Promoting Peace and Nonviolence at URI: Insights from Thubten Tendar

Discover how the University of Rhode Island's Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies is fostering global peace through education, training, and community engagement. This episode explores the transformative power of nonviolence principles in conflict resolution, law enforcement, education, and societal development.

Key Topics - What You'll Learn:

• The origins and evolution of the International Non-violence Summer Institute at URI
• The three-tier certification process based on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s principles
• How nonviolence training enhances community policing and reduces violence
• The intersection of criminology, sociology, and nonviolence strategies
• The importance of introducing peace education at elementary and secondary levels
• The role of nonviolence in achieving global sustainability goals
• The cultural and geographical impact of Rhode Island on peace initiatives
• Practical conflict de-escalation techniques rooted in nonviolence principles

Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction to URI's Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies

01:01 - Thubten Tendar's journey and involvement since 2008

02:02 - The academic and practical scope of peace and nonviolence studies

02:56 - How nonviolence spans different disciplines and levels

04:06 - Overview of the three-level Kingian Non-violence certification

05:36 - The impact of nonviolence training on leadership and community peace

07:13 - Aligning nonviolence principles with global sustainability and societal goals

08:47 - The importance of peace education in schools and community organizations

10:19 - The intersection of nonviolence, law enforcement, and community safety

11:36 - Understanding violence beyond physical acts and the role of forgiveness

14:08 - Conflict levels and de-escalation techniques based on nonviolence principles

15:16 - How Rhode Island’s environment and community support peace initiatives

16:35 - Closing remarks on fostering a culture of peace

Transcript

Bill Bartholomew 0:00

Welcome into Bartholomew Town. I'm Bill Bartholomew. Today we're going to talk about something that happened this summer at the University of Rhode Island's Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies. They hosted an annual International Nonviolence Summer Institute certifying participants from around the world on resolving conflicts and social justice issues through nonviolent methods. We can think about here in Providence, where I'm broadcasting from right now, the work that the Nonviolence Institute has done on the ground here and the impact that they've had. This is obviously on a thematic level, a global conversation. I guess the best thing to do is if uh if you want to introduce yourself and and uh we'll get this conversation started in and it's one that is more timely than ever before. I'll say that.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Thank you. My name is Tutentendar. I am the director of the International Nonviolence Summer Institute here at URI Center for Nonviolence and Pea Studies.

Bill Bartholomew 0:59

And when did you start getting involved in this work and where did you start getting involved in it?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yes, I came to URI Center for Nonviolence and Pea Studies in 2008 to participate, to learn from the International Nonviolence Summer Institute. And then I came back for advanced leadership training in 2010, and I moved to URI in 2011. So since then I've been uh part of the coordination of this uh International Nonviolent Summer Institute for the past 15 years.

Bill Bartholomew 1:34

Yeah, and you teach a class at a course at URI, the Tibetan Buddhism Journey to Nirvana, that's for the URI honors program, in addition to coordinating the International Nonviolent Summer Institute. So uh tell us in scope, obviously, if we want to really know, we should probably enroll at URI and take the class, but in terms of uh what to you know what what goes into your academic uh thesis development, if you will.

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Yes. So um we believe it is very important to learn, you know, uh about peace and nonviolence, not just uh our wish and interest in being peace and and contributing to peace is may not be sufficient. So therefore we have to study and we have to understand, you know, what is nonviolence, what is you know contributing to violence, what are the factors that you know um contributes to conflicts and you know uh what are different types of conflicts? How many levels of conflicts are there? So we have to understand how to de-escalate conflicts, and all those come into uh what you know we discuss in the International Nonviolence Summary Institute, as well as in our courses at Offered at URI.

Bill Bartholomew 2:54

And how does that mentality span out across other disciplines, uh uh across other forms of um other stuff courses of study, I guess? What's the intersectionality here? It seems like it could apply in a lot of different spaces, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Absolutely. Absolutely. So we talked from you know inner peace, so peace within ourselves to uh harmony and you know uh peace in our home and on campus or in our nation, state, and global. So it uh you know differs from inner peace, peace within oneself to uh uh interpersonal peace, to intercommunity and global peace. And therefore, you know, it's important that we start from ourselves and uh so that we have more interest, we have more skill in extending those peace uh and uh you know um and uh harmony towards others as well.

