Greetings!

The CIES Peace Education Special Interest Group (PE SIG) was initiated in 2005 to bring together members of the Comparative and International Education Society with common interests in the study of peace and conflict, human rights, and social justice in education. Currently, the SIG has an active membership of some 50 students, practitioners, and scholars as well as an email list-serve that reaches more than 100 individuals. Past SIG activities have included inter-disciplinary panels held at the CIES meetings, networking events, school visits, and co-sponsorship of a conference held by the Teachers College Peace Education Center at the United Nations in the summer 2007. The PE SIG welcome scholars and practitioners who are interested in peace education and encourage dialogue and participation to strengthen the workings of this SIG. Please feel free to contact us for more information about the CIES Peace Education Special Interest Group and its activities.

About the CIES Peace Ed SIG co-chairs:

Karen Ross: I am a doctoral candidate at Indiana University, where I am pursuing a joint PhD in Comparative & International Education and in Inquiry Methodology. Prior to beginning my doctoral studies I obtained a Masters Degree in International Relations, with concentrations in Conflict Resolution and in Education for Peace and Human Rights. In addition to my academic experience, I have worked as a practitioner in the fields of peace education, dialogue, and conflict resolution for the past ten years. My research explores issues at the theoretical and methodological intersection of peace-building, education, and social activism, primarily in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I have been a member of CIES and of the Peace Education SIG since 2007, and as a co-chair, I am pleased to take an active role in helping place education for peace at the forefront of CIES’ work. ross26@indiana.edu

Ayaz Naseem: I am an associate professor of education at Concordia University. I see myself as a feminist peace educator and male moral ally. My research is situated on the cross section of peace education, post-structuralist feminism, and citizenship education. In peace education my published research focuses on the constructions and deconstruction of conflict and peace in curricula, textbooks and pedagogical practices, the peace educational value of the World Wide Web, the use of media especially celluloid in construction and the deconstruction of violence and peace. An emerging area of interest is how peace education in conflict and post-conflict societies such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan and Bosnia can contribute to starting the rebuilding and development processes. I have published widely in these areas including my latest book 'Education and Gendered Citizenship in Pakistan' and the forthcoming co-edited volume 'Constructions of Conflict and Peace in school textbooks. I have also been invited to guest-edit a special issue of the Journal of Educational Media, Memory, and Society (JEMMS) on relationship between textbooks, peace and conflicts in the regional context of South Asia. I have been involved with the PE SIG since its creation. ayaz.ed.cu@gmail.com