Presentation Announcement

Reflecting on Demilitarizing the Mind through Peace Education: An African Perspective

Presentation by Fulbright Scholar Gilbert Tarugarira (Zimbabwe)

 

Monday, April 22nd at 1 pm in Gillham Hall 1300 and Live Streaming

For online streaming registration, please email dale.snauwaert@utoledo.edu

In this presentation, Professor Tarugarira will explore the following proposition:

The preamble to the UNESCO Charter (1945) declared that: “…since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed”. Thus, to achieve demilitarization and eventual peace, it would be necessary to create “new attitudes of mind” conforming to the basic principles of peace and democracy. Demilitarization requires a radically different education that does not glorify war but educates for peace and non-violence. The flourishing of a culture of peace will generate the mindset that is a prerequisite for the transition from force to reason, from conflict and violence to dialogue and peace. Thus, a demilitarized mind values inner peace achieved through the psyche and becomes strongly rooted in human consciousness.

Professor Tarugarira is a specialist in History Education at Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. He is a Fulbright Scholar, and he was hosted this year in the Department of Education Studies at The University of Toledo. His areas of research interest include indigenous knowledge systems and development in Africa, the political economy of colonialism in Africa, contemporary African affairs and development, and post-colonial Africa. He has over 35 years of teaching experience in schools, teacher-training colleges, and Universities specializing in history and pedagogical issues in history and heritage education. He has been involved in reviewing curricula at various levels and has participated in UNESCO-led initiatives in Curricula Harmonization in Zimbabwe and transformative pedagogy for sustainable development in the context of teacher development in Zimbabwe. He has been part of the Southern African regional initiatives to promote Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Capacity Development for Agenda 2030 for teacher education involving universities in Zambia and Zimbabwe. He is an active member of “Sustainability Starts with Teachers” Capacity Building Programme for Teacher Educators on Education for Sustainable Development (CAP-ESD). He coordinated a research network commissioned by the Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration (ONHRI) to devise strategies for facilitating transitional justice and reconciliation in Zimbabwe. He has developed a significant interest in Peace Education, focusing on approaches to peace and education that include alternative epistemologies, transrational intersections of politics, militarization and security; affective pedagogies and diffraction.