Bill Bartholomew 3:58

What goes into the certification process through your summer uh certifications?

SPEAKER_00 4:04

Yes. So we have three levels, and first one is what is called level one, Kingian Nonviolence Training of Trainers. And this is based on principle and strategies, methods used by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. And uh that is uh a two-week intensive course in uh nonviolence training of trainers. First week is focused on learning the contents, for example, you know, like uh nonviolence, violence and uh conflicts, uh de-escalation, conflict reconciliation, uh steps and principles of nonviolence, etc. And those are you know the if uh core uh you know learning in the first week. And then second week, it's like a teachback practice. So once you have learned the content, how will you deliver it to others? How will you share it to others? That's teachback practices for the second week. So first week and the second week, when you complete that, uh people receive the uh you know certification for level one certification for training of trainers in King Ya nonviolence. Once, and there are many people who complete those this year, and then they come return to the campus next year to learn or to earn level two certification, which is mostly on nonviolent leadership, how to lead and how to organize, how to mobilize, and how to set up nonviolent centers, and how to you know develop curriculums, if you will, uh teach at schools and and and on campus, et cetera. So that's level two, advanced nonviolence leadership training. And those who and then people, there are many wonderful peacemakers who return to their communities, their schools, develop, you know, uh centers, organizations, etc., to internationalize and institutionalize nonviolence. And for uh we choose two or three uh such peacemakers uh uh for the honorary level three uh you know certification, which is for institutionalizing and internationalizing nonviolence and peace.

Bill Bartholomew 6:27

This is interesting because I think of the you know big goals like uh when we probably need a lot of new versions of these, but United Nations sustainability goals, for example, and you think of something like this, or you think about some of the growing need for similar big goals around AI data centers? Obviously, we think of climate as a standalone issue, but nonviolence, it almost feels like it should drive all of our major goals. So, your work, how would you like to see it prolifer? Would you like to see it proliferate out further into the world? I'm sure you would, but how do we get there where this is not a sidebar but a leading conversation to tackle all the major problems we face?

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Thank you. I think this is very important. You know, when you ask people, you know, um without without the boundaries of you know uh nationalities or culture and so on, everyone says they are interested in peace, they want peace, they enjoy peace, they love peace, they want peace throughout their life. However, if we ask people, uh, did you take you know uh lessons or did you learn about, did you study and research peace and nonviolence, probably there are not many. And you know, uh we are lucky that you the University of Rhode Island has a Center for Nonviolence and Peace Center that is dedicated to uh promote and learn and study peace and nonviolence. And so I think this is an important lesson that many of our uh other states could uh could and institutions of higher education could learn and establish to uh promote, to teach uh peace and nonviolence because that is what we need. This is a need for uh the for humanity, because without hum uh without peace and nonviolence, survival of the humanity itself is uh comes under you know questioning and and and threat.

Bill Bartholomew 8:28

Absolutely. Should your work be focused into elementary schools and you know the way that students take physical education, health education, should nonviolence education be a tenant of public education in this country?

SPEAKER_00 8:45

I totally agree. I couldn't recommend more. Uh, you know, for in our ocean state, we have uh uh an organization called Nonviolent Schools Rhode Island, and also as you mentioned about Nonviolence Institute in Providence, and there are other organizations that uh try to teach and promote peace. And I totally believe that you know it would be beneficial, a lifetime beneficial for students to learn peace and nonviolence from very young age, and that will uh make a significant contribution to the relationship of between uh the children and parents, between uh students and teachers, and bet within the students and uh community at large. And I think we should uh you know water the seed of peace uh from very young age.

Bill Bartholomew 12:03

Police officers, law enforcement on the whole, there's no doubt been an increase in nonviolence and specialist-oriented training. In some cases, departments have radically shifted their approaches to uh responses uh in a number of different scenarios, but uh there still seems to be uh, of course, space for more. I mean, there are always until we've achieved nirvana, I suppose. So, what's your message to law enforcement agencies about your work and equipping law enforcement officers maximally with the types of skills and certifications that you and the University of Rhode Island offer?

