GPC-3: Understanding "Us" to Know "Them"
Our identities are how we define ourselves to the world. With so many layers, we navigate our lives and connect to other people and groups based on numerous self-definitions we choose for ourselves or are sometimes imposed on us by others. Our recent work in Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand taught us that people can transcend borders and some of the most common aspects of identity (nationality, ethnicity, culture) through exploring other layers that can equally connect someone to ‘the other’ in unexpected ways. Join this creative and experiential session that works to support you to identify your own unique identity markers and explore how your identity markers might impact others but can also allow you to connect to who you may have once thought outside of your group/community.
This session is inspired from the recent publication authored by the presenters: Who's Listening? Understanding 'Us' to know 'Them'.
Featuring:
Le Sen works on the intersection of gender and peace and focuses specifically on issues of multiple marginalisation and intersectionality among minority groups. She is the Minority Women Representative at Women Peace Makers and co-author of Making the Space: Voices from girls of Cambodian minority communities. Spending three years carrying out participatory research in Cambodia with girls and young women from ethnic, religious, and cultural minority groups, she has fostered networks and advocated on minority issues at the local, national, and international levels. Le is currently working on the Global Campaign for Peace at Peace Direct and is an upcoming Rotary Peace Fellow for 2023 at Uppsala University.
Phasiree Thanasin, from Chiang Mai, Thailand is the Women Peace Makers in-country director for Thailand and consults for the Pacific Testing Center and Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) based in Hawai’i, USA. She works with Pacific Island communities in Hawai’i, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Republic of Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. A recent Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow at the East-West Center, her focus of expertise is on education and mental health. She is co-author of the recent publication Who’s Listening? Understanding ‘Us’ to know ‘Them.’
Staci B. Martin, EdD is a learner, educator, Fulbright Scholar, and Rotary Peace Fellow (Chulalongkorn University, 2020) that focuses on critical hope and despair, psychosocial and social-emotional learning, peacebuilding, and higher education in protracted and conflict contexts. She is a Speaking for Ourselves Action Research (SOAR) researcher that is committed to co-creating practical solutions that are culturally responsive and led by, for, and in partnership with the impacted community, especially refugee communities. She has designed and implemented four psychosocial peace building educational programs in South Africa, Nepal, Jamaica, and Kenya and recently co-authored the book Who’s Listening? Understanding ‘Us’ to know ‘Them.’ Dr. Martin is faculty member of School of Social Work at Portland State University, Portland, Oregon.
Raymond Hyma is a conflict transformation adviser at Women Peace Makers and co-developer of Facilitative Listening Design (FLD), a participatory action peace research methodology leveraging inquiry to build alliances between conflict parties and learn about each other through the process. A two-time Rotary Peace Fellow, Raymond completed the master programme at the Universidad del Salvador in Argentina as well as the professional development certificate at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand. He is a recent Asia Pacific Leadership Fellow at the East-West Center in Hawai’i and current Rei Foundation Scholar pursuing a PhD at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand. His research explores the dimensions of bias in participatory research and the potential for conflict transformation and he is co-author of the recent publication Who’s Listening? Understanding ‘Us’ to know ‘Them.’
Facilitators:
Elaine Pratley (Rotary Peace Fellow, 2011 Chulalongkorn University) is a peace mobilizer and broker of partnerships in Melbourne, Australia. She developed her practice in partnerships in the government, corporate and not-for-profit sectors, and is completing a PhD at the University of Melbourne on youth peacebuilding and food. She was the co-chair of the 2021 Global Peace Conference (GPC-2) and Asia-Oceania Regional Lead in 2020 and 2023 (GPC-1 and 3). She has lived in Switzerland, Malaysia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand and China and loves working with inter-generational and intercultural teams.
Kate Huth splits her time between being a teacher and a student at the various Universities in Brisbane. Her main focus is in the areas of teacher education and digital literacies using alternative training methods. She has recently returned to her hippie roots and moved into an off-grid tiny house.
Anushka Kahandagamage is a doctoral student in the University of Otago Religion Program. She earned her MPhil (Sociology) from South Asian University, New Delhi, and a Master's degree (Sociology) from the University of Colombo. She served as one of the researchers at the Consultation Task Force on Reconciliation Mechanisms in Sri Lanka. Her academic interests lie in colonial studies, gender, Buddhism, and visual anthropology.
