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Warwick International Higher Education Academy

Restorative Justice in HE Learning Circle Webinar

Becoming a Restorative University Webinar

This webinar took place on Thursday, 12 January 2023 (via MS Teams) and was open to our WIHEA community, University of Warwick colleagues as well as external guests.

Presentation SlidesLink opens in a new window

Suzanne Belleci is the Director of the Center for Restorative Practices at Amherst College, Massachusetts, US and, together with members of her team, shared experiences of introducing restorative practices into a US University. Suzanne's talk offered advice on key moments in building a restorative institution, such as:

  • Starting a centre on campus

  • Supervision of student workers

  • Using restorative practices (RP) in the workplace

  • Launching Orientation Circles for New Students

  • Practicing RP restoratively

  • 4-part circle series for student groups (clubs, athletic teams,)

  • Harm repair work with staff

This talk was geared towards those with a keen interest in learning about how to find out more about using restorative practices in a workplace or Higher Education setting, for example, restorative facilitators and staff and students at Higher Education Institutions.

RJ learning circle

Speaker Details

Suzanne Belleci taught conflict transformation, social justice, cross-cultural communication, and leadership courses for more than 18 years at SIT Graduate Institute. There, she served as SIT’s first ombudsperson, bringing groups together, facilitating restorative circles for conflict resolution, and mediating one-on-one disputes. She has also taught global peacebuilding, conflict analysis, conflict Interventions, and restorative justice practices to domestic and international students in SIT's graduate certificate program in Peace and Justice Leadership.

Working nationally and internationally, for more than 20 years, Susie has led workshops and trainings for peacebuilders in conflict and post-conflict zones in Iraq, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Israel, and Palestine. She has also led trainings for youth from Northern Ireland, Cyprus, Iraq, Jordan, and the United States. She served in the office of Senator Nick Petris, in Oakland, California, as an aide and advocate in the most economically depressed city in the wealthiest state in the union. In this role, she worked on legislation to create universal healthcare and represented the senator in the district for the 10 months each year that he was in the Capitol. Continuing her work in advocacy, Susie was the developer and director of Jardin de Maestros, a program to create pathways for students of color to become teachers in the very districts in which they were raised and have their roots. She was a teacher and trainer in Madrid, Spain; Dijon France; Florence, Italy; Porto and Lisbon, Portugal; Jenin, Palestine; and Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia and was the associate director of world studies at Marlboro College. Most recently, she was the director of the Greater Falls Community Justice Center in Southern Vermont and currently teaches Restorative Practices at Vermont Law School.

The Center for Restorative Practices

The Center for Restorative Practices, housed in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, fosters an inclusive, engaging campus climate where all members have the tools and experiences necessary to engage in meaningful, restorative dialogue around community and conflict; where conflict management is not viewed as an end in and of itself, but where transforming conflict is seen as a pathway to a stronger, caring and more just community.

For any queries regarding this event, please reach out to us on WIHEA@warwick.ac.uk

FA

Fabio A. Ayala

Assistant Director of the Center for Restorative Practices

jw

Ji W. Chung

Green Dean-Center for Restorative Practices