Peace Communication participants in Derry, Northern Ireland

Drs. Leitz & Labelle from Chapman University were so fortunate to work with the Center for International Experiential Learning to bring students to Northern Ireland to examine the continuing processes of peacebuilding, the history of the conflict (euphemistically called “The Troubles“), and contemporary communication about that past and present issues.

We invite visitors to the blog to start by looking at the itinerary for our trip, created by Dr. Daniel Wehrenfenning the Executive Director and Founder of CIEL. His itinerary offered important background details on many of the people and places visited.

This course on peace and communication is one that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. Considering the current political climate in both the United States and around the globe, the Troubles in Northern Ireland provide a compelling case study. It is a conflict that deserves to be studied and understood, and the peace process that followed offers valuable lessons that can be applied to many other conflicts worldwide.

Reflecting on this course, I learned that division within a society is something that must be examined deeply. A divided society benefits no one. Open communication and an effort to understand every perspective within a conflict are essential to achieving lasting peace.

As a film production major, this course further highlighted for me how powerful a tool art can be in expressing the pain and suffering of those involved in a conflict. Throughout the course, we explored numerous artistic expressions that served to bring communities together. These included traditional Irish singing and dancing, British Council commissions to the Linen Hall Library, film festivals, murals, and exhibitions that honored items once used as weapons during the Troubles. Even after the course ended, I continued my exploration and came across modern artists like Kneecap, a hip-hop trio from Belfast whose music features social commentary, including references to the Troubles.

Before taking this course, I had limited knowledge of the conflict between Ireland and the UK. My academic goal was to learn more about the creative scene in this context, and I was fortunate to achieve that—especially through experiences like walking tours in Derry and Belfast that allowed me to see the famous murals firsthand. I also aimed to draw parallels between this conflict and ongoing global issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

One of the major highlights of my trip was learning about the strong sense of solidarity between Ireland and Palestine. I was struck by how openly Irish communities, particularly in Republican areas, expressed support for Palestine. This level of political openness would likely be met with far more caution, or even backlash in countries like the United States. What surprised me most was the contrast between the divided communities of Northern Ireland—Loyalist and Republican—and how politically vocal and progressive the Republican communities were in their cultural expression. Bright, expansive murals, vibrant pubs, and open dialogue were characteristic of these areas, which often had a strong creative presence.

In contrast, Loyalist communities—sometimes located less than five minutes away—felt vastly different. Their murals tended to be darker and focused on military themes and paramilitary culture, often accompanied by Union Jack flags and memorials dedicated to community members who had died. Observing this stark division was eye-opening, particularly in how these communities attempt to bridge the gap. Initiatives like integrated schools and open forums, such as those presented by the three panelists on Day 1 of the course, exemplify steps toward understanding and unity.

It was such a life-changing experience to see this division firsthand, especially to witness how modern-day Northern Ireland is still growing and healing from this conflict politically. It was extremely challenging to learn about the unemployment rate among Republican families in Ireland and how they are still disproportionately affected by joblessness and issues like drug addiction—topics that were openly discussed by panelists, including those with personal experience. While this information wasn’t entirely surprising, given the deep trauma caused by the Troubles, it was still heartbreaking. The generational effects of the conflict remain present in today’s social culture, where the divide is often left undiscussed. Moving forward, I would love to study how countries find peace through global connections, how they form those bonds, how social media is used as a tool during modern political conflicts, and how intergenerational trauma manifests in cultures, societies, and beyond.

This trip has been more influential in my life than I could have predicted. While I came in excited to learn more about peace and justice, to strengthen my confidence in the field, and to explore a new place and its culture, this trip and this experience did far more than just that. As an Integrated Educational Studies major, I did not anticipate seeing a connection to my future career while studying the conflict, but was proven wrong day after day. The most pivotal academic highlight of this trip was visiting Lagan College, the first integrated school in Northern Ireland. This visit opened my eyes to the needs of young people in areas impacted by crises. Lagan does incredible work for bridging gaps in the community and providing a space where youth feel comfortable expressing themselves and exploring or questioning what they have been socially taught. Nearly every day after our visit to Lagan, the topic of education and the challenges of youth today were broached by our speakers. 

At New Gate Arts and Cultural Center, Brian, the CEO, spoke about the origins of the center, coming from a clear need in the youth in their communities.

Caitlin at the Free Derry Museum, who spoke about integrated education in Derry, said that students and their parents make the choice between culture and integration, as most integrated schools in Derry neglect culture, while most segregated schools teach a biased education.

At the Holywell Center in Derry, Maureen Hetherington explained the need for young people to understand each other’s stories, which does not happen in segregated environments.

Finally, when we spoke to Daniel McCrossan, a member of the SDLP party, he spoke about the need for integrated education, saying that all schools are still not treated equally and that parents should have an ensured choice on where their kids go to school. 

