Educating for Peace and Human Rights: An Introduction

Monisha Bajaj participated in the Bellagio residency program in 2017. During this residency she worked on Educating for Peace and Human Rights: An Introduction. She is Professor of International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco. She has worked on eight books as a writer/editor and is the editor and author of three books on education within areas of international development, environmental justice and peace. Monisha also serves as the editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Human Rights Education.

A few words with Monisha

“I had not yet started writing the book when I began my residency. During the time at Bellagio, I had the opportunity to read deeply, think, and discuss with other members of the thematic residency about how young people are agents of transformative change. This impacted the project. Conversations with other fellows shaped my thinking deeply and pushed me to consider how the work could be as accessible as possible for students, practitioners, and activists.”

Synopsis

How can education repair the wounds of conflict and disrupt the possibility of these being repeated? Peace education and human rights education, promoted by the United Nations and grassroots educators, set out to answer these questions. They consider how teaching and learning can contribute to peaceful and just societies.

Educating for Peace and Human Rights introduces students and teachers to these complementary realms of scholarship and explores the challenges and possibilities of implementation across diverse global contexts. The book untangles the core concepts that define both fields and presents key research findings to help consider their intersections, convergences, and divergences.

The authors highlight how the overlaps between peace education and human rights education can emerge as fertile ground for new thinking and action in the global fight for social justice.

Explore More

To find out more about Monisha’s work, listen to her discuss her scholarship on an episode of the FreshEd podcast.

Or you can simply visit her website or follow her on Twitter.