and environment. It is designed to supplement and complement conflict resolution theories and concepts learned in the classroom with ‘real-world’ examples on the nature of conflict, its impact on people, peacebuilding initiatives and in understanding the kinds of actors involved in rebuilding and bring peace to a country. Another key objective of this course is get students to learn to deal with the complexities of conducting field research, develop data collection instruments and summarize data for a qualitative analysis. Mindanao (southern Philippines) has witnessed an armed conflict for decades. The Moro struggle for self-determination has recently seen resolution with a peace agreement between the Government and the largest armed group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). With a consensus to set up a semi-autonomous region “Bangsamoro”, peacebuilding efforts in Mindanao will now be renewed. The over decade long peace talks have been interrupted with violence but has also seen the very active efforts made by government and civil society to end the violence and build peace. This historic and contemporary examination of peacebuilding efforts makes Mindanao a very interesting study. Through this course, participants will interact with NGOs, INGOs, religious leaders, government officials, civil society members and members of peace zones in Mindanao. There will be visits to areas in central and northern Mindanao. First hand information gained from these meetings will be analyzed as a group through regular debrief sessions during and after the field trip. Outcomes will be presented through presentations at various forums and publications.