Transdisciplinary approaches to transitional justice
Overview
Lesley is the Law and Policy Director of ANEKED (African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances) and Briony was the former Director of WICID (Warwick Interdisciplinary Research Centre for International Development). Both work in the area of transitional justice and peacebuilding and have an interest in linking policy with best practice, and entrenching this interconnectivity where possible through research and academic work. Through ANEKED’s own participation in the transitional justice and peacebuilding process in The Gambia, combined with Briony’s extensive research, they have realised the importance of nurturing a transdisciplinary learning/content in Higher Education syllabi on transitional justice and how to work in the transitional justice field in a transdisciplinary way.
Our pedagogical intervention makes use of an online teaching tool co-produced with the ANEKED. The online teaching tool is sub-divided into thematic areas such as sexual and gender-based violence, and provides contextual analysis through a section covering Gambian transitional justice. The teaching tool provides students with an opportunity to combine the themes in their module, with real-life examples so as to make connections between theory and practice. In its prototype phase, this tool allows students to access to commentary on, and audio-visual testimonials from, the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission. In the classroom space, the materials can be used to explore ideas and/or act as a springboard for points of discussion and debate, apply theory, and learn about the specific case, either in groups or individually. Students are encouraged to access the materials independently, undertake autonomous research, and then complete tasks by using the materials provided through the online tool.
Contributors
Ms. Lesley Stahlecker (she/her)Link opens in a new window, ANEKED
Dr Briony Jones (she/her)Link opens in a new window, Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick
African Network Against Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances and Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick (2024)
Lesson plan
- The tutor introduces the students to the online teaching tool, demonstrating basic navigation around the tool and providing background context to the work of ANEKED on which the tool is based.
- Students independently explore the different sections of the online tool to familiarise themselves with the content.
- The tutor provides a lesson sheet with a particular exercise, which can be completed in response to the materials in the online tool. These exercise sheets are based on particular thematic areas e.g. gender, displacement or transitional versus transformative justice. The exercises also include listening to victim/survivor and perpetrator testimony on the audio-visual clips embedded in the online teaching tool and discussing the narratives within a given theme.
- The students work in groups to complete the exercise before coming together in a plenary discussion moderated by the tutor.
Tutor's observations
The prototype tool was used and developed with students in PAIS at Warwick, and also at the Geneva Academy in Switzerland. The tool has yet to be finalised and rolled out, but the classroom experiences thus far have been very positive. I was pleasantly surprised at how a tool based on in-depth knowledge of one case study can prompt and allow much wider reflections and application. The tool is user-friendly and accessible to students. The format and functioning of the tool allow diverse uses and for students to undertake autonomous work. The benefits of the tool included students seeing how temporal events shaped the themes that they were studying. Additionally, in response to being able to listen to victim/survivor testimony some students stated that it was difficult to reconcile the painful first-hand accounts with the more measured themes in their coursework but that overall, it was good to hear from those with first-hand experience in the academic lens. A surprising outcome was the ability for students to navigate career choices in transitional justice having been aware of the psychological impact and emotional labour involved in the work.
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Departments: ANEKED, Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick