CELTIC MAY TERM 2016 COURSE OBJECTIVES & THEMES Throughout the May Term experience in Scotland and Northern Ireland we collect pieces of a puzzle – the puzzle being an understanding of Peace, Justice and Reconciliation. As we progress through the month, you will be able to see the intersections of these pieces and how each contributes to the building or the absence of peace, justice and reconciliation. The complexities of these interconnections will help you gain an in‐depth understanding of what conflict transformation entails. Edinburgh: POLITICS In Edinburgh we will follow the Catholic/Protestant and England/Scotland conflicts from the Reformation and Mary Queen of Scots to the current new Scottish Parliament, Home Rule, and Devolution Movement (Fall 2014). Iona Christian Community: COMMUNITY While living the monk’s life in the 15th century Benedictine abbey, we will build and sustain community with others who are living in the abbey that week. We will learn through communal meals, communal worship, communal study, communal chores and recreation. We will explore how community is built and sustained, how community is tied to identity, and the power of community in work for social justice, peace and reconciliation. We will engage in workshops to explore the intersections of faith and social justice. Glasgow: IDENTITY We will explore Scottish and Celtic identity through interactions with Host Families, Wellington Church Members, University of Glasgow faculty, and Friends of Hope Alumns. We will read and discuss, ‘Celtic Christianity.’ Highlands: CULTURE & HISTORY Our identities and communities are shaped by our cultures and histories. In the Scottish Highlands we will explore the ‘Highlands Culture,’ and bear witness to the sectarian violence and rebellions that contributed to the Highlands ‘Clearances’ of the 19th‐century. The annihilation of Highlands culture – which was predominantly Catholic – marked the end of sectarian warfare in Scotland. Corrymeela Center for Peace & Reconciliation: DIALOGUE The Corrymeela Center in Ballycastle, Northern Ireland has been instrumental in bringing together IRA and Ulster paramilitaries, victims and families for face‐to‐face dialogue and interaction. Our group will be studying and practicing Intergroup Dialogue throughout the study/tour in Scotland and N. Ireland, and in Corrymeela we will be able to see the application of this practice and its impact on peace‐building in N. Ireland. Londonderry/Derry, N. Ireland: VENGEANCE & FORGIVENESS We will tour Londonderry/Derry, the site of Bloody Sunday, with a former IRA bomb maker. He will help us understand the processes and motivations for vengeance and forgiveness. Belfast, N. Ireland: PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE We will tour the 90 ‘walls’ that segregate Protestant and Catholic communities in Belfast today. We will explore the tenuous ‘Peace’ and people’s perceptions of the lack of justice that presides in Belfast, by meeting with alumns, Queens University faculty, and former Ulster Defense League paramilitaries. We will analyze the contested narratives and rhetoric of the memorials (murals) that impede peace WITH justice. Belfast – ESC‐Films, East Belfast Mission & Clonard Monastery: CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION We will meet with former prisoners and paramilitaries working with ESC‐Films for prisoner rehabilitation and community healing. The focus of this company is to give voice to the marginalized, and we will study how voice can contribute to conflict transformation. We will also visit the East Belfast Mission (Protestant) and the Clonard Monastery (Catholic), exploring the role of these areas in the Troubles, and the work of these organizations today. We will read and discuss, ‘Strategic Peacebuilding.’ Belfast: RECONCILIATION Our study of the commissions and community organizations that are working to tear down the Belfast walls will center our exploration of how people can be moved to reconciliation, and the complexities and fears that plague the process of bringing down the Belfast walls. Dublin: CONCLUSION – What does Peace WITH Justice Look Like? Our final dinner will explore the completed mosaic of Identity, Community, History & Culture, Politics, Dialogue, Vengeance & Forgiveness, Peace without Justice, Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation. We conclude the program in The Republic of Ireland, an independent country that has in some ways transcended the more recent struggles of Scotland (for identity and home rule from England) and N. Ireland (for peace, justice and civil rights).