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The Mahatma Gandhi Center's Discussions
Call for Papers: 2009 Global Nonviolence International Conference
13 Replies
Started this discussion. Last reply by Tabitha Njoroge Sep. 25, 2009.
The Mahatma Gandhi Center's Page
Latest Activity
I'll inform students I know about this.
The Gandhi Center's Drawing Peace Contest is going on now! For children ages 6-12, submissions are due March 8, 2010. See http://www.jmu.edu/gandhicenter/programs/artcontest.shtml for more information.
International (Dis)order and Violence in the Twenty-first Century
Third Global Nonviolence Student Conference
Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence
James Madison University April 15–16, 2010
The JMU Gandhi Center invites graduate students f…
Profile Information
- Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)
- Who are we? Cast a glance at our logo to get a few clues! You will notice that it includes a spiral form. The spiral is one of the most basic shapes found in nature and one of the most ancient symbols of growth, change, and transformation. For the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence it evokes the processes that lead outward, onward, and upward from conflict toward creativity and harmony.
The Gandhi Center is unique in its function as a global nonviolence hub, a quiet place for individual research that also hums with intellectual interaction, collaborative endeavors both internal and external, and public participation. In these ways and more, the Center contributes to the intellectual and creative life of the University and radiates new thinking across disciplines, into the classroom, and throughout the larger community.
- Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise
- United States
India
- What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?
- United States of America
- What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?
- Research Center
- What is your personal or organizational website?
- http://www.jmu.edu/gandhicenter/
- Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?
- Education
- Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?
- Communication, Curriculum Development, Fundraising, Program Design, Research, Training
- What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?
- The Gandhi Center supports cross-cultural and cross-civilizational research across disciplines. The objective of Center research programs is to provide multiple and alternative visions of nonviolent approaches to human relations and world affairs. Center staff and scholars from other institutions carry out the Center's research.
The Gandhi Center brings faculty, post-doctoral candidates, and advanced graduate students from outside James Madison University in temporary residence to lecture, teach, and work on their own research projects, thereby enriching its program. The Center has hosted the following visitors:
Sarah Claerhout
Doctoral Candidate at Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Ghent University, Belgium
Resident: November - December 2007
Jakob De Roover
Post-Doctoral Fellow of Research Foundation - Flanders at Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap, Ghent University, Belgium
Resident: Fall semester 2007
Teaching: REL 300 "Religion, Toleration, and Secularism in the West and India"
Samier Mansur
Mahatma Gandhi Research Scholar 2010
Spring - Fall 2010
- If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications
- International Journal of Gandhi Studies
Working Paper Series
Project Gandhiana
The Mahatma Gandhi Center's Photos
The Mahatma Gandhi Center's Blog
Drawing Peace Contest
The Gandhi Center's Drawing Peace Contest is going on now! For children ages 6-12, submissions are due March 8, 2010. See http://www.jmu.edu/gandhicenter/programs/artcontest.shtml for more information.
Posted on February 24, 2010 at 1:53pm —
Call for Papers: International (Dis)order and Violence in the Twenty-first Century
International (Dis)order and Violence in the Twenty-first Century
Third Global Nonviolence Student Conference
Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence
James Madison University April 15–16, 2010
The JMU Gandhi Center invites graduate students from all around the world to submit papers for its Third Biennial Nonviolence Student Conference, taking place in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on April 15–16, 2010. The theme of the conference is “International (Dis)order and Violence in the Twenty-first Ce… Continue
Third Global Nonviolence Student Conference
Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence
James Madison University April 15–16, 2010
The JMU Gandhi Center invites graduate students from all around the world to submit papers for its Third Biennial Nonviolence Student Conference, taking place in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on April 15–16, 2010. The theme of the conference is “International (Dis)order and Violence in the Twenty-first Ce… Continue
Posted on December 11, 2009 at 1:48pm — 1 Comment
Comment Wall (14 comments)
- At 5:55pm on December 11, 2009,
William TARPAI said…
- I remember traveling to the border area in Kashmir more than 30 years ago, and being told it wasn't safe to go any further in the foothills of the mountains bordering India and Pakistan. It is amazing to ponder that peace has never come to that area still to this day. Thousands of families need help to recover a normal life...
