by Jon Luckstead, Faculty Librarian, Library Services

My experience in the Global Peace and Conflict Studies Faculty Learning Community this past year was much like a seminar. It had readings by key thinkers in the field of peace and conflict studies such as Johann Galtung, Zlatko Isakovic, and Kathleen Ho, guest speakers akin to guest lecturers, and, of course, discussions among the members of the Faculty Learning Community. William Hayden and Shirin Khosropour administered and guided this FLC, providing structure, perspective, and expertise.

The guest speakers brought the latest thinking to the FLC, as well as a human presence beyond what the papers we read offered. One of the aspects of the FLC I really enjoyed was the questions and discussions among these guest speakers and the other ACC faculty who were my colleagues. We had quite a variety of different disciplinary perspectives, including biology, computer science, economics, environmental science, ESOL, history, nursing, philosophy, and social psychology. One of the great aspects of the conversations with my colleagues was seeing the depth of knowledge that they have in their fields, while, at the same time, discovering how multivalent their interests are. I only wish that there had been more time for speakers from a greater variety of regions and perspectives. Including speakers on Myanmar (Burma), the Democratic Republic of Congo, and so on, in addition to embattled places like Ukraine, would have added additional perspective.

I found the readings quite interesting, too. Although I do not agree with everything that we read from Johan Galtung, I thought he had some compelling ideas that explain much of the ideological mire that we find ourselves in today. His writing on forms of violence made me think about issues with which librarians are often confronted, including censorship and freedom of speech and intellectual property rights, codified by copyright and patent laws. Most take these for granted in Western culture, but some question them.

I found Galtung’s writing about cultural violence particularly interesting. Galtung posits, for example, that art, including visual art, can be used to impose cultural violence. Some of Galtung’s examples, such as Henri Regnault’s Execution Without Process (Exécution sans judgment sous les rois maures de Grenade) and Eugène Delacroix’s Death of Sardanapalus (La Mort de Sardanapale), illustrate the use of art to draw propagandistic distinctions between European culture and non-European cultures (Galtung 300). Galtung’s discussion of art fed into my interests in visual literacy and propaganda. Disinformation, which can be used to propagate cultural violence, was discussed in one of our FLC sessions. For my project, I created a LibGuide about disinformation which is at

https://researchguides.austincc.edu/c.php?g=1300517

I found this project quite rewarding. I grew in knowledge as I created it and was able to make connections with various ideas I have encountered over the years. Comments and suggestions are welcome!

I am so grateful that I was able to participate in this past year’s Global Peace and Conflict Studies Faculty Learning Community. I find it disheartening that the world is so filled with conflict and warfare. I hope that our world becomes a better and more peaceful place.

Work Cited

Galtung, Johan. “Cultural Violence.” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 27, no. 3, 1990, pp. 291–305. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/423472. Accessed 4 Aug. 2023.