A Vertically Integrated Project
Alice Konig The Visualising Peace team has been exploring the relationship between responsible debate and peacebuilding. As part of this a group of students – Tao Yazaki, Zoe Gudino, Finlay Whitton, Anna Pilgrim, Jazmin Smallridge, and Tabitha Stuart – have been running a series of debates using different formats, from competitive to collaborative approaches. We had two … Read more
An interview between Visualising Peace members Tao Yazaki, Zoe Gudino and Alice König: Tao, Zoe: What is Responsible Debate? Alice: On a daily basis at the moment, I think we all see examples of debate that we might call ‘irresponsible’ – in politics, in some parts of the media, and online. Discussions that are based … Read more
Visualising Peace student Madighan Ryan has been researching the links between peace-building and environmentalism. She has combined this with her interests in journalism, advocacy, public debate and civil resistance – which are all key to how we identify and address conflicts and their causes. In her report on Constructive Climate Communication in Wealth Democracies, Madighan … Read more
Around the world, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are actively working to address a wide variety of issues faced by individuals around the globe. The work of NGOs ranges from small, local operations to huge international efforts; but despite differences in scale and target demographics, NGOs work towards a common goal of tacking issues for the betterment … Read more
In the essay below, Visualising Peace student Albert Surinach I Campos discusses the nuanced ways in which Tolkien visualises peace and conflict across his works, especially in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also considers a range of illustrations, artwork and media adaptations of Middle-Earth and how they shift and alter Tolkien’s vision of pacifism … Read more
Kim Wahnke, December 2023 Fairy tales are one of the most well-known literary forms amongst children, and have occupied this space for centuries around the globe. With their simple forms and magical characters, they manage to appeal to a variety of children. Fairy tales are some of the most significant texts in influencing children and … Read more
Photographs are world-building. They don’t just reflect the world around us: they shape what we know, colour how we think, and impact how we feel. In his 2019 book Peace Photography (Palgrave Macmillan 2019) Frank Möller discusses the role that different kinds of photography have played in determining how we visualise and approach peace and peacebuilding. Noting … Read more
Dialogue is at the heart of peacebuilding. Adversarial styles of debate, in person and online, are driving conflict. These two truths have got us interested in exploring different approaches to discussion and debate, and the role that they can play in bringing people together or creating divides. Of course, this connects closely to our overarching … Read more
Several members of our research team have been exploring peace-storytelling from different angles. We have drawn on a range of scholarship and practice along the way, including developments in ‘useful fiction‘ and the work of the Narrative Transformation Lab. As Peter Singer and August Cole explain, Useful Fiction ‘works at the intersection of strategic narrative, … Read more
We often think about peace in relation to conflict; but peace is also something that we experience – and can build – in our ordinary, everyday lives, both near and far from conflict. This is something that Visualising Peace student Joe Walker reflects on in a series of museum entries about peace and/as transcendence. As … Read more