These highlights were both academic and personal for me, as my connection with education goes further than my chosen major. Education has always been a personal passion of mine that I am lucky enough to spend my time studying, so hearing about the importance of a quality, well-rounded, and desegregated education almost daily filled me with a bittersweet feeling of hope but dissatisfaction for the current status of Northern Ireland’s system. 

My biggest challenge during this trip was the emotional whiplash that came with every day. Each speaker or visit we experienced had its own emotionality, some positive and some negative, that made me unsure of how to feel regarding the state of peace in Northern Ireland today. While attempting to be optimistic about how much the region has changed, how peace has technically been achieved, and how a lot of the places we visited are doing incredible work to support these communities, I found it challenging to remain positive. This surprised me as I did not expect to feel so connected to a place and a community of people that I had no previous links to. I believe that the most illuminating thing that I learned over the course of the trip, as most of our speakers shared, is that peace is not a state, but a constant process. This has influenced my future career as I see myself exploring the links between education and the continuous creation of peace in areas of former (but really, ongoing) crises. I am extremely grateful to have had this opportunity that has truly changed my outlook and has widened my perspective on my future and the complicated world we live in.

Here are some photos of me from our trip

Studying Sociology, particularly systems of oppression (patriarchy, colonialism, capitalism), was essential to my understanding of the conflict. Sociology and philosophy inform my understanding of people and their different narratives or “truths” regarding the conflict. As I said in my first blog post, I love exercising this skill of understanding people and their beliefs. Before the trip, I was excited to learn about potential career paths in NGOs, non-profits, other community work, politics, and legal work. This trip informed my career goals more than I could have hoped for. I was surprised by how inspired I was by the politicians. Spending time at the Northern Ireland Assembly was exciting on a day full of emergency meetings, watching local politics unfold in real-time. We got to witness a different political system, hearing from the Alliance Party and Social Democratic Labour Party to demonstrate some of the politics represented in the multi-party system. Other politicians we got to speak with, like Declan Murphy, represent left politics that US parties do not represent. I am intrigued by the idea of representing all ideologies under one political system and what progress could come from that in the US. This positive effect is evident in politicians’ role in maintaining nonviolence post-conflict. This trip sparked my interest in being a civil servant via policy work or in politics to represent people who are underrepresented now, particularly working-class needs. 

My trip highlights are the beautiful green hills and animals in the countryside, connecting with local people, and laughing with my classmates. I also loved my time in Derry because it had a small-town charm and a substantial social justice and political presence. Academically, I am very satisfied with how much I learned because each experience was so immersive. We got an extremely comprehensive and personal understanding of the conflict that I never would have gotten otherwise. One of my favorite experiences was learning from the panel of ex-combatants. One of them (Lee) gave us a tour of the border region later in the trip, which was also fantastic. It is fascinating to learn from people like him who fought in the conflict and have committed their lives to peace-building or politics. That ideological shift is admirable and to be learned from. 

I anticipated my biggest challenge to be witnessing the aftermath of violence and hearing from people personally traumatized by the conflict. This wasn’t easy, as there were many emotionally heavy talks. However, many of those harmed by the conflict have made a collective effort to connect their struggle with international struggles. The conflict in Northern Ireland follows a similar pattern to other occupied nations. Many have already used their experiences in the conflict and occupation to bring awareness to this injustice elsewhere. I was surprised to leave with so much inspiration that forming coalitions and connections combats the heaviness of conflict. It was also a challenge to hear from different perspectives that clashed with my pre-existing beliefs. However, I this was an essential part of learning in the trip to challenge the foundation of my beliefs and engage with ideas I don’t usually get to. 

In the course I have accomplished all of the learning goals that I had originally set for myself in my first blog post. Through the Post Office we toured in Dublin, the Free Derry Museum that we experienced on our second day in Derry, and the exhibit on the Troubles at Queen’s University that we explored on our last day, I was able to learn more about the Civil Rights movement, Women’s movement, Pride movement, and many other social movements. These opportunities helped me to better grasp the amount of civic engagement that was happening before the Troubles started. In addition, exhibits, like the ones in the Free Derry Museum, depicting the events of Bloody Sunday illustrated the fear that the protestors at the event must have faced. It was heartbreaking to see the shift from nonviolence to chaos. The other goal of mine for the trip was to learn more about restorative justice efforts currently taking place. Through my time spent with the representatives for New Gates Art and Culture Center, The Junction, Corrymeela, Healing Through Remembering, TIDES, and the British Council showed me the importance of group grassroots work to create change and lead societal change in peacebuilding. These community organizations are incredibly important in shifting the culture to lessen division, minimize stereotypes, and help to humanize everyone involved in the conflict. Their consistent dedication to community reconciliation really inspired me throughout the trip to try and bring what I learned from them back to the US.

I think the main takeaway from this trip and this course was how impactful personal stories can be. When we don’t try to understand and actively listen to the stories of people on all sides of the conflict, division can be deepened. Which is why, it should be our goal as peacebuilders and effective communicators to ensure that all stories are shared and heard, so that every side can be equally represented. I am incredibly grateful to all the speakers who took the time to be vulnerable and share their stories with our group. This will be an experience I will never forget. It has provided me with a better understanding of grassroots work in peacebuilding and has provided me with lessons that I hope to take into my future career in the peacebuilding field.