Hyeyoung Shin is a PhD candidate at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, the University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is currently exploring the everyday peace of migrant workers in South Korea. Formerly a social worker, she has been involved in human rights and social work sectors for persons with disabilities. She has also worked with a few NGOs engaging in international development projects in Cambodia, the Philippines, Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Her research interests are marginalised and silenced people's everyday peace and their agencies for fostering peace.
Aidan Hung is a third-year undergraduate student of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is the Youth Coordinator for the Dunedin Multicultural Council and works to promote confidence in one’s identity among diverse members of the community. His interests are on issues of minorities, diversity, and community mobilisation.
Menna Mohamed is a marketing doctoral student based in Dunedin, New Zealand who devotes most of her time to researching and teaching. Menna, a global citizen, had the opportunity of growing up in different countries which nurtured her love for diversity, networking, and education. Menna aspires to become a lecturer where she hopes to transfer her knowledge, experience, and skills to her beloved students.
Sally Angelson has worked in the international development sector for 20+ years, and has had the privilege of working across many continents, perspectives, beliefs and realities. A proponent of locally led development, she has worked with many communities through independence planning and strategic exit planning, and in sectors as broad as ending violence against women and children, water and sanitation, quality inclusive education, sustainable livelihoods and conflict resolution. For her PhD, she is researching the localisation agenda and how to make practical steps forward towards a more equitable, just and sustainable future for people and planet.
Jane Welsh is a former Rotary World Peace Fellow (2007-2009) where she studied a Masters degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA in Anthropology and Peace and Conflict. She completed her Applied Field Experience at the World Health Organisation in Switzerland working on female genital cutting. Jane went on to work at the United Nations in Vienna and then with a reproductive health organisation in America. For the past few years, she has been working on a small social entrepreneurship project with women with disabilities in Cambodia. Jane and her family lives on Bundjalung Country (Gold Coast, QLD Australia). She is the Youth Director of Griffith University Gold Coast Rotary Club (District 9640).
Divya Venkataraman is a postgraduate student at Otago University, with a background in sociology, gender, and film and media production. She is particularly interested in how mainstream cinematic tropes in Bollywood represent women and minorities.
2023 GLOBAL PEACE CONFERENCE (GPC-3): Over 24 hours of peace talks, skills-based workshops and networking
Do you care deeply about your community and looking for ideas to bring about positive change?
Join us on 4 March 2023 for the third 24-hour online Global Peace Conference: an exciting, interactive convergence of thought-provokers, peacebuilders and everyday people building peace in their spheres of influence.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL AGENDA
The theme of this year’s conference is “Strengthening Our Peacebuilding Community”. This theme is an extension of our desire to connect our planet with people power, towards a peaceful and just existence for all. This year’s 24-hour conference has programming in four global geographical regions, with plenaries and skill-building sessions, covering all time zones across the globe and enabling anyone, anywhere, to participate.
This volunteer-led initiative of Rotary Peace Fellows and other members of the broader Rotary peace ecosystem is based on the premise that everyone has the power to change the world. We work in civil society, academia, and government. We work in conflict resolution, sustainable development, and business. We are change makers in our community wherever we are based across the globe, and have a passion to transform conflict into growth and potential.
This 24-hour Global Peace Conference is not a typical academic conference or business networking opportunity. Our value is in dialogue and in collaboration, so everyone—YOU included—has a part to play in making our conference meaningful.
The event will feature:
Local peacebuilders from all over the world
Interactive sessions at all time zones
Ample opportunity for training and networking
Join us by registering above! The conference is free of charge thanks to the generosity of volunteers and donors from the Rotary peace community, including Carol Fellows and Tim Bewley. The Rotary Peace Center at Chulalongkorn University also provided technical support to realize this session.
If you would like to make a donation to help keep future conferences free and inclusive, please click here. Thank you for your support!
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS AFTER THE CONFERENCE?
During the inclusive, open planning meetings to prepare for the conference, it was decided to develop a conference declaration setting out positive peace as a unifying concept to unite Rotary Peace Fellows, other peacebuilders, and the Rotary family. The goal is also to articulate a vision for the conference as a vehicle to strengthen the Rotary peace ecosystem and to build relationships with and elevate grassroots peaceubilders. Please provide feedback on the draft conference declaration:
COMMENT ON THE DRAFT HERE
Thank you for your constructive input!