I remember cancelled a trip to Sri Lanka because of security concerns, but know that families are starting to return home now that a peace accord has been reached. Thousands of families need help to recover a normal life.
I recall going to the border area in the tall mountains that China, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan share, and having to have a guard travel with me to ensure my safety.
I recall traveling in the moiuntainous areas of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Krygyzstan, once again, during the time that 3 PeaceKeepers were killed, with their interpretor in Tajikistan.
The theme of the conference is an excellent one. It would be great to be able to one day think of the development opportunities for the local inhabitants that could be created by promoting international tourism in these areas....
- At 4:43am on January 5, 2009,
Diwakar Sharma said… - hi,
thank you very much for accepting my friend request.
Diwakar
India.
- At 4:41am on January 5, 2009,
Diwakar Sharma said…
- hi,
Gandhian way of life is very adorable, I tried a numerous times to walk in Gandhian way, but my personal experiances are not good in this regard. How can I set the gandian philosophy in my thought where greed, selfishness, lust of power and other numerous bad things are scattered in the society ? How should I enrich my thought?
Diwakar.
- At 2:20pm on December 13, 2008,
Daniel ozoukou said… - Hi dear Director:
I am very pleased to discover your center which promotes Gandhi's ideas of nonviolence. I appreciate your commitment and congratulate you.
I think that we should make contact and work together. I spent 2 week in India in last april 2008 with cross travel through the country:shilong,bangalor,new delhi amenhamenabad etc. here in Abidjan I have close relationship with indian Embassy.
Warm regards!
Daniel ozoukou
political analyst
chair international conference for nonviolence and democracy CINOD
Abidjan côte d'ivoire
ozoukoud@yahoo.fr
+225 22503206 office
+225 02733562 mobile
- At 4:54am on December 4, 2008,
KOBOLONGO KONGUNDE Crispin said… - Without this center, GANDHI would not be spoken in beaucouq about the houses, schools, universities, and other public places, c' like me j' is; took part in the contest on the life of Ghandhi which the center organizes.
- At 11:34am on November 27, 2008,
Dr (Mr) Ananya.S.Guha. said… - Sorry that should read : Ananya S Guha.
- At 11:33am on November 27, 2008,
Dr (Mr) Ananya.S.Guha. said…
- I am Anaya S Guha, peace believer, peace builder from India. I am an educationist in Distance Education, writer, poet, blogger and online activist.
Ananya S Guha.
- At 11:30am on November 27, 2008,
Dr (Mr) Ananya.S.Guha. said…
- I would love to be a part of this Centre. For peace, by peace, of peace.
Ananya S Guha.
- At 11:28am on November 27, 2008,
Dr (Mr) Ananya.S.Guha. said…
- Gandhi's peace
was non violence
sedately he remained
calm in death
even when violated against.
His brutal murder.
Ananya S Guha.
- At 12:48pm on November 19, 2008,
Rene Wadlow said… - I am pleased to send you an article on the need for reconciliation bridge-builders in areas of tensions and conflicts as in eastern Congo. Just as world citizens had pushed in the 1950s for the creation of UN Forces with soldiers specially prepared for peace-keeping service, so now we are again pushing for a new type of world civil servant. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have all contributed actively to military-peacekeeping forces. Perhaps these same countries can take a lead in forming reconciliation teams. Your support and advice would be most appreciated. With best wishes, Rene Wadlow
East Congo — Need for Reconciliation Bridge-Builders
Rene Wadlow
On bridges are stated the limits in tons
of the loads they can bear.
But I’ve never yet found one that can bear more
than we do.
Although we are not made of roman freestone,
nor of steel, nor of concrete.
From “Bridges” – Ondra Lysohorsky
Translated from the Lachian by Davis Gill.
Violence is growing in the eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo, basically the administrative provinces of North and South Kivu. The violence could spread to the rest of the country as Angolan troops may come to the aid of the Central Government as they have in the past while Rwandan and Ugandan troops are said to be helping the opposing militia led by Laurent Nkunda. While Nkunda and his Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) say that they are only protecting the ethnic Tutsi living in Congo, Nkunda could emerge as a national opposition figure to President Joseph Kabila, who has little progress to show from his years in power.
