ACHA PEACE BULLETIN

http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin

A publication of Association for Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA)

www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org

Editor: Pritam K. Rohila, PhD asiapeace@comcast.net

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Volume XIII, No. 3: March 15, 2009, Next Issue April, 15, 2009

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CONTENTS

EDITORIAL

*Whither South Asia? An Opinion Survey

GUEST EDITORIAL

*India is Darul Aman, Mr. Singhal, Asghar Ali Engineer, Secular Perspective, March 1-

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

*All religions are not same, but fundamentalists are, M.J. Akbar, TOI, Feb 15, 2009

EVENTS

*Till April 4, Frederick, MD, USA: SEASON OF NONVIOLENCE

*March 21, Delhi, India: WORKSHOP ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE

*April 16-17, New Delhi, India: TESTIMONIAL THERAPY

*October 2, New Zealand to Argentina: WORLD MARCH

*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: 2009 Parliament of Religions

EVENT REPORTS

*March 2, Delhi, India: Pak Delegation interacts with Civil Society

*March 6, Islamabad, Pakistan: Pugwash urges India, Pak to resume dialogue

*March 6, Patna, Bihar, India: Karamat Ali, A Pakistani in Patna for peace

*March 7, Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan: Students express Solidarity with Sri-Lankan Team JOBS, INTERNSHIPS & VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD)

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

PEACE EDUCATION

*June 14-19, 2009, Notre Dame, IN, USA: TEACHING PEACE IN THE 21ST CENTU

*Graduate training in peace psychology

PEACE RESOURCES

*Conflict Management Multimedia Resources: Online Database

PETITIONS

*Petition of Apology to Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

*Virtual Memorial for Victims of India’s Partition in 1947

UPDATE: KASHMIR

UPDATE: NEPAL

UPDATE: PAKISTAN

WOMEN

*Happy International Women’s Day, The Gulabi Gang Way!

EDITORIAL

*Whither South Asia? An Opinion Survey

Some parts of South Asia are not doing well; some others seem to be spiraling out of control. We are soliciting your opinion about conditions in the part of South Asia, where you live, where you grew up or with which you are otherwise associated.

What is currently going on in your part of South Asia?
In what shape do you expect your part of South Asia to be in the next 6 to 12 months?
What should peace and human rights activists and civil society members do to improve things in your part of South Asia?
What are you willing to do to make these changes happen?

To help us make sense of the results of this opinion survey, please tell us something about yourself. This information will used ONLY in analyzing our findings, and not for any other purpose.

In what country do you currently live?
With what part of South Asia are you associated?
Any other information you would like to share with us.

Please email your responses to asiapeace@comcast.net

GUEST EDITORIAL

*India is Darul Aman, Mr. Singhal, Asghar Ali Engineer, Secular Perspective March 1-15, 2009

The ulama in medieval ages had broadly divided the world into two categories: Darul Islam and Darul Harb i.e. abode of Islam and abode of war. In those days there was no democracy and there were monarchs and autocrats everywhere. There was no concept of citizenship but the ruled were treated as subjects. Where monarchs or sultans were ruling those regions were called Darul Islam and where non-Muslim monarchs ruled and persecuted Muslims, those regions were called Darul Harb i.e. abode of war.

Let us remember this division in Darul Islam and Darul harb was done by the ulama, not by the Qur’an or by the Prophet. The Qur’an divided people into three categories i.e. Muslims, ahl-al-kitab (those who had revealed scripture with them) and kafirs and mushriks (polytheists) who possessed no scripture for their guidance nor they believed in any formal religion. Qur’an or the Prophet (did not divide the world as such into Darul Islam or Darul Harb.

Mr. Singhal, the International President of VHP has demanded from Indian Muslims that they declare India as Darul Aman i.e. abode of peace which is neither Darul Islam nor Darul Harb. One can only regret at the lack of knowledge on the part of Shri Singhal or he has been misinformed by some of his informants. The Ulama in India has never considered India as Darul Harb except for a short period during the British rule. Even then the ulama and Muslim leaders were divided.

Shah Abdul Aziz, son of illustrious Alim Shah Waliyullah and himself a great Alim, had declared India Darul Aman during British period and issued a fatwa that Muslims could serve in the British army. Also, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and his followers never considered India as Darul Harb. As there is no church in Islam different ulama can have different opinions on any issue.

In fact India was never declared Darul Harb and Deoband ulama declared it Darul Harb only during Khilafat agitation when many of them migrated to Afghanistan and set up there a provisional government under the leadership of Raja Mahindra Pratap. Mahindra Pratap was president and Maulana Ubaidullah Singhi was prime minister of this transitional government. It was then that India was declared as Darul Harb and it was made obligatory for Muslims to migrate to Darul Islam i.e. Afghanistan as a Muslim king was ruling there and wage jihad against the British Government.

However, it was politically immature decision and it proved to be great disaster as the King of Afghanistan drove away these Indian Muslims under pressure from the British Government and thousands perished while trying to flee to Central Asian region. Except for this brief period India was never declared as Darul Harb.

Also, it is necessary to understand that these categories were evolved by the ulama during medieval period and does not apply in modern democracies. Even USA under the Bush government was not declared by ulama as Darul Harb through it had invaded two Muslim countries and was aiding and abetting Israel vis-à-vis Israel as United States also treats Muslims as citizens and fully guarantees their political and religious rights.

These medieval categories evolved by the ulama of that time no more apply to the modern democratic world. Let alone India, no other country today qualify for Darul Harb. Even Israel may not qualify as Darul Harb for many as the Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel have also been given rights as citizens of Israel. Mr. Singhal should check his facts before writing such letters.

He has also demanded that Hindus be declared as not being kafirs. If Mr. Singhal carefully studies Muslim literature in India he would get to know that many sufi saints like Dara Shikoh, Mazhar Jani Janan and others considered Hindus as ahl-al-kitab i.e. people of the book like Jews and Christians. Mazhar Jani Janan has made many interesting observations in this respect in one of his letters to his disciple who had asked Jani Janan whether Hindus could be declared as kafirs.

Mazhar Jani Janan said in his letter that Hindus cannot be treated as kafirs as kafirs are those who hide the truth and Hindus possess scriptures like Vedas with revealed Truth from Allah. Also, he observed Hindus believe in tawhid i.e. one God as Ishwar in Hindu tradition is Nirgun and Nirankar i.e. without attributes and without any shape which is the highest concept of tawhid.

Not only this he also said that in Qur’an Allah has said that he has sent His prophets to all the nations and so how can he forget India. He must have sent prophets to India also and may be Ram and Krishna, highly revered religious personalities might have been prophets of Allah. Other sufi saints also have opined that Allah must have sent his prophets to Hindustan as Muslims believe Allah has sent in all one lakh and twenty four thousand prophets and Qur’an has not given all the names any way.

Buddha was also accepted prophet of God by many Muslim scholars and a book on him Buzasaf (translated into Arabic and Persian) was quite a popular reading in Muslim houses until my childhood. Iqbal also describes Ram as Imam-e-Hind i.e. Imam of India, highest tribute any Muslim could pay to Ram. And any way even if some people consider Hindu as kafirs Qur’an permits Muslims to peacefully coexist with kafirs (see chapter 109).

It permits war against only those kafirs who fight and persecute Muslims, not all kafirs. It is great misunderstanding created by either some extremists among Muslims or among non-Muslims that Muslims cannot coexist peacefully with kafirs. In fact ulama have divided kafirs into two categories harbi and ghayr -harbi kafirs i.e. war monger and non war monger kafirs. As for non-war mongering kafirs it is duty of Muslims to coexist with them.

It was heartening that Jami’at al-Ulama-i-Hind immediately replied to Shri Singhal’s letter and declared that India has always been Darul Aman except for a short period of British rule. They also issued clarification about kafirs. It is also must be noted that The Deobandi Ulama never supported Jinnah’s two nation theory and strongly refuted it and supported the concept of united nationalism. Not only this Maulana Husain Ahmad Madani, the then President of Jami’at wrote a book Muttahida Qaumiyyat Aur Islam.i.e. United nationalism and Islam. All Muslims in India since partition have stood by the concept of united and secular nationalism. Even partition was supported by a small minority of Muslims, not more than 5 per cent.

It is unfortunately the Sangh Parivar which still talks of Hindu Rashtra and wants Indian Constitution to be amended and its secular character removed in favour of Hindu Rashtra. In fact all secular citizens of India – Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and Sikhs should write to Mr. Singhal demanding that he refute the concept of Hindu Rashtra and come clean on this.

They can also demand from Mr. Singhal that he guarantee all Muslims and Christians safe and secure life as it is members of his parivar who kill members of minority communities. Two thousand Muslims in Gujarat and more than 40 Christians in Orissa were brutally done to death. And this is just two riots. Hundreds of such riots have taken place in post-independence India and Muslims hardly feel secure and now Christians have also joined their ranks.

Also, in secular democracy like India everyone has right to live unconditionally. Perhaps Shri Singhal has never believed in secular democratic culture and hence he wants to lay down conditions for minorities to live in India. Entire Sangh Parivar has been doing this and is becoming of late shriller in this respect. No one can stipulate conditions for anyone to live in secular democratic India except that everyone will abide by the law of the land and if they violate the law they will be punished in keeping with the law of the land. Even a lawbreaker cannot be deprived of his citizenship, only can be punished.

India has always been plural and diverse and pluralism and diversity has been great strength of India. Indian people have been most tolerant except handful of extremists in modern times. It is the British rulers who divided us and created, for the first time, a political category called communalism. We had never known this phenomenon before. Now a section of Indian politicians is exploiting this category for their own political survival.

Let me once again reiterate for Shri Singhal that Muslims and other minorities have always considered India as Darul Aman and all of them have strong sense of loyalty to this great country which is their only homeland. They would never dither from this position. And this author strongly believes that all human beings, whatever their religious beliefs or cultural values, should coexist in peace and harmony. Our politics should never be based on religion, caste or language. It should be based only on our common problems. Unfortunately our politicians are using all these categories (religion, caste and language) for their petty political interests and destroying our unity. People of India should categorically reject such politics.

Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai, E-mail: csss@mtnl.net.in

ARTICLE OF THE MONTH

*All religions are not same, but fundamentalists are, M.J. Akbar, Times of India, Feb 15, 2009

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/MJ-Akbar/All-religions-are-not-same-but-fundamentalists-are/articleshow/4130067.cms

Given the staggering backlog of cases that clog the Indian judicial system, is it necessary to put Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik through the full rigours of the wrench? Here is a suggestion for cruel and unusual punishment that can be administered immediately: he should be forced to see a collection of item numbers from Hindi movies.

Alternatively, he could be subjected to six hours of solitary confinement in front of MTV. A serious study of pole dancing to the strains of Kaal kaal mein hum tum kare dhamaal might open his eyes. When those eyes are open, he might recognise that popular culture in India has moved far beyond pubs. Every government in the past two decades has endorsed this advance: the once-beady eye of the censor board now winks merrily at the exploding screen. The censor cannot lag behind the audience, or the entertainment industry will become defunct.

All religions are not the same; but all fundamentalists are. They share an aversion for modernity and a hatred of gender equality. It is entirely logical that the Ram Sene should find an ally in the Jamaat-e-Islami; their ethos is not dissimilar, no matter how different the imagery their rhetoric might contain. The same mindset persuades some maulanas to issue a fatwa condoning divorce through triple talaaq even when the husband is drunk. The very clerics who will damn you to eternal hellfire for touching alcohol are ready to rationalise any diktat that amounts to subjugation of women. Eminent Islamic scholars have repeatedly proved that instant triple talaaq is bad in Islamic law, and such variations even worse. Islam institutionalised the rights of women; such distortions are at variance to its liberating spirit. But the issue is not law: this is conservative, male domination over women.

Sex, or an ugly offshoot, vulgarity, is not modernity. Since sex began with Adam, it must be as old as existence. The pub, or tavern, can claim a bit of antiquity as well. The four principles of a modern society, which is a necessary prerequisite of a modern state, are gender equality, political equality, religious equality and economic equity.

India is one nation among the many who emerged from the ruins of the British empire capable of claiming the mantle of modernity. This is not because Indians are superior to their neighbours, but because the idea of India is better. Democracy, secularism, equality and freedom are an Indian's non-negotiable birthright. There is only one serious weakness: poverty has to be reduced at a much faster rate than the growth in prosperity. As long as we are burdened with this wretched malaise called poverty, we cannot call ourselves a modern nation. Economic equality is a fantasy; but an equitable distribution of national wealth is a compulsion. A civilised nation cannot divide its people by a hunger line. Citizens must live in various categories of a comfort zone, and the most basic comfort is a full stomach. Freedom is incomplete without freedom from hunger.

The poor are never unreasonable. They do not believe that there is any magic wand that can suddenly make them wealthy. But they have every right to economic justice. When they find India rising, but they are not rising along with their country, there is envy and anger. The young men who become the club-wielders of socially regressive organisations are motivated by more than one reason, but a principal cause is denial of the liberties and pleasures that a disposable income brings. They may not realise it, but they want what they seek to destroy. It is a familiar paradox.

Social reform has not come to all Indian communities at the same pace. Groups like the self-appointed All India Muslim Personal Law Board have used evocative sentimentality and identity politics in order to block reform and gender equality among Muslims. They have received patronage from politicians with a vested interest in the status quo. But there is a new murmur among Muslim youth, who are ready to reject this false equation between identity and regression.

This is an age of information. If they cannot go out to the world then the world can come into their drawing rooms through the television set. They want to be a happy and creative part of a modern India: engineers, managers, technocrats, writers and sportsmen building the emerging nation around them. They will not be held back by the discrimination of others or the frozen minds within their own. For evidence, read the story of cricketer-brothers Yusuf and Irfan Pathan. They are the flavour of the present and the prescription of the future.

EVENTS

*Till April 4, Frederick, MD, USA: SEASON OF NONVIOLENCE. An air of peace filled the Unity Church in Frederick as members of more than a dozen faiths gathered Sunday for the opening ceremony of A Season for Nonviolence. Now in its fourth year in Frederick County, the 64-day season celebrates the teachings and principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said the Rev. Toni Fish, Unity's spiritual leader.

Events celebrating peace and nonviolence, which started on January 30, the anniversary of Gandhi's assassination in India, will continue till April 4, the day the American civil rights leader was killed. They will be held at a number of locations throughout the county during the 64-day event.

More info from www.unityfrederick.org/SNV2009.html

*March 21, Delhi, India: WORKSHOP ON SEXUAL VIOLENCE will be held 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., on Saturday, 21^st March in Delhi at the V.P. House from as a part of the annual Champa event. This will be followed by a focused discussion among the participants to help us begin a process that can lead to a collective intervention in the near future. Speakers from J&K, the Northeast, Gujarat, tribals in Chhattisgarh and Orissa, and dalit women from different regions will participate. More info from Uma Chakravarti, 011-24117828, 011-24116196, and N.D..Pancholi 9811099532, azadpancholi@yahoo.com

*April 16-17, New Delhi, India: TESTIMONIAL THERAPY. Peoples' Vigilance Committee on Human Right (PVCHR), Varanasi with the joint endeavor of Rehabilitation and Research Center for Torture Victims (RCT),Cpenhagen is organizing national consultation, 16th – 17th April, 09, at Vishwya Yuvak Kendra, Circular Road, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi – 110021 on the theme "Testimonial therapy: to improve psychological well being among survivors of torture and organized violence in India."

More info from pvchr@pvchr.org

*October 2, New Zealand to Argentina: WORLD MARCH beginning in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Nonviolence” by the United Nations, will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. This 90-day March will pass through many countries having all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia. A permanent base of a hundred people of different nationalities will complete the journey.

*December 3-9, 2009, Melbourne, Australia: The 2009 Parliament of the World’s Religions, will bring together the world’s religious and spiritual communities, their leaders and their followers to a gathering where peace, diversity and sustainability are discussed and explored in the context of interreligious understanding and cooperation.

Parliament participants will work with others and within their own traditions to craft faithful responses to indigenous reconciliation, global poverty and global warming, environmental care and degradation, education of the young and the challenges of social disengagement, voluntary and forced migration, artistic expression and spirituality, the value of sports, ethnic and religious tensions. More info from http://www.parliamentofreligions2009.org/home.php

EVENT REPORTS

*March 2, Delhi, India: Pak Delegation interacts with Civil Society

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/03/stories/2009030359270400.htm

Amidst a number of uncertainties, at last the 12-member Pakistan Peace Delegation arrived in Delhi. The peace delegates interacted with a cross section of the civil society in Delhi in various programs. They asserted the aspirations of the civil society of Pakistan for peace and cooperation with India, echoing the sentiments of their Indian counterparts….The Pakistan Delegation took part in a Human Chain organized at Raj Ghat against terrorism, war and for peace and cooperation. A number of citizens and civil society organizations participated in this human chain.

*March 6, Islamabad, Pakistan: Pugwash urges India, Pak to resume dialogue

http://www.greaterkashmir.net/full_story.asp?Date=7_3_2009&ItemID=37&cat=1

Islamabad, Mar 6: The 2-day Pugwash Conference ended here today on a positive note urging India and Pakistan to resume the dialogue process for solution to all the issues that hamper their relations. The closed-door meeting at the Marriot Hotel was attended by representatives from India, Pakistan and Kashmir. Besides the chief of the Pugwash International, the Conference was attended by eminent scholars, former diplomats, peace activists including, Lt. Gen (retired) Talat Masood, former secretary, Najam-u-din Sheikh, former ambassador of Pakistan, Aziz Ahmed Khan, Naseem Zuhra, G N Dixit, Ismaeel Khan, Prof Amitab Mattoo, J&K Peoples Democratic Party president, Mehbooba Mufti, Dr Waleed Rasool, Iftikhar Ansari, Speaker AJK Legislative Assembly, Shah Ghulam Qadir, Editor Kashmir Times, Ved Bhasin, and several others. However, no one from the separatist camp took part in the Conference…

*March 6, Patna, Bihar, India: Karamat Ali, A Pakistani in Patna with the message of peace

http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/March/Newsbihar06March2.html

Patna, (Bihar Times): A lone Pakistani in Patna within 48 hours of the Lahore attack on the Sri Lankan players and that too with a crusading mission. But this jehad was for the peace and not violence. Famous trade union leader of Pakistan Karamat Ali had a busy schedule on March 5 as he landed for the first time in the state capital with a plea to unitedly fight terrorism and work for peace. In his just ten-hour long trip he addressed a meeting in Patna Women’s College to be followed by one in the History Department of Patna University and Press Conference in Country Club International and finally a meeting in Gandhi Sanghralaya…

Related stories at

http://www.hindu.com/2009/03/06/stories/2009030656451200.htm

http://southasia.oneworld.net/todaysheadlines/pakistani-citizens-in-india-advocate-peace

http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/March/Newsbihar06March2.html

http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/India/20090305/1191865.html

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1236362

http://www.zeenews.com/southasia/2009-03-05/512859news.html

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090307/cth1.htm#8

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/civil-societies-in-india-pak-need-to-promote-peace/432025/

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Jaipur/Peace-messengers-from-across-border/articleshow/4225474.cms

*March 7, Toba Tek Singh, Pakistan: Students expressed Solidarity with Sri-Lankan Team Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/bon4peace/SriLankaPakistanFriendship#

Young Catholic Students, Toba Tek Singh organized a peace march on March 07, 2009 to express solidarity with Sri-Lankan Cricket team. 63 young girls & boys took part in the program. The young students raised slogans. “Fight Poverty, Build Peace”, Long Live Sri Lanka-Pakistan friendship, “Sports for Peace”

“I pay tribute to the Sri Lankan team for their bravery to come to Pakistan and play when different international teams refused to play in Pakistan. I want to let our Sri Lankan friends know that terrorist can kill people but not the values of peace” stated by Naqash Gill, a youth leader.

Miss. Karishna Latif says, ‘Its time for Pakistani youth to end terrorism through “SEE, JUDGE and ACT” methodology.

YCS-Pakistan is involved in South Asian peace building initiatives “Crossing Borders for Peace” under the auspicious of International Young Catholic Students. The group also prayed for security personals who died while protecting Sri Lankan Team. (Story by Ashfaq Fateh)

JOBS, INTERNSHIPS & VOLUNTEER PROGRAMS (FOR THE COMMON GOOD) *http://www.graduationpledge.org/jobs.html

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM INDIA & PAKISTAN

*http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndiaPakistanPeaceDay/

PEACE & HARMONY NEWS FROM SOUTH ASIA

*http://groups.google.com/group/peace--harmony-news-from-south-asia

PEACE EDUCATION

*June 14-19, 2009, Notre Dame, IN, USA: TEACHING PEACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY - A SUMMER INSTITUTE FOR FACULTY. The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, is offering its first Summer Institute for Faculty. If you would like to learn how to launch a peace studies program at your college or university, strengthen a fledgling peace studies program, or take your established peace studies courses and programs to the next level, apply now. The Institute is being coordinated by Professor George A. Lopez and taught by about a dozen Kroc Institute faculty and staff. Online applications are due by March 30. More information and online application materials from Kathy Smarrella, events coordinator, ksmarrel@nd.edu, or 574.631.9370 and at http://kroc.nd.edu/newsevents/events/2009/06/14/493

*July 26 - August 2, Budapest , Hungary: HUMAN RIGHTS LEARNING AS PEACE EDUCATION: PURSUING DEMOCRACY IN A TIME OF CRISIS is the theme of the International Institute On Peace Education 2009. It is being co-organized by the IIPE secretariat and the EJBO Foundation with the support and sponsorship of UNESCO and the Center for Nonviolence and Democratic Education of the University of Toledo, Ohio.

Applications must be submitted by April 1, 2009 for full consideration. Notices of acceptances will be sent in mid April. If you require an earlier response for funding or institutional purposes please contact the IIPE secretariat at info@i-i-p-e.org.

The IIPE utilizes an online application system. All applications must be submitted online. To apply visit: www.i-i-p-e.org/iipe/apply.html If you have limited internet connectivity you may contact the IIPE secretariat to discuss alternatives.

Participation fees cover all onsite costs including food, housing (double occupancy), local transportation and excursions. Participation fees for 2009 are still being determined and should be announced shortly. Participation fees average between $450-650.

Scholarships come only in the form of participation fee waivers (the IIPE does not provide financial support for travel or other expenses). If you think you will be in need of scholarship please indicate so when applying.

More info from The International Institute on Peace Education, caree of: Peace Education Center, Teachers College #171, Columbia University, 525 West 120th Street, New York, New York 1027, www.i-i-p-e.org, 212-678-8116, or info@i-i-p-e.org

*Graduate training in peace psychology

Ph.D. Programs are available at

1. The Psychology Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst offers a Ph.D. with concentration in the Psychology of Peace and the Prevention of Violence (more information HERE).

2. Clark University offers a Ph.D. in social psychology with a specialization in peace psychology (contact Dr. Joe DeRivera at JDeRivera@clarku.edu).

3. Social Psychology Ph.D. students can also specialize in peace psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz (contact Phillip Hammack at hammock@ucsc.edu).

4. Boston University does not have a peace psychology program, but Kathie Malley-Morrison is interested in working with graduate students who wish to pursue peace psychology (contact her at kkmalley@comcast.net).

5. Various Ph.D. and M.A. programs are offered by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. For example, it is possible to pursue a Ph.D. in psychology and peace studies through a cooperative program between the Psychology Department at the University of Notre Dame and the Kroc Institute. Contact kroc-admissions.1@nd.edu.

6. Teachers College at Columbia University offers courses and practicum on negotiation, mediation, conflict theories, intercultural communication, etc. that may be applied towards relevant Masters and Doctoral degrees at Columbia (contact Mekayla Castro at Castro@exchange.tc.columbia.edu).

7. Teachers College at Columbia also offers a concentration in peace education at the masters and doctoral levels (contact Monisha Bajaj at bajaj@exchange.tc.columbia.edu).

8. At Cornell University, doctoral students may choose to minor in peace studies after acceptance into a traditional disciplinary field. The University of Cincinnati offers the Ph.D. in Peace Education.

9. George Mason University offers M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Conflict Resolution, and Nova Southeastern University in Florida offers M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Conflict Analysis and Resolution in both residential and online formats.

Masters Degree Programs

1. Georgetown University offers an M.A. in Conflict Resolution (contact Fathali Moghaddam at moghaddf@georgetown.edu).

2. The University of Massachusetts at Boston offers a Graduate Certificate and an M.A. in Dispute Resolution (more information HERE).

3. Eastern Mennonite University has an M.A. program in Conflict Transformation (contact Janelle Myers-Benner at ctprogram@emu.edu).

4. Brandeis University offers an M.A. in Coexistence and Conflict (contact Anne Gudaitis at gudaitis@brandeis.edu).

5. Lesley College in Cambridge offers a specialty in Conflict Resolution and Peaceable Schools within their Master of Education program in Curriculum and Instruction.

6. American University has a dual Masters Degree program in Secondary Education and International Peace and Conflict Resolution.

7. The University for Peace in Costa Rica offers a masters degree in Peace Education (contact Dr. Abelardo Brenes (abrenes@upeace.org).

8. The Rotary Centers for International Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution (www.rotary.org/en/StudentsAndYouth/EducationalPrograms/RotaryCentersForInternationalStudies/) partners with ten universities to sponsor fellowships for M.A. programs in peace studies. The Program on Forced Migration and Health is an M.P.H. degree program offered by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University that emphasizes psychosocial interventions in humanitarian settings (contact Lindsay Stark at ls2302@columbia.edu).

There are also lists and descriptions of graduate peace studies and conflict resolution programs with links to them HERE and HERE.

PEACE RESOURCES

*Conflict Management Multimedia Resources: Online Database

Georgetown University’s Conflict Resolution Program and USIP have created an online database of multimedia resources related to conflict management, as well as best practices for designing and using them. The resources include films, radio and TV programs, video games, music, and more. Many of these materials are accompanied by teaching guides that help educators and conflict management practitioners facilitate discussion or community action.

The goal of this clearinghouse is to provide a central site where individuals and organizations working in the conflict management field can access materials that support conflict analysis and prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. At the same time, the site will encourage development of the field itself by distilling best practices for creating and using multimedia in support of conflict management activities. The clearinghouse will also feature a discussion forum to support direct interaction among members of the field.

More info from Dr. Craig Zelizer, Associate Director , Master of Arts in Conflict Resolution,
Department of Government, Georgetown University, 3240 Prospect Street, Washington , DC 20007, E-mail: cz52@georgetown.edu, Tel. (202) 687-0512, Fax (202) 687-0597
Web: http://conflictresolution.georgetown.edu, http://internationalpeaceandconflict.org