Why a Centre for Peace?
History
Lady Shri Ram College has today an established reputation that strives for excellence in its academic, extra-curricular and community outreach activities. A rich calendar of symposia, seminars, workshops and cultural events informs its working ethos. Much of the intellectual and academic activities organized by the College move beyond the narrow confines of the curricula and embraces a wide range of creative and artistic tools in addition to literary and academic tools. The ccollege set up a dedicated Learning, Research and Resource Centre by financial assistance provided by the UGC in 2005 towards this end.
In the year 2005, Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, the then principal of Lady Shri Ram College, a pioneer in the field of Conflict Transformation and Peace building laid the foundations of a UGC approved post-graduate diploma which would be offered at the Learning, Research and Resource Centre. The course titled Conflict Transformation and Peace Building is recognized by the University of Delhi with the mandated approvals from the Academic Council of the University. On the golden anniversary of the College in 2006, it was decided that Confluence the Learning, Research and Resource Centre when completed would be named after the best known and cherished of our alums Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. This combined with our pioneering role in bringing the discipline of Conflict Transformation and Peace Building into the University of Delhi, made the choice of naming the Learning Centre in her honour fairly obvious, given that she is a great warrior of peace.
The gracious and beautiful building of the Aung San Suu Kyi Centre for Peace was inaugurated by His Holiness The Dalai Lama in 2013. It began to function formally from its new premises from August 11th, 2014. It is dedicated to fostering a culture of peace in the South Asian region, a peace that transcends narrow nation-states and boundaries and embraces the essentially interconnected nature of rights and freedoms.
Objectives
The Centre aims to achieve the following:
- Create a context for collective learning, moving beyond the rigours of the prescribed syllabus and examinations.
- Help students gain opportunities for leadership training that is distinctive in being socially aware and responsible.
- Be the nerve centre of all vibrant research, teaching and publication activities within college.
- Build bridges with like-minded scholars, activists and performers all over the world.
In 2022, the CTPB course started after a rigorous screening and interview process with 27 students. In the beginning of the semester (2 December, 2022), a talk on religion as the source of conflict resolution was delivered by Dr. Renu Bahl, former Associate Professor, Lady Shri Ram College. She specialises in Indian political thought, Gandhi, conflict transformation, and peacebuilding.
Religion is mostly viewed as a point of contention leading to wars and the rise of terrorism. However, Dr. Bahl, talked on how it can help in conflict resolution through means such as inter-faith dialogue. Thereafter, a special lecture on ‘Elements of Research Design’ was given by Prof. Mondira Dutta, former professor, SIS/JNU, and former ICCR India Chair, Dublin, and Senior Fellow, ICSSR (20 January, 2023). Her valuable guidance helped the students understand the importance of research and how to do it. She clarified students doubts, concerns, and problems with regard to dissertation writing this semester. Prof. Dutta, explained the importance of quantitative and qualitative data analysis and how, rather than preferring one over the other, both should be used effectively for research purposes.
After completion of course work in the first semester, students are working on their respective dissertations relating to different dimensions of conflict transformation under the able supervision of faculty from across the fields along with CTPB faculty members. Their research works get constant enrichment from students internship associations with different organisations working in the field of conflict transformation and peace building.