There is high-level recognition that violence in Congo could spread, having a destabilizing impact on the whole region. UN diplomats, led by Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, have stressed that a political solution — not a military one — is the only way to end the violence, and they are urging the presidents of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya and Tanzania to work together to restore stability. The instability, along with Congo’s vast mineral and timber riches have drawn in neighboring armies who have joined local insurgencies as well as local commanders of the national army to exploit the mines and to keep mine workers in near-slavery conditions.
The United Nations has some 17,000 peacemakers in Congo (MONUC), the UN’s largest peacekeeping mission, but their capacity is stretched to the limit. Recently, the General in command of the UN forces, Lieutenant General Vicent Diaz de Villegas of Spain resigned his post after seven weeks — an impossible task. Their mission is to protect civilians, some 250,000 of which have been driven from their homes since the fighting intensified in late August 2008. The camps where displaced persons have been living have been attacked both by government and rebel forces — looting, raping, and burning. UN under-secretary general for peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, is asking for an additional 3,000 soldiers, but it is not clear which states may propose troops for a very difficult mission. While MONUC has proven effective at securing peace in the Ituri district in north-eastern Congo, it has been much less successful in the two Kivu provinces.
The eastern area of Congo is the scene of fighting at least since 1998 — in part as a result of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994. In mid-1994, more than one million Rwandan Hutu refugees poured into the Kivus, fleeing the advance of the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, now become the government of Rwanda. Many of these Hutu were still armed, among them, the “genocidaire” who a couple of months before had led the killings of some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda. They continued to kill Tutsi living in the Congo, many of whom had migrated there in the 18th century.
The people in eastern Congo have lived together for many centuries and had developed techniques of conflict resolution, especially between the two chief agricultural lifestyles: that of agriculture and cattle herding. However, the influx of a large number of Hutu, local political considerations, a desire to control the wealth of the area — rich in gold, tin and tropical timber — all these factors have overburdened the local techniques of conflict resolution and have opened the door to new, negative forces interested only in making money and gaining political power.
UN peace-keeping troops are effective when there is peace to keep. What is required today in eastern Congo is not so much more soldiers under UN command, than reconciliation bridge-builders, persons who are able to restore relations among the ethnic groups of the area. The United Nations, national governments, and non-governmental organizations need to develop bridge-building teams who can help to strengthen local efforts at conflict resolution and re-establishing community relations. In the Kivus, many of the problems arise from land tenure issues. With the large number of people displaced and villages destroyed, it may be possible to review completely land tenure and land use issues.
World citizens were among those in the early 1950s who stressed the need to create UN peace-keeping forces with soldiers especially trained for such a task. Today, a new type of world civil servant is needed — those who in areas of tension and conflict can undertake the slow but important task of restoring confidence among peoples in conflict, establishing contacts and looking for ways to build upon common interests.
Rene Wadlow, Representative to the United Nations, Geneva, Association of World Citizens
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Events
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UPEACE Extended Deadline Application
February 17, 2010 at 6pm to March 15, 2010 at 12pm – UPEACE Campus, Costa Rica
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trainingcourse Peacebuilding and Local Governance
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Nonviolence In The Context Of War Or Armed Conflict
June 18, 2010 at 6pm to July 5, 2010 at 7pm – Kurve Wustrow
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Bologna, Italy Symposium on Conflict Prevention, Resolution, and Reconciliation
June 19, 2010 to July 17, 2010 – Johns Hopkins SAIS Bologna Center
Latest Activity
trainingcourse Peacebuilding and Local Governance at The Hague
May 31, 2010 to June 11, 2010
The Hague Academy for Local Governance, together with the Barcelona International Peace Centre, is organising this 2-week training course to enhance understanding of the challenges that are faced by local governments in fragile situations.
Speakers…
Call for Applications The Gebran G. Tueni
Human Rights Fellowship
2010-2011
http://www.hks.harvard.edu/cchrp/opportunities/fellowsprogram/fellowsprogram.php
Opportunities Available: 2
Funding
Status: stipend available
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