Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in Bosnia & Herzegovina

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The citizens of Bosnia in the early 1990s experienced the most tragic war in Europe and the Balkans had seen since World War II, as it was also the scene of major war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocides. But that’s not the whole story since Bosnia was also the scene of heroic gestures across enemy lines between peacebuilding Catholics, Muslims, Jews, and Orthodox Christians. Countless lives were saved by individuals, and creative communities of care were established across enemy lines. In this course, students will study inter-ethnic and inter-religious war, the heroic efforts to do just the opposite through healing and care, and the implications of this paradoxical story for global war and peace.

With Dr. Marc Gopin, the leading global expert on Conflict Healing and Compassionate Reasoning in divided societies, students will travel to Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka, where they will engage bridgebuilders between conflicting communities, guided by an extraordinary survivor and champion of human rights for all, meet essential organizations, and interact with young women and men creatively engaged in positive change in the current climate.

Students will be trained in Dr. Gopin’s latest conflict resolution methodologies, Conflict Healing and Compassionate Reasoning, and their creative applications to and practical uses for post-conflict peacebuilding and beyond. This training, combined with the intensive exposure to heroic survivors and peacemakers, will begin with your transformation. Conflict Healing as a technique and an ethic of being in the world begins with every person and extends outward to family, community and society.

Course Topics

• Conflict management and healing in war and post-war
• Post-war reconciliation work
• Interfaith peacebuilding during and after war
• Women and youth
• Justice and peace
• Trauma and healing
• Education for sustainable peace

During our stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we will engage in conversations with organizations, institutions, and individuals, such as the following:

• Father Ivo Markovic, recipient of the Tanenbaum Peacemakers in Action award and founder of the interfaith Pontanima Choir
• Jakob Finci, President of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• UN International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• Office of High Representative
• International Multi-religious Intercultural Center
• Key scholars and practitioners working in the Balkans on areas such as: international law and prosecution, interfaith peacebuilding, reconciliation and peacebuilding, empowerment of young women as change makers, cohesive society.
• Grassroot actors, such as Most Mira Project and Youth for Peace

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