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UPEACE PODCASTS
"Presentation with Oliver Richmond"
Prof. Oliver Richmond, who developed the theory of liberal peace, made a presentation at UPEACE on Tuesday 10 January 2012. He explored often countervailing forces and norms of state formation, statebuilding, and peacebuilding according to their associated theoretical approaches, concepts and methodologies; introducing the new concept of ‘peace formation' which counterbalances the previous concepts' reliance on internal violent or externalised institutions and agency, reform and conditionality.
Recorded on January 2012.
"Interviews with participants at the summer course with UC Berkeley, June 2011."
Recorded on June 2011.
Professor Jerry Sanders, Chair Peace and Conflict Studies, University California Berkeley.
Kajal Shahali (Iran) Major in Peace and Conflict Studies, University California Berkeley.
Oliver Amrstrong (USA) Major in Peace and Conflict Studies, University California Berkeley.
"Interview with Roshan Paul with Ashoka"
From 2003-2006, Roshan helped launch Ashoka's Youth Venture program in India. In 2008, he rejoined Ashoka, with the Global Venture and Fellowship team, which manages the Ashoka Fellow selection process and expansion to new countries and areas of work. He also runs Ashoka's Fellow Security Program. Originally from Bangalore, Roshan has a Bachelor's in International Relations from Davidson College and a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. He is keenly interested in issues of conflict and disaster mitigation, and is particularly interested in launching/strengthening Ashoka's work in some of the hardest parts of the world to be a social entrepreneur.
Recorded on July 2010.
"Oscar Torres at UPEACE"
Oscar Torres (El Salvador) is a young filmmaker based in California-USA. His fist film in which he was involved as scriptwriter is Innocent Voices-2005. It is about children in wars and based on actual deeds in the Oscar Torres' life
After his survival in the Salvadorian civil war, Oscar Torres became a filmmaker on several topics: urban violence, street children and environmental protection. He is committed in putting films and arts as effective instruments for peace building.
This is an interview made by Eliana Carvalho from the Peace Education Department of UPEACE on his first visit to our Campus.
Recorded on June 2010.
"Hugo Salinas-Price gives a special lecture at UPEACE "
Hugo Salinas Price (Mexico) is a successful, retired Mexican businessman, founder of Mexico's Elektra retail chain. He has been a follower of the Austrian School of Economics since his youth. He has written three books in Spanish on how and why silver should be instituted as money in Mexico, in parallel with paper money, and numerous related articles in English and Spanish, posted at his website. His organization, the Mexican Civic Association Pro Silver, is actively lobbying the Mexican Congress to approve legislation, which will institute the pure silver "Libertad" ounce as money.
Recorded on June 2010.
"Experiences of 15 years and the impact of an UPEACE alumnus in UN Peace Operations"
Douglas Campos (Costa Rica) alumnus from UPEACE MA in International Relations and Cooperation (1993), he is working with United Nations since more than 15 years in peace missions in Sarajevo, Angola, Mongolia, Timor Leste and many more countries. Now he is based in Cote D'Ivoire working with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General -SRSG- as his deputy Chief of Staff.
Recorded on February 2010.
"A peaceful future."
UPEACE has been featured in the 2010 series of Future Tense from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In this program we hear from people who believe that it's not only possible to build a more peaceful future, but that construction is already underway. Rector Maresca was one of the participants.
Recorded on January 2010.
Go to the podcast on ABC Radio National >>
"Peacebuilding in Liberia, a post conflict country."
Ms. Yvette Chesson-Wureh is currently the Establishment Coordinator of the Angie Brooks Internatioinal Centre on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace & Security. From March 2008-May 2009, she was the Manager of the International Colloquium on Women's Empowerment, Leadership Development, International Peace & Security which was held in Monrovia, Liberia March &-10 (International & National Dimensions) 2009. Over 2000 women attended the Colloquium from all walks of life. From 2006-2008 she was Elections Judge for the State of Maryland, and Chief Elections Judge. She was also concurrently the Senior Domestic Relations Attorney for the Legal Aid Bureau in Maryland, USA. She was an attorney with the Bureau for nearly 20 year.
She has been an advocate for Liberia for more than 20 years in the United States and Abroad at: the White House, U.S. Congress, ECOWAS, the Security Council, all branches of Liberian Government, and many Liberian communities worldwide.
Recorded on September 2009.
"The Role of the Civil Society in the Empowerment of Women in Africa Using the African Women's Protocol."
Hannah Forster is the Executive Director of the African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies (ACDHRS) based in Banjul , The Gambia. She has been Guest Lecturer at a number of institutions, including Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa. She is involved with several human rights organizations at various levels as well as with professional and academic journals in various capacities. From 2002 to date, she is a Member of the Follow Up Committee on the Robben Island Guidelines of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and is currently the Convenor of the Forum of NGOs which precedes the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. She has developed training modules for human rights and peace and has also written extensively on human rights, the situation of women in Africa, civil society, and human rights education. Her areas of teaching interest include International Human Rights Law, Gender and the Law and Human Rights Documentation and Information Handling Techniques.
