Post-Conflict Peacebuilding in Bosnia & Herzegovina

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In the 1990s, Bosnia was the focal point of the most tragic war that Europe and the Balkans had seen since World War II. It was also the scene of major war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and acts of genocide that transfixed Europe and the world. At the same time, nothing is what it seems in racial and ethnic wars. Bosnia was also the scene of heroic gestures across enemy lines between peacebuilding Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Countless lives were saved by individual heroes, and communities of care were established. This is a story of conflict management, peacebuilding, and reconciliation between extraordinarily heroic people. This combines with a tale of horror, and a stubborn persistence of managed ceasefire that has not led to positive change and reconciliation. In this course, students will study the tragedy of inter-ethnic and inter-religious war, the heroic efforts to do just the opposite, and the implications for global war and global peace. With Professor Marc Gopin students will travel to Sarajevo, Mostar, and Banja Luka, where they will be guided by major heroes of Bosnian inter-religious peacebuilding, meet extraordinary organizations, and interact with average people creatively engaged in positive change.

Course Topics

• Post-conflict reconstruction
• Conflict management in the midst of war
• Post-war reconciliation work
• Interfaith peacebuilding during and after war
• 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
• Tunel Spasa (Tunnel of Hope)
• Most Mira Project
• Jakob Finci, President of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina
• United Nations Development Programme
• Institute for Islamic Bosnian Tradition
• Key scholars and practitioners working on interfaith peacebuilding in the Balkans