Peace and Conflict Studies – Peace is Everybody's Business

Building Boundaries for Peace work and Internships: Crafting a Bill of Rights

By Gabrielle “Gaby” McInnes Courage will always be the passport when our old world disappears. I remind myself of this every time that I transition between types of learning. While education starts in the classroom, it only becomes ‘learning’ when we start to understand how and why it is relevant to the non-academic world. AsContinue reading “Building Boundaries for Peace work and Internships: Crafting a Bill of Rights”

Indivisible Justice

By Rose Ongech Indivisible Justice This blog post is based on a case study that I wrote for the PACS 611 (Reconciliation) course. It was also informed by the experiences I have encountered through my 5 years of engagement with the Pokot communities along the Kenya- Uganda borders in East Africa. The paper was influencedContinue reading “Indivisible Justice”

Arab Spring countries and speech freedom repression pandemic

This is not the COVID-19 tracking map. This is the Global Press Freedom map by the Freedom House. The deterioration of speech freedom is not less contagious than the COVID-19 pandemic. The Arab spring is a term used to refer to the wave of the revolution sparked in 2011 against dictatorship regimes in the Middle East and Africa. CountriesContinue reading “Arab Spring countries and speech freedom repression pandemic”

From awareness raising to peer pressure: How I decided to register as a potential bone marrow donor

Each week, Peace and Conflict Studies students in the Building Civil Society course are asked to reflect on a key issue discussed in class. What I have found fascinating are the powerful and inspiring stories of why we are part of the MPACS community. This week we are continuing to learn stories of students reflecting onContinue reading “From awareness raising to peer pressure: How I decided to register as a potential bone marrow donor”

The AIDS Committee Of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area

Each week, Peace and Conflict Studies students in the Building Civil Society course are asked to reflect on a key issue discussed in class. What I have found fascinating are the powerful and inspiring stories of why we are part of the MPACS community. This week, students reflected on civil society organization whose fundraising campaignContinue reading “The AIDS Committee Of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area”

Reflection Journal:Peace Education in Primary and Secondary Schools

“Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”- Martin Luther King Jr Reflection on the Ugandan Experience What would Ugandan lives be like collectively if peace education was infused into our education curriculum from pre-school to secondary schools? What it would be like if we made humans, girls,Continue reading “Reflection Journal:Peace Education in Primary and Secondary Schools”

Anti-racism includes unlearning the histories of the land

It is somewhat ironic that the Land Back Camp underway at Victoria Park is just a short walk from the Schneider Haus on Queen Street. The Land Back Camp is where a group of local Indigenous activists began occupying a small area of the park on National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21). They are claimingContinue reading “Anti-racism includes unlearning the histories of the land”

Remembering the past, dishonoring the present

June 4th marks the thirty-one-year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre— one of the most horrendous acts of an authoritarian government in contemporary history. On June 4, 1989, university students and young adults stood together in Tiananmen Square in Beijing and across China to demonstrate for greater state accountability, constitutional reform, freedom, and democracy. InContinue reading “Remembering the past, dishonoring the present”

Part II Q&A: On Language, Power, Privilege, and Peacebuilding

This is Part II of the interview I conducted with Dr. Jennifer Ball, continuing the conversation on her experience studying women at the grassroots level in Uganda who are contributing to peacebuilding in ways that are not often recognized by peace researchers and practitioners at national and global levels. In this interview, Dr. Ball reflectsContinue reading “Part II Q&A: On Language, Power, Privilege, and Peacebuilding”

Part I Q&A:Women and Peacebuilding in Uganda,Interview with Dr. Jennifer Ball

The role of women is not fully centered in the research on conflicts and peacebuilding in different contexts. Even when they are centered, more often than not, women are constructed as benevolent perpetual victims of violence. The research on peacebuilding tends to largely focus on middle-class women occupying powerful political positions, and rarely on theContinue reading “Part I Q&A:Women and Peacebuilding in Uganda,Interview with Dr. Jennifer Ball”