Recorded on March 2009.
"Globalizing Responsibilities towards a Culture of Security and Peace"
Dr. Cornelio Sommaruga (born December 29, 1932 in Rome) is a prominent Swiss humanitarian, lawyer and diplomat who is best known for being President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 1987 to 1999. Today, he chairs the International Center for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Geneva. He is also active on a number of boards, such as the International Cancer Foundation.
Recorded on February 2009.
Sport and Peace
Dr. Marion Keim Lees’ academic and professional career are multi-disciplinary, combining her passion for sport, peace building, community development and social transformation. She holds a D Phil in Sport Science from the University of Heidelberg, Germany and a LLB degree from the Law Faculty of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She is certified in Sports Law and Mediation and is an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa.
In addition to her work as an associate professor in the Institute for Social Development/ School of Government and coordinator of the Social Transformation and Peace Programme at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa she co-coordinates a provincial Network of 32 NGOs, the Western Cape Network for Community Peace and Development, with its very successful Kicking for Peace Programme. She will share with us her thoughts around the history, philosophy and principles of sport as a tool for peace building and development and its challenges and opportunities in her practical work in South Africa today.
Recorded on January 2009.
HIV/AIDS in the US, India, and South Africa
Jim Lees is an anthropologist and senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa and holds a Ph.D. in Education. He has been working professionally and as an activist with the AIDS pandemic since HIV emerged in the early 1980's. Dr. Lees will share his own experiences of working with AIDS in the United States, India and South Africa, raising critical questions about current Northern-sponsored AIDS intervention policies and practices in South Africa that he contends are sometimes part of the problem and not part of the solution. Finding a solution to the AIDS pandemic, Dr. Lees proposes, is similar to the task of creating a peaceful world, requiring healing historical wounds as well as a transformation of our relationships with ourselves and within and between our communities and nations.
Recorded on January 2009.
President of the UN Security Council and Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission presentation at UPEACE
The presentation by Ambassador Yukio Takasu representative of Japan to the United Nations and Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission, is about the role of the UN in Peacebuilding in general, and of the Peacebuilding Commission on post-conflict management in particular (as per the mandate of the Peacebuilding Commission).
The presentation by Ambassador Jorge Urbina representative of Costa Rica to the United Nations and President of the Security Council, will be on the role of the UN on peace and security, and the role of the Security Council.
Recorded on November 2008.
Crucitas gold mine: environmental, social, and legal aspects of the current controversy Round Table Discussion
The development of the Crucitas gold mine in the North of Costa Rica by Infinito Gold, Inc., (previously Vanessa Ventures) from Canada, has become very controversial. Here there is a unique opportunity to learn more first-hand about this case in a Round Table discussion about the mine, recorded on Wednesday 12 of November 2008 at UPEACE.
Panelists:
John Thomas, Industrias Infinito Vice president; Miguel Arriaza, Industrias Infinito mining company; Jose Francisco Castro, Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications (MINAET) Director of Geology and Mines; Heidy Murillo Quesada, Northern Front in opposition to mining and Conservation Federation of Costa Rica (FECON); Gladys Martinez, Interamerican Association for the Defense of the Environment (AIDA); Nicolas Boeglin, Professor of International Public Law, University of Costa Rica.
Recorded on November 2008.
Mona Eltahawy
"Generation Facebook - How Blogs and Social Networking Sites are Changing the Arab World."
Mona Eltahawy, an award-winning syndicated columnist and international journalist on Arab and Muslim issues visited the UPEACE campus from 22 to 26 September 2008.
In this presentation, Mona talks about the new approaches of civil journalism, and how the new technologies are changing the concept of media, especially in the Arab world.
Recorded on September 2008.
Public Forum
Role of Civil Society and Experiences in “Promoting Peace through Dialogue”
Organized Jointly by the University for Peace and Global Majority as Part of the Two-Week Training Seminar on International Negotiation, Mediation, and Conflict Resolution.
Keynote Speaker:
Hon. Judge Juan Salvador Guzmán Tapia (Chile)
Panelists:
Dr. Boatamo Mosupyoe (South Africa)
Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding (USA)
Ms. Luz Maria Helguero (Perú)
Dr. Amr Abdalla (Egypt)
University for Peace and Global Majority hosted a public forum featuring key figures in the field of peace and nonviolent conflict resolution. Hear of the pursuit of human rights by the judge who prosecuted former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet. Also, learn about the civil society’s role in:
- Ending the apartheid in South Africa;
- Bringing to light tacit issues in US domestic policy on race, ethnicity and gender;
- Investigating and reporting on human rights abuses of the indigenous peoples of Perú; and
- Promoting tolerance and peaceful coexistence across religious and cultural lines.