The biggest challenge that I had throughout the trip was the whiplash that came throughout the day. It would be a lie to say that it was easy to go from hearing a group of people bare their soles in the morning and then transitioning to a different group of people telling their own stories in a different perspective. Hearing about the horrors and suffering that people faced throughout the conflict and even after was incredibly hard, there were times when I looked forward to our free time so that I could reflect on what happened and try and unwind. Despite this, I think it was necessary for me to experience this challenge, because without it I don’t think I would have gotten a more conclusive understanding of what life was like from the 1960s, until in some cases, the present.

During this trip there were a couple things that surprised me. One of the things that surprised me, which is slightly less academic, is how close I got with the people on this trip. When you spend every day for 12 days with a group of people I guess it would be inevitable that you get close to them, but throughout the trip I felt safe to express my opinions, and even joke around at the appropriate times. It made the trip so much more impactful for me. On a more academic note, I was really surprised to hear how open people were about their experiences. When we talked to people on the street and told them about what we were studying, they all had their own inputs on the topic. A lot of them shared their own personal facts and experiences from the conflict, or talked about how certain places that we were at had a connection to the Troubles. Before the trip, I never would have thought that people would be so open to talking about these things, but it was really cool to hear about it from ordinary people on the street.

Me at Queen’s University on the last day of programming

Visiting Northern Ireland re-emphasized for me how much work towards meaningful inclusion of young people in democratic processes and decision making needs to be done because at the center of all institutions throughout and after the conflict were people below the age of 25, as the highest demographic, the most affected and involved. A reminder that school curricula should be an instrument for young people to be well equipped to not repeat the cycle of conflict and cement their future involvement as instigators of peace rather than conflict, towards achieving sustainable peace for the world. 

The aspect of ethical commemoration; valuing life at an equal standard in loss and in security is necessary at all local and government institutional levels to remove the absolutist mindset that is a colonial legacy passed on between generations, the hope is that we consider all lives equal and in that spirit do not justify violence/killing as a mean to an end of oppression and unjust systems by skillfully informing public debate/discourse on dealing with the past in Northern Ireland and the rest of the world suffering loss as a result of conflict.   

The way words are used in storytelling as a form of remembering play an important role in determining how a group of people is perceived and can be an avenue to learn, through this trip and assigned viewings like say nothing I was reminded why it is important to be careful how we frame and communicate about conflict and commemoration but it also clearly defined the role of the different tracks of diplomacy in fostering intended collaborative communication for peace beyond the community level without choosing or leaning towards a side, using a neutral stance to mitigate conflict and resolve grievances in the different sides of the community. It is with experiential knowledge today that I commit to continue learning from the past and understand my role in communicating without bias for peace to prevail. 

The only challenge I faced was a tedious visa process as a ugandan student to be able to visit Northern Ireland required visa fees and took over 3 weeks to get my passport back which also made it hard for me to get a second visa to visit the republic of Ireland missing a day of the trip in Dublin, but despite all this I enjoyed the rest of my stay.

On a personal level, though, everyone deserves to experience being a Derry girl between the hills and the river Foyle of the beautiful green Derry city, the rain on a sunny day in Belfast city home of the legendary Titanic, and the cross-generational traditional music culture of Northern Ireland. The instrumentation and the voices are absolutely breathtaking; you will leave singing and dancing, I know I did! 

Kelly, G. (2005). Storytelling as the vehicle? In Healing Through Remembering, Healing Through Remembering. Healing Through Remembering. https://healingthroughremembering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Storytelling-as-the-vehicle_2005.pdf 

 Arthur, P. (1990). Negotiating the Northern Ireland Problem: Track One or Track Two Diplomacy? Government and Opposition, 25(4), 403–418. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44482532 

Through this trip, I was able to further critique my ideas about the future and clarify what a major in Peace and Justice really means. Prior to this course, I felt I had a limited idea of what I could do to make effective change with my major. However, after engaging in discussions with people in a variety of careers, I now feel like I have a solid understanding of the many different avenues I could take to pursue change.

The staff members of the New Gate Arts and Cultural Center, as well as the Women’s Civil Society, demonstrated how change can be facilitated on a community level through conversations, art, and resources. Stormont showed how change can happen from the top down through policy. Similarly, Paul O’Connor highlighted how policy can be used to find justice when the government fails to act. Johnston McMaster and Maureen Hetherington at The Junction shed light on the significance of community relations in mediating conversations and conflict. Finally, Eliane Crory gave an in-depth look into what her work entails as a Women’s Sector Lobbyist.

With all of these options, I feel at ease knowing there is a need on all fronts of society for actions that seek peace. I was particularly interested in Eliane’s work as a lobbyist as well as Paul O’Connor’s use of policy to pursue justice. There is both creativity and structure in these roles, which I think would suit me well.

In terms of what this trip clarified about my Peace and