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Absolutely. You know, that's interesting because this year we have a group of 20 police personnel from Ghana who attended the Nonviolence Summer Institute. And, you know, the Ghana Police Service, you know, saw that there is a significant contribution, a peace learning of peace and nonviolence can contribute to, you know, the relationship between the community and police personnel and so on. And I think, you know, that is uh also, you know, police, uh policing and police work uh is very important for the safety of our community and we appreciate it. But at the same time, how can we make it more um you know uh community-oriented, more friendly with the community, and more less lethal, less violent? And those ideas we can learn from you know studying and discussing about peace and nonviolence, how you know you can still be contributing to safety of the community while practicing nonviolence.

Bill Bartholomew 13:45

How does criminology and how do criminology and sociology intersect with your work in the sense that you can observe deviance, observe violence, maybe study violence to kind of work to um uh retrofit options and solutions, in other words, like we to find out what goes wrong. Does that inter interplay and intersect with your work?

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Yes. You know, we start our training with, you know, um a brainstorming activity about what violence is, right? What violence is, and then people say, oh, it's fighting or it's hitting, or it's something like that. The idea, main idea is that we want people to understand that violence is more than just physical, it is more than gun violence. There is economic violence, there is uh emotional, there is you know mental and physical, verbal, different forms of violence. And it is important to understand and recognize all these forms of violence which are harmful and hurtful to people. And when someone is hurt emotionally, physically, they may react, they may retaliate, which creates more violence, right? As Dr. King said, you know, hatred uh contributes to more hatred, the darkness contributes to more darkness, only you know, light can solve it. Likewise, only peace can solve the uh issue of violence and anger and hatred in our community, not producing more violence or more hatred in our community uh will contribute to safety. So it is important that we understand violence and we at the same time we also talk about you know forgiveness. You know, uh how can forgiveness contribute to our safety and our own well-being mentally and physically, and you know, and that contributes to bringing society together rather than dividing our communities. And so sometimes we have to seek commu uh forgiveness and sometimes we have to extend our forgiveness to others so that uh you know our there is no more you know um uh ill uh you know uh negative emotions and hatred and anger that contributes to retaliation and and and ripple effects of violence.

Bill Bartholomew 16:07

Yup. And also there's there's when you talk about retaliation, you know people have split-second decisions that can impact their lives, other people's lives, and sometimes just the skill of being able to pause and find a sense of groundedness uh can really impact, I mean can impact everything.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Absolutely, absolutely. And that's you know, one of the main purposes of our activity related to conflicts and types of conflicts and levels of conflict. So when conflict arises, you know, we have to pause and think, what type of conflicts is this? Is this a distributive conflict or is this a pathway conflict? And then what level is this? It is like you know, normal level, or is this uh, you know, uh, you know, uh the an escalated level of conflicts, in that, you know, giving ourselves some time to think and cool down, and that helps to, you know, uh take a moment and then act rather than react to you know conflicts and and violence right away.

Bill Bartholomew 17:10

Yes. Last question here, and thank you so much for your time and for your work. This is a real pleasure. Um Rhode Island itself, and is well, let's be honest about it. You know, I'm a native of South County and a graduate of URI, and it's in my blood. It is a beautiful place, uh, for sure. Um, and there's you know, there's no doubt a lot of a lot of human energy from different backgrounds that happen on the campus of the University of Rhode Island. So, how does the setting of the University of Rhode Island from a physical geographical standpoint, the fact that it this is Rhode Island, this is South County, Rhode Island, how, if any way, does that impact your work?

SPEAKER_00 17:51

Absolutely. You know, uh this is a very nice, beautiful place and a beautiful campus with uh great support from the uh university, the highest, you know, president's office to College of Arts and Sciences, to Department of Political Science, and and many different, you know, uh departments which are very supportive and and try to promote equity and uh you know respect to diversity and so on. So that is great, uh, you know, uh and the main reason I moved uh to Rhode Island is because after seeing this you know um sense of community, this sense of you know supporting each other, this sense of you know safety, and those were major uh you know um sort of encouragement for me personally to move to Rhode Island. And I appreciate this uh friendly and learning at atmosphere where you know all kinds of learnings and and uh supports are available. Thank you so much for your time today. Thank you so much.