Recorded on Friday, June 6, 2008
Hon. Juan Salvador Guzmán Tapia is currently the Dean of the Law School at the Universidad Central de Chile in Santiago, where he also teaches human rights at the School of Journalism at the Universidad de la República, and teaches criminal law at the School of Law at the Universidad de las Américas. He has published four books and many articles and essays in legal publications. Judge Guzmán is most notably recognized in the international community as the judge who prosecuted former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet on human rights charges. As an Appeals Court Judge, Guzmán opposed the democratically elected Salvador Allende and supported General Pinochet until being assigned, by judicial lottery in 1998, the first criminal cases against him. In 2008, a feature length documentary "The Judge and the General" was produced, which portrays the story of Judge Guzmán's life's work. Guzmán resides in Santiago with his wife, Inez.
Dr. Boatamo "Ati" Mosupyoe is Professor and Director of Pan African Studies in the Ethnic Studies Department at California State University, Sacramento. She received some of her education in South Africa and her Masters and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She came to the United States after the loss of her three-year-old son, Thamsanqa, and husband, Simmy, on the same day and at the same time when she was expecting one of her daughters. She worked with the Anti-Apartheid Movement and was also the chair of the South African International Student Organization and a member of its national executive. In addition to being an activist, she is also a scholar who has authored three books, contributed chapters in books, and edited three others. The latest book that she edited is called "SOWETO Explodes" and chronicles the role of the youth and civil society in the struggle against apartheid. Her current research interests focus on immigration issues and recent African immigrants in the U.S. Dr. Mosupyoe has received numerous awards that honor her contribution as a teacher, a peace activist, and a community worker. To name but a few: she has been cited four times in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, received a 1999 Pierce College Outstanding Faculty of the Year award, and received the A Roland Weis Award for her contribution to promoting awareness against genocide. In addition to being on the Global Majority Board of Directors and the International Advisory Board, she promotes bead work of rural South African women in the USA and the world to help alleviate poverty.
Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding is the Chair of the department of Women’s Studies and a professor of Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Cameron Wedding’s scholarship focuses on race and gender disproportionality in institutions like child welfare, and its implications to the education and the criminal justice system. Dr. Cameron Wedding’s work on diversity and social justice is international in scope. Her work in Africa, China and Mexico has focused on the economic status of women, domestic violence, environmental racism and immigration. As a Fulbright Scholar she conducted research in Tanzania and South Africa on women’s informal economy. She is currently working on collaboration with faculty from California State University, Sacramento, UNISA (University of South Africa) and the Human Rights Foundation of Johannesburg to develop an institute in 2008 to address issues of the African Diaspora. In 2005 and 2007 she was a guest on a national South African talk radio show in Johannesburg and Cape Town South Africa. In 2003 Dr. Cameron Wedding co-edited a text-book, Ethnic America: Reading in Race, Class and Gender. In 2004 she co-authored Institutions, Ideologies and Individuals: Feminist Perspectives on Gender, Race and Class. Also in 2004 Dr. Cameron Wedding received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award for the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies at CSUS. Dr. Cameron Wedding served two terms as a Governor’s appointee to the California Commission on the Status of Women and was appointed in 2007 to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. She recently joined Global Majority as a newest member of the International Advisory Board.
Ms. Luz Maria Helguero is an International Advisory Board member of Global Majority since the Board’s inception in May 2004. She is a seasoned Peruvian professional with broad international, national and local experience relating to journalism, consensus building, management and community advocacy across a spectrum of issues: environmental, health, political, economic, drug and crime prevention, emergency preparedness, corruption accountability, and literacy. In 2003 she founded La Red de Periodistas Provinciales to provide a forum, support and training for journalists in the provinces of Perú. Since then, they have provided training to 350 journalists throughout Perú in areas where opportunities for training are scant. She was a Reagan-Fascell Fellow with the National Endowment for Democracy and a John S. Knight Fellow at Stanford University. She received her BA in Journalism and MA in Management Studies from Universidad de Piura, Perú.
Dr. Amr Abdalla is a Professor and Vice Rector for Academic Affairs at the United Nations-affiliated University for Peace, and currently teaches courses on conflict analysis and resolution, terrorism, and research methods in the area of peacebuilding. Before arriving at UPEACE, he was a Senior Fellow with the Peace Operations Policy Program, School of Public Policy, at George Mason University, in Virginia, USA. He was also a Visiting Professor of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences in Leesburg, Virginia. Dr. Abdalla obtained a law degree in Egypt in 1977, and after emigrating to the U.S. obtained a Master's degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. Most recently, he has been teaching graduate classes in conflict analysis and resolution, and conducted training, research and evaluation of conflict resolution and peacebuilding programs in Egypt, Switzerland, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Italy, Rwanda, Ireland, Iraq, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Zambia. He also authored, and co-authored, several research and evaluation teaching manuals including: Doing What You Want With Your Data, A Step-by-Step Guide to Planning and Implementing Evaluation Strategies, and Qualitative Evaluation: The What and Why. Dr. Abdalla has also been actively involved in inter-faith dialogues in the United States. He pioneered the development of the first conflict resolution training manual for the Muslim communities in the United States titled (“…Say Peace”). He founded Project LIGHT (Learning Islamic Guidance for Human Tolerance), a community peer-based anti-discrimination project funded by the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ).
Vice Rector of Academic Affairs Amr Abdalla "Universities Partnering for Peace: Unlimited Opportunities"
Amr Abdalla (Egypt)
Vice Rector for Academic Affairs
Ph.D., Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, Spring 2001. Master's Degree, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia, Spring 1992. LL.B. in Law, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, Spring 1977.
The lecture on Universities Partnering for Peace: Unlimited Opportunities, focused on revealing the unique qualities of universities which prepare them to play a key role in peacemaking and peacebuilding, Such qualities include the academic sanctuary; respect to universities in communities; safe space for dialogue; multicultural haven for students and staff; and, access to information in the age of technology. The lecture also addressed the role UPEACE plays worldwide to spread the knowledge and skills of peacemaking and peacebuilding via partnerships and various types of training and curriculum development workshops.
Recorded on march 2008.
Dowload the podcast Part II >>
Vice Rector Georges Tsaï "Language and Conflict"
Executive Vice Rector UPEACE
Licence in political science, completed PhD courses, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland. BA of Commerce degree from Collège St-Michel, Fribourg, Switzerland. Disciplines: Ethics of Peace and War; Migration, Peace and Security.
Conflict and language, was the title of the first lecture given by Georges Tsaï as part of the course Contemporary Issues on International Peace. G. Tsaï´s experience in multicultural environments was the catalyst that helped initiate a reflection over the uses of language and the role that language plays in conflicts. He drew from his personal and professional life to render intelligible the concept of linguistic diversity as an important dimension of conflict in most plural societies. A language criterion —explained Tsaï— has been used as an element of segregation, or even as a defining factor that lead to ethnic genocide. The issue of language has strong political underpinnings because it plays an important role in shaping identity. *
*Abstract from students’ thoughts on the lecture
Recorded on february 2008.
Dowload the podcast Part II >>
Dr. Gerald Caplan "Genocide Prevention"
Dr. Gerry Caplan is a leading Canadian authority on genocide and genocide prevention. An internationally recognized expert on the Rwanda genocide, and determined that Never Again becomes a reality rather than s slogan, Gerry speaks around the world on why genocides happen and why those with the capacity to prevent them fail to do so.
Gerald Caplan, who has a Ph.D. in African history from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, has been involved in African issues for many years. He is a senior consultant for the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa and has just completed a report for the Africa Union and UNICEF on The State of Africa's Children. Also Dr. Caplan is a Visiting Professor at University for Peace.
Recorded on January 2008.
Screenwriter Oscar Torres talks about his film "Innocent Voices"
Conversation with the screenwriter Oscar Torres and UPEACE students on the Film and Conflict Course. His film "Innocent Voices" tells the story of El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy. Co-writer Oscar Torres escaped to the United States from his native land and lived through the events dramatized onscreen.
Here, Torres talks about his experiences, motivations, the healing process and expectations around his work.
Recorded on January 2008
Entrepreneurship in the Social Sector
The worlds of “working for the betterment of society” and “generating revenues” are often seen as incompatible. Mohit Mukherjee presents a new perspective on this problem.
Mohit Mukherjee is the Director of the UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education as well as a faculty member at UPEACE. Prior to this position, he served for four years as Education Programme Manager of the Earth Charter Initiative, an international nonprofit organization. He also spent three years in the private sector, at A.T. Kearney, a top-tier international management consulting firm based in USA, and three years as an educator in Ecuador. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, and did his Master’s at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, also taking two courses at Harvard Business School on how to start up, manage, and grow social enterprises. Mohit is an avid tennis player, though is struggling to find the "win-win" scenario on the court.
Recorded on July 2007.
UPEACE Centre for Executive and Professional Education web site here >>
UPEACE's Students talks about UPEACE
A group of UPEACE students talks about their experiences from their arrival to their last days at the University; their relationship with their fellow students and teachers, life at Costa Rica and the cultural and academic experience of being in this particular Institution. Listen from firsthand the diversity, multiculturalism and the learning process that created a permanent bond with the UPEACE network.
With Mary Lind (USA), Ross Ryan (Canada), Yara Saab (Lebannon), Sandra Tumwesigye (Uganda).
Recorded on June 2007.
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