Think Peace Podcast: Where Peace Crosses the Mind

As human beings, we value our dignity and have an innate tendency to defend our dignity when it comes under threat. Why is dignity so important to us and what role can it play in healing and reconciling differences? On this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with Dr. Donna Hicks, an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, to discuss what exactly dignity is, her experiences working with those who have had their dignity infringed upon and the road to recovery from these acts.

The road to transformation from trauma is often a winding and daunting path no matter what form the trauma comes in or its origin. Fortunately, this path does not have to be an impossible one. In this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with university lecturer and researcher Dr. Nena Mocnik to discuss the traumatic impact of war, the intergenerational effects of trauma, sexual violence in war, and pathways to recovering from and reconciling with these violent acts.

In this week’s episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with Manal Omar, a pioneering change-maker and peacebuilder who has worked in conflict-affected countries around the world.

Manal shares her insights about everything from the role of economics, identity, and religion in protracted violence to the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to peacebuilding and the role of spirituality, reconciliation, forgiveness, and trauma in this work.

And how her work in the peacebuilding, humanitarian, and development fields led her to focus more squarely on empowering women’s leadership by creating, “Across Red Lines,” a pathbreaking organization aimed at encouraging Muslim women to reach their full transformative potential.

Meditation as a practice has been around for ages. Yet some communities are only now beginning to explore its potential for transformation. In this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with social innovator Mandar Apte to discuss why he believes meditation is so important, some of his experiences introducing meditation to new communities, and how meditation has changed the lives of those he has encountered.

Our childhood experiences can serve as the foundation for us to become healthy and high functioning adults, but what happens if your childhood was made up of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)? These are experiences can have long lasting effects into adulthood and the stressors of these instances can affect our mental, physical, and emotional health over time. These experiences can also contribute to aggression and violence. In this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with social epidemiologist Dr. Elizabeth Mumford to break down the field of social epidemiology, the impact of ACEs on the human experience and how this also correlates to a phenomenon called “weathering,” whereby chronic toxic stress exposures over one’s life, together with efforts to survive them, can increase the aging process, be detrimental to health outcomes, and affect our behaviors.

Stress affects the human brain and body in a number of different ways. It can affect our decision making as well as our bodies. The human brain perceives and processes stress and determines how the body will react to these outside stressors through a process called neuroception. On this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with Dr. Elizabeth Stanley, a professor of Security Studies and former intelligence officer to discuss how we react to stress in times of conflict, how the process of neuroception works, and how strengthening the mind is a major key to managing stress.

Rituals have played a major role within human society since the dawn of civilization. They have helped us advance as a species through interconnectedness and social bonding, some key components of culture and spirituality. On this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with international peacebuilder and spiritual healer Dr. Beatrice Pouligny to converse about the research she has done on this work, the neurobiology of the brain and the intersection of peacebuilding, culture and spirituality.

Being a peacebuilder is not for everyone. Those who are involved with this work felt a natural affinity towards the field. An altruistic spirit and a good heart are some of the necessary tools of the trade when it comes to peacebuilding. On this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with globally recognized peacebuilding practitioner and 2005 Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Tecla Namachanja Wanjala as they discuss Tecla’s affinity for this work, her experiences conducting peace processes in Kenya as well as the unforeseen effects of traumatic experiences.

Animals that exist today have evolved from the first of their species. But what makes animals evolve the way that they do? Why have humans evolved and gained certain adaptations and advantages specific to the brain while other animals have evolved differently? There is a field of study for this known as evolutionary psychology which is the study of Darwinian principles to try to understand human nature. In this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, our host Colette Rausch sits down with evolutionary psychologist Dr. Matt Rossano to discuss what evolutionary psychology is, what drew him to the field, what specific characteristic allows humans to thrive and the role that ritual has played in advancing human society forward.

Many people find peacebuilding to be a noble career but not everyone understands the journey of a peacebuilder or how exactly they go about “building peace”. The career of a peacebuilder is expansive and often multidisciplinary with an emphasis on understanding human nature. In this episode of the Think Peace Podcast, host Colette Rausch sits down with peacebuilder and CEO of Beyond Conflict Tim Phillips to talk about the role that shared experiences play in this work, the early iterations of transitional justice, and how understanding the human brain and behavior goes a long way in this field.