Report del dott. Marty Branagan , di  “UNE, UNIVERSITY OF NEW ENGLAND, AUSTRALIA”

Peace Studies at UNE

This year we have continued to run all our academic units in Peace Studies, although we have lost some students because of the lockdowns, and we have had to move to online classes only. We continue to receive excellent feedback from students, such as:

This unit has … been very beneficial, and … is teaching me to question everything.

Loving it – I am feeling enlightened, empowered and full of passion to make a positive impact in the world and contribute to the pursuit of positive peace.

To read about war-tax resistance … has been eye-opening for me because I don’t think I would have even known there were people out there challenging the system in this way if I wasn’t doing this unit – it has been so interesting!

… it makes my heart sing that we are looking at sustainable models such as this as part of this course

I have really loved discovering many non government sustainability organisations throughout this unit already. Gives me much faith in humanity.’

My commencement of PEAC102 Environmental Peace has given me hope and I am honoured to be with others who feel similar.

I am already having my mind blown with the content of this unit. Very excited to make some big changes in my life and reduce my own ecological footprint and help share the skills with friends and family.

… very interesting and extremely relevant in these times

Really enjoyed this week’s readings. I never knew education systems such as Steiner Schooling existed!

this unit is opening my mind to so much i have had no idea about. 

My expectations have already been exceeded and I have found the unit itself truly eye-opening.

The readings this week were wonderful. I feel inspired by reading about the large-scale efforts after WWI by so many activist groups to find a sustainable peace. The fact that women’s groups, and a group of aboriginals were also voicing their dislike for war, and a desire for long-term peace is encouraging.

I just finished PEAC352 and it was an amazing and an eye opening experience

thank you for another enlightening unit!  Gave me some brilliant food for thought, especially as we descend into a new era here in the Philippines.

… thank you so much for a brilliant unit. This was one of the most fascinating, informative, practical and passion-building subjects I have ever gotten to do.

2020 UNE Peace Conference

Earlier this year we held an international conference at our Sydney campus, Rethinking Peace, Conflict and Governance, which was very successful, although, being at the start of the pandemic, a number of speakers and delegates were unable to attend. Fortunately we had provisions in place for speakers from South Africa, Japan and the USA to present their talks by Zoom. The conference was very multicultural, gender-balanced and environmentally-friendly, and was opened with a Welcome to Country by a local Aboriginal Elder (see https://sites.google.com/view/ipranewsletter/) To view a selection of the presentations, see https://www.une.edu.au/about-une/faculty-of-humanities-arts-social-sciences-and-education/hass/news-and-events/rethinking-peace-conflict-and-governance-conference

PhD Programme

We continue to have excellent success with our PhD programme, which mainly involves international students, often from countries in recovery from armed conflict. A recent success was Sam Onapa Angulo, who received the Chancellor’s Doctoral Medal for excellence. A story on him can be found here: https://blog.une.edu.au/hasse/2020/08/17/high-achievers-plan-for-peace/

Former students continue to thrive, such as Dr Johanna Garnett and her environmental peace work in Myanmar (see story here: https://mailchi.mp/f5fe0abf4343/hasse-news-october-4548322?e=80d61ccccb) and Dr Vanessa Bible, a UN Humanitarian Affairs Peace Ambassador 2020. Both are current staff members, and Vanessa was instrumental in moving our annual Nonviolence Film Festival online this year. https://www.une.edu.au/about-une/faculty-of-humanities-arts-social-sciences-and-education/hass/news-and-events/11th-annual-nonviolence-film-festival

Research

We continue to be very research active, with strong involvement in a forthcoming book in the environmental humanities, entitled Rethinking Wilderness and The Wild (Routlege, in press). We have also engaged in numerous conferences such as the International Symposium on Society and Resource Management (ISSRM) 2020, and an online international conference broadcast live on Kazakhstan national TV: “75 Years after WWII: Shared lessons and memories for humanity”, Eurasian National University, Kazakhstan.

After a long Australasian campaign led by Marty Branagan and Peace Studies@UNE, the Australia Research Council’s Peace Studies research codes have now been finalised. These represents a major leap forward for the discipline across Australia and New Zealand, as Peace research can now be classified as follows: FOR – 440810 Peace Studies (in Political Science); SEO – 230305 Peace and Conflict (in International Relations).

We also continue to engage in the community, such as through speaking at the 2020 Steam Dreaming Conference, making submissions, and participating in advocacy and artistic activism.

Marty Branagan, PhD

Convenor of Peace Studies,

UNE