Forthcoming seminars at NCPACS:

Seminar: Dr Karen Brounéus
“All ‘the boys’ said the same thing” The Risks of Systematic Untruths in a TRC: Findings from the Solomon Islands
1pm, Wednesday 4 May, St David Seminar Room 5
Previous research has found that the reintegration of ex-combatants is critical for peacebuilding. To date, empirical research on reintegration has exclusively focused on the ex-combatant perspective; in this paper, I instead focus on ex-combatant reintegration from the community’s perspective. What role, if any, does ex-combatant testimony in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process play for the reintegration of ex-combatants? Through surveys, focus groups and in depth interviews this question was explored in the Solomon Islands. My findings suggest that how people at the grassroots level perceive ex-combatant testifying in a TRC will be of pivotal importance to peacebuilding. I argue that without guarantees that a TRC will function in harmony with other executive functions of the state, its credibility will be undermined thereby limiting its ability to restore relationships. I find that distrust and suspicion towards ex-combatants has increased significantly at the grassroots level, and that people felt that ex-combatants did not tell the truth in the TRC. At the same time, my deeper data suggests that due to distrust in the process, ex-combatants had decided amongst themselves what to say in the TRC hearings. The potential implications of systematic untruths in TRC processes will be discussed.

Public Lecture: Dr Stevan Eldred-Grigg, Victoria University
New Zealand: An aggressive state in the First World War
5.15 pm, Thursday 5 May 2016, Archway 3
In this lecture, author Stevan Eldred-Grigg will look first at the way NZ aided and abetted aggression by the British Empire during the years before the war. He will then discuss the way NZ on its own carried out a policy of expansion and aggression in the Pacific.
Dr Stevan Eldred-Grigg is a writer of both novels and history books. He polarised readers and critics with the publication in 2010 of The Great Wrong War, a probing account of social life in New Zealand during the First World War.

The Jihad  of  Jesus:  How Christians  and  Muslims  can work together  for peace  and justice
Dave  Andrews  Christian  Heritage  College, educator for TEAR  Australia
Archway 2  Lecture  Theatre
Tuesday  10  May,  5.30pm-6.30pm
Followed  by  supper  and ongoing discussion with  Dave  Andrews  from 6.45pm  at  All Saints’ Church  Hall,  786  Cumberland  St.  All welcome.
Please  feel free  to bring  “finger  food”  to share.  This can be  dropped  off  at the Hall    between  4.30 – 5.10pm.

Reference Code: BLRR
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