The Bartos Institute for the The Rev. Victor Kazanjian and Constructive Engagement of Conflict Michelle Lepore, Co-Editors

Overview

The Rev. Victor Kazanjian and Michelle Lepore, Co-Editors The Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict (CEC) at the United World College-USA trains young scholars to be peacebuilders by developing personal character, academic knowledge, ethical leadership, and constructive approaches to conflict. A recent Bartos program explored new dimensions of peacebuilding bringing together the external world of bringing peace to the world with the internal work of being peace in the world. Seeking Peace Within and Without explores combining strategies for engaging conflict and building peace with practices of cultivating self awareness and a peaceful inner life. In this way, students are exploring becoming conscious peacebuilders who enable the creation of sustainable movements for peace and justice in the world.

During the fall semester of 2021-2022, UWC-USA students explored the connection between inner peace and outer peace through a program which we taught as Bartos Fellows called “Seeking Peace Within and Without: The Practice of Becoming a Conscious Peacebuilder.” In this class students learned practices including self-reflection, journaling, poetry, yoga, breathwork, meditation and movement as the foundational practices of becoming peacebuilders and building sustainable movements, as they also explored conflict analysis and conflict transformation strategies for engaging conflict among people of diverse cultures and beliefs through the practices of appreciative inquiry, active listening, difficult dialogue and conflict analysis. The course included the following themes:

• Become Aware… to worlds within and without and of inner and outer tensions and conflict

• Examine Assumptions… that you have developed and impact the way you perceive the world and yourself • Gain Perspective… by identifying the lenses you wear and developing new lenses • Enhance Communication… among diverse peoples by overcoming separateness, dispelling stereotypes and deepening connections • Experience Connection… among all people and communities, to all living things and to the web of life • Develop Consciousness… by integrating the flow of intuitive knowing within you with a critical analysis with the world around you • Seek Wholeness… by bringing your mind, body and spirit into alignment as you engage the worlds within and without

This issue of the Bartos Journal is dedicated to the themes of this class, Seeking Peace Within and Without: Becoming Conscious Peacebuilders and Building Sustainable Movements. It gathers reflections from conscious peacebuilders around the world who have discovered the power and possibility of nurturing their inner lives as they engage the world around them.

Too often peacebuilders and peace and justice movements focus solely on external factors using the instrumental tools of critical analysis to attempt to attempt to solve the conflicts before them. Not only does this ignore access to inner ways of experiencing, knowing and feeling which are critical tools in understanding conflict and possible solutions, but a focus only on the external, instrumental aspects of conflict leads to fragility and unsustainability of both peacemaker and peace movement. As the science of knowing and research on multiple ways of knowing (epistemologies) has developed in the past three decades, our understanding of the mind has broadened to include a range of processes including feeling, intuition, experience and awareness in addition to critical thinking. This has challenged traditional forms of education to move beyond limited notions of education as the amassing and organizing of information to a more holistic, integrative educational experience in preparing students to engage the world, and themselves, using all the tools at their disposal.

We have been so fortunate to be involved in education at a time when this change has been taking place. Theories and practices of mindfulness (Jon Kabat-Zinn), socio-emotional intelligence (Howard Gardiner), multiple epistemologies (Robert Kegan), education as the practice of freedom (bell hooks), developing awareness (Dan Seigel), diversity as the essential context of learning (Beverly Daniel Tatum), and holistic learning (Parker Palmer ), all have contributed to challenging the narrow understanding of education as received knowing and opened the door to an educational pedagogy where ( to quote Yeats) “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”

During our time as administrators and teachers in higher education and as peacebuilders through international organizations, we have seen the deforming impact of processes limited to narrow intellectual analysis and instrumental practices on individuals, institutions and movements seeking to address the world’s problems. To realize the goals of peace and justice in our selves, our communities and in our world, we believe that it is essential to approach this work holistically, balancing and connecting both inner and outer processes.

The Bartos Program at UWC-USA gave us the opportunity to develop a curriculum that weaves together the world within with the world without, to create a more holistic approach to becoming conscious peacebuilders and creating sustainable movements. We are deeply grateful to the UWC-USA community and in particular the leadership of the Bartos Program, Naomi Swinton and Max Murphy, and to the students who participated in our classes for supporting this work and co-creating this new approach to peacebuilding in the world.

In peace…. Victor Kazanjian and Michelle Lepore ²

Victor Kazanjian is a coach and consultant helping individuals and organizations actualize their aspirations through a holistic approach to leadership, life and learning. Victor teaches that integrated and effective leaders serve as midwives, enabling others to birth their creative potential. Victor is also currently serving together with his wife Michelle Lepore as a Fellow in the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict at the United World College. Victor recently retired as the Executive Director of URI (the United Religions Initiative), a global grassroots intercultural and interfaith peacebuilding network of more than 1,000 groups working in over 100 countries to build bridges of cooperation between people of all beliefs and cultures. Prior to joining URI, Victor served as Dean of Intercultural Education, Dean of Religious and Spiritual Life and Co-Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Wellesley College. He is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Church and holds degrees from the Episcopal Divinity School and Harvard University. Knowing there was more to be expressed in the flow of her life, Michelle Lepore took a leap of faith leaving a wonderful 34 year career in higher education to explore training programs in energy healing, yoga, meditation, kirtan and shamanism. She has studied Reiki, Healing Touch, and has an End of Life Doula certificate, in addition to a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature. She is a certified yoga instructor, coach, healer and ceremonialist. The theme that connects Michelle’s interests is helping women tap into their well of wisdom to engage life meaningfully. She has traveled extensively to the inner and outer worlds (50 countries). One of her favorite practices is pranayama (breath exercises) – which calms the mind, clears energy, and connects us to our hearts and the realms of consciousness.

Reflections