New John Hume Archive on CAIN

Great to hear that CAIN has recently received funding from the Reconciliation Fund to compile a new web resource of speeches, statements, and articles by John Hume during his political career (1964 to 2004). The work on this project began with a donation of source materials that Sean Farren had collected during the research on his book: Farren, Sean. (Ed.) (2017). John Hume: In his own words. I wrote a Foreword to the book. The initial working project page can be viewed here. The resource is key to my ongoing work at John Hume and Thomas P. O'Neill Chair in Peace.

Screenings of Two Indonesian Films

The lastest screenings "Screening Violence" project took place in Dungannon on 16 January 2020, with the support of the Dungannon Film Club, showing two Indonesian films followed by a discussion with participants. The films were Sowan (The Visit) which documents the friendship of two young women, Mien and Murti, who end up on different sides of the political troubles of the mid-1960s. The second film Provocator Damai (Peace Provocateur) is short documentary charts the experiences of Christians and Muslims residing with families of the opposite faith. The second film, in particular, raised an important discussion about the impact of cross-community work in Northern Ireland, with a range of divergent views.

Scene from The Visit (Sowan)

The AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" is undertaken with partners in Newcastle and Bristol University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia.

Visit from Women Mediators across the Commonwealth

On 10 and 11 December 2019 it was fantastic to host Sumona Das Gupta and Nikhat Sattar from India and Pakistan respectively at the Magee Campus. The guests are both part of Women Mediators across the Commonwealth (WMC), which is an innovative new network of women mediators coming together to exchange and learn from each other, and to advocate for the increased representation of women in peace processes globally. The purpose of the visit was aimed at sharing global lessons on mediation. The visitors also met some local groups, and specifically shared experiences with Syrian women at the Derry Women's Centre. The Chair is also involved in ongoing discussions about future collaborations.

BBC Archive on the Troubles

On 8 November 2019, I worked with the BBC Rewind team to launch on the Magee Campus the Ten Chapters Of The Northern Ireland Troubles. The Ten Chapters, produced by the BBC Rewind editorial and technology team, is an online, multi-media series of episodes covering the conflict in Northern Ireland from the 1950s to the 1990s. As part of the launch a workshop was run with 14-22 year olds from the City. The BBC project came about as a result of discussions with the INCORE/CAIN project teams at Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast, and as part of the tripartite agreement between the BBC and the academic institutions.

Click here to check out the Archive

Screening Violence: Argentinian Films

The lastest screenings of the Screening Violence Project took place in Dungannon on 7 November 2019, with the support of the Dungannon Film Club, showing two Argentinian films followed by a discussion with participants.

The films shown were "Padre/Father" (Director Santiago Bou Grasso), a short stop motion animation piece that portrays the day-to-day life of a woman who looks after her bedridden military father. The second film was "Who am I?/Quién soy yo?"(Director Estela Bravo), a documentary about the stolen babies of the 1976-83 military dictatorship in Argentina who have recovered their true identity. Needless to say, the films provoked an interesting discussion.

The Argentinian animation can see below, and if you further questions on the project or want to participate contact me.

PADRE from opusBou on Vimeo.

The Chair has continued work on AHRC Project "Screening Violence: A Transnational Study of Post-Conflict Imaginaries" with partners in Newcastle and Bristol University, and works with co-investigators and partners in Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Northern Ireland and Indonesia.

Book Launch: Verwoerd

On 17 October 2019 I facilitated a discussion with Dr Wilhelm Verwoerd at the Belfast launch of "Verwoerd: My Journey through Family Betrayals". The discussion focused on key aspects of the book, and particularly Dr Verwoerd's challenges of coming to terms with the fact that HF Verwoerd, his grandfather, was the South African Prime Minister who is widely considered the architect of the apartheid system. Topics for discussion included key questions of the responsibilities of those who benefitted from the apartheid system, the question of "betrayal" when you take a different path to peacebuilding from those around you,  as well as the relevance of the book to wider contexts.