By Miranda Shaw
In 2009, I graduated with a degree in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the department of Peace Studies at Bradford University and was inspired to continue on a path of peace activities. 15 years after graduating, I was honoured to be asked to return to the university as a guest and contributor at the 50th anniversary weekend celebrations of the course.
It was because of my work with Creators of Peace that I was asked to offer a Peace Circle taster as part of the celebrations for alumni and current students. As guests sat together in the Peace Studies department building it was heart-warming to have a former classmate Tori and my former lecturer Dr Ute Kelly join the group. During the session I shared one of our Peace Circle conversational topics called “Circles of Concern” which is a beautiful tool from the Peace Circle programme and is useful for any peace creator. It was an incredible four days, and I am grateful to so many people who took the initiative to create a course in Peace studies over 50 years ago that enabled me to be able to do what I do today.
Other highlights from the event included attending a tree planting with Prof. Fiona Macaulay and Dr Becky Alexis-Martin, where a sapling grown from the seed of a tree that survived the Hiroshima bomb was planted in the Bradford Peace Garden. I also enjoyed having the opportunity to visit the archive at the J B Priestly Library, where we got to view the original drawings and sketches of the CND, or more commonly known ‘peace’ symbol is kept.
I have been actively involved in Peace building and with Creators of Peace and IofC since 2011, becoming a Creators of Peace UK coordinator in 2016 and a programme manager with IofC UK in 2021. I have been part of many milestone initiatives including ‘having a dedicated IofC UK staffed programme manager for CoP UK” and being part of a team to host Professor Rajmohan and Usha Gandhi in the UK last year. As well as numerous events, Peace Circles and collaborations.
IofC UK is continuing to pursue and build relationships with universities around the country. Creators of Peace UK and Qualities and Strategies of a Peacemakers Course, a free online course analysing films of outstanding peacemakers, are currently collaborating with Lady Margaret Hall Chapel at the University of Oxford and will be hosting a series of events with the students there in October and November. This continues a collaboration 90 after the first IofC events were being held at LMH. Our Sustainable Communities Programme also continues its partnership with Brunel University in London for its fourth year working with final year students in the Global Challenges Department to conduct research, primarily surrounding the issue of knife crime in the UK.
IofC UK and its programmes are seeking to continue to work and build relationships with universities across the UK. These students represent a future generation of peacebuilders and IofC UK is looking to help them along their journey in any way we can!
If you are interested in learning more about Creators of Peace UK, you can join our mailing list HERE. For those looking to partake in a QSP, you can visit our Events page to register for future courses.
Miranda Shaw is programme manager of Creators of Peace UK and University of Bradford Alumni.
Miranda outside the Peace Studies building.
Planting of a Gingko sapling grown from a seed of a tree that survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
Archive of the original sketches for the CND symbol now often referred to as the peace symbol.