College of Psychology and Humanistic Studies

Conflict transformation handbook available free online

 

The Berghof Handbook for Conflict Transformation is Berghof Conflict Research’s key publication. Constantly evolving and developing, this online platform presents cutting-edge knowledge and experience for scholars and practitioners working on transforming violent ethnopolitical conflict.

Since its inception in 1999, the Berghof Handbook is designed to present state-of-the-art research and practice in conflict transformation to an international audience. It has three primary aims:

• fostering critical discussion both among and between academics and practitioners;
• bridging the gap between theory and practice in the field of conflict transformation; and
• including a wide range of voices and perspectives from different regions throughout the world, as well as from multiple disciplines and faculties.

Dr. Jürgen Kremer and Saybrook doctoral candidate Robert Jackson-Paton develop textbook on ethnoautobiography

This past fall, Saybrook's Jürgen Kremer and Robert Jackson-Paton developed and piloted a textbook for use at Sonoma State University (SSU), based on their work in ethnoautobiography . The book contains a glossary, practical activities, and case studies to help students understand ethnoautobiography and use it as an effective research tool.

Following the success of the pilot version, the book will be submitted for publication next summer and used in additional upcoming courses - both at SSU and the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS). The book is titled

Stories of Decolonization, Autobiography, Ethnicity: Unlearning Whiteness and Reclaiming Participatory Senses of Place and Society - An Ethnoautobiographical Workbook

Expanding on a manuscript that was published by Prof. Kremer in 2003, the book considers ethnoautobiography to be a practice of radical presence. A helpful glossary is included, describing central terms used in this book. Rather than call it a glossary, however, Kremer and Jackson-Paton prefer the term “conversation pieces” because these are “reflections intended to stimulate conversation” rather than inflexible and finalized definitions.

Saybrook Professor George Kent publishes 2 new books

 

Saybrook Professor George Kent - who teaches STR 6585 "The Human Right to Adequate Food" - has published Ending Hunger Worldwide, a book that challenges the naïve notion that everyone wants hunger to end. Rather, hunger ensures that some people will work for very low pay, so employers make good profits and consumers enjoy cheap goods. Hunger analysts typically focus on agriculture yields and interventions with capsules and supplements. They rarely acknowledge that hunger is a deeply social issue that is shaped by the ways in which people treat each other. The central concept that drives the book is that in strong communities, people don’t go hungry. Strong communities have high levels of concern about one another’s well-being. People may provide food to one another when that is necessary, but more fundamentally, they ensure that all have decent opportunities to provide for themselves.There is no shortage of food in the world; there is a shortage of opportunities.

Kent's other recent publication, Regulating Infant Formula, assesses the widespread assumption that the government or some international agency is monitoring the quality of infant formula. Government agencies sometimes raise alarms when a batch of formula is seriously contaminated, but they are not monitoring the product to ensure the health of children. More than half the infant formula used in the U.S. is provided by the government, at no cost to the families. The government monitors the economic impact on the manufacturers, but not the impact on the health of children. It has been estimated that more than 900 children in the U.S. die each year because they have been fed with infant formula.

Professor Kent was invited last year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to speak on Ending on Hunger Worldwide for its Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition. The report from this event is available as a pdf for download.

Videos of Peace Movements Worldwide event now online!

On October 30th, AHIMSA and The Metta Center for Nonviolence Education presented a free public forum, entitled: Taking stock of peace: Inspiration from Peace Movements Worldwide.

This special event launched the recent publication of Peace Movements Worldwide, a three-volume anthology with chapters covering insights and action from every continent with accounts of courageous and creative actions, ranging from the personal to the global.

Saybrook professor Marc Pilisuk co-edited the volume and speakers included members of the Saybrook community: Donald Rothberg, Melissa Anderson-Hinn, Angel Ryono, Gianina Pellegrini, and moderator Bob Flax.

The event was recorded by Wolfgang Saumweber and made available free online, in 5 parts.