Talking Peace, Exploring Conflict

Dr. Juan Manuel Jiménez Robles is an independent researcher and UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace.

Dr Majbritt Lyck-Bowen is Research Fellow of the Centre of Religion Reconciliation and Peace and Programme Leader of the Centre's MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding

Hugh Miall is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Kent, and Chair of the Conflict Research Society. His research covers theories of conflict and violence, conflict resolution, conflict prevention, peacemaking and peacebuilding, and the United Nations.

Anna King is Professor of Religious Studies and Social Anthropology and Director of Postgraduate Research in the University’s high-impact Centre for Religion, Reconciliation and Peace. Anna’s current research is focussed on Peace and Conflict Studies, and on the relationship between the religious, secular and postsecular, the role of religious and faith-based actors in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, and the links between theory and practice in religious peacebuilding and reconciliation processes.

Myanmar (formerly Burma) is a Southeast Asian nation of more than 100 ethnic groups, bordering India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. Professor Anna King and Dr Mark Owen have been working in Myanmar over the past 4-5 years. They met on the 4th of February 2021 to reflect on the crisis that unfolded earlier in the week when Aung San Suu Kyi and her government were overthrown in a coup d'état on 1st February 2021.

Read more about the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace here.

Sheniz Tan is founder and CEO of Asfar, which was launched in 2012, in order to provide opportunities for Young People and Communities in the UK, Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East & North Africa and the Balkans, through: Volunteering; Educational & Skills development programmes; Social Entrepreneurship; Sport for Peace; and Cultural & Transnational learning experiences.

Asfar also focuses on Women Economic Empowerment programmes; Gender Equality; and supports women in the Middle East & North Africa to develop social entrepreneurial skills and gain access to business and social enterprise sectors.

Sheniz Tan is an alumni of the MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding. 

Dr Majbritt Lyck-Bowen is Programme Manager of the MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding and member of the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace at the University of Winchester.

Thought Leader Series

Radical Disagreement - Emeritus Prof Oliver Ramsbotham in conversation with Professor Simon Keyes 

Oliver Ramsbotham is a specialist on conflict resolution and designed an original approach to handling 'intractable' conflict, which he calls ‘radical disagreement’. 

Oliver is Emeritus Professor of Conflict Resolution at the University of Bradford (UK) and President of the Conflict Research Society. He is series Co-Editor of Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution.

In addition to many articles, he has published books in a variety of related fields, including on nuclear deterrence, alternative defence options, and peacekeeping in the area of sustainable security, as well as books on dialogue and the management of radical disagreement, with a focus on the Middle East.

Professor Simon Keyes teaches on the MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding from the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace- University of Winchester.

Thought Leader Series

Professor Mitchell's research and teaching focuses on: Religion, Violence and Peacebuilding with particular reference to the arts (e.g. film, theatre, radio, visual arts as well as other new and old media). He has written and published extensively in these and related areas (e.g. the uses of different media arts in promoting peace and inciting violence; Communication Ethics; Theology & the Arts; Media, Religion and Culture; Memory, History and Religion).

Educated at the Universities of Cambridge (BA, MA), Durham (MA, Cert. Th.), and Edinburgh (PhD), Jolyon Mitchell worked as a producer and journalist for BBC World Service and BBC Radio 4 before he was appointed to the University of Edinburgh. As Director of the http://www.ed.ac.uk/divinity/research/centres/theology-public-issues(CTPI), President of the national association for Theology and Religious Studies (TRS-UK) [and until recently Academic Director of the http://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/(IASH)] he directs a number of interdisciplinary research projects and helps to host a wide range of public lectures and events. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

His recent publication, 'Peacebuilding and the Arts' explores the roles of film, theatre, literature, music, dance and visual arts in peacebuilding https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030178741 

Professor Anna King is a member of the Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace at the University of Winchester, you can find her academic profile here: https://www.winchester.ac.uk/about-us/leadership-and-governance/staff-directory/staff-profiles/king-1.php

Practioner Series

Dr Phill Gittins is World BEYOND War’s Education Director. World beyond war in a global movement for non-violence. He has 15+ years’ programming, analysis, and leadership experience in the areas of peace, education, and youth. He has particular expertise in context-specific approaches to peace programming; peacebuilding education; and youth inclusion in research and action.

To date, he has lived, worked, and travelled in over 50 countries across 6 continents; taught in schools, colleges, and universities in eight countries; and led experiential training and training-of-trainers for hundreds of individuals on peace and conflict processes. Other experience includes work in youth offending prisons; oversight management for youth and community projects; and consultation for public and non-profit organisations on peace, education, and youth issues.

Phill has received multiple awards for his contributions to peace and conflict work, including the Rotary Peace Fellowship and the Kathryn Davis Fellow for Peace. He is also a Peace Ambassador for the Institute for Economics and Peace. He earned his PhD in International Conflict Analysis, MA in Education, and a BA in Youth and Community Studies. He also holds postgraduate qualifications in Peace and Conflict Studies, Education and Training, and Teaching in Higher Education, and is a certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming Practitioner, counsellor, and project manager by training.

Dr Majbritt Lyck-Bowen is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Religion, Reconciliation and Peacebuilding at the University of Winchester. She is Programme Leader for the Centre's MA in Reconciliation and Peacebuilding where she teaches modules in Peacebuilding and Research Methods.

In August 2020 The Publication 'On the Significance of Religion in Conflict and Conflict Resolution' was published online in full. Authors: Schliesser, Kadayifci-Orellana, Kollontai.

The book is open access or can be purchased from Routledge. 

https://www.routledge.com/On-the-Significance-of-Religion-in-Conflict-and-Conflict-Resolution/Schliesser-Kadayifci-Orellana-Kollontai/p/book/9780367433925

In this ground-breaking volume, the authors analyze the role of religion in conflict and conflict resolution. They do so from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, while bringing different disciplines into play, including peace and conflict studies, religious studies, theology, and ethics. With much of current academic, political and public attention focusing on the conflictive dimensions of religion, this book also explores the constructive resources of religion for conflict resolution and reconciliation. Combining cutting-edge research with case studies and concrete implications for academics, policy makers, and practitioners, this concise and easily accessible volume helps to build bridges between these oftentimes separated spheres of engagement.

Dr Mark Owen (Director of the Centre of Religion Reconciliation and Peace) speaks with Dr Christine Schliesser to discover more about her journey into this area of research as well as discussing some of her points made in the publication. 

Dr Majbritt Lyck-Bowen learns about the work of Messengers of Peace in Liberia, speaking with former MA student Gwendolyn Myers - Founder & Executive Director of Messengers of Peace in Liberia. 

Gwendolyn was recently voted top- seven Women Peacebuilders in Africa and is to be featured in a documentary titled #FrontLineWomen 

https://www.facebook.com/Messengers-of-Peace-Liberia-IncMOP-Liberia-Inc-116112588449006/  

Dr Majbritt Lyck-Bowen Research Fellow and Programme Leader MA Reconciliation/MA Reconciliation and Peacebuilding

Part 1

After Father Michael Lapsley was exiled by the South African Government in 1976, he joined the African National Congress (ANC) and became one of their chaplains. Whilst living in Zimbabwe he discovered he was on the South African Government hit list.  In April 1990 he received a letter bomb in the post.

In 1992, he returned to South Africa to "find a nation of survivors, but a damaged nation. Everyone had a story – a truth – to tell. In my work I’ve developed a programme called the Healing of Memories. Our workshops explore the effects of South Africa’s past at an emotional, psychological and spiritual level. I try to support those who have suffered as they struggle to have their stories recognised."

Professor Simon Keyes from the University of Winchester's Centre of Religion, Reconciliation and Peace, speaks with Fr Lapsley about the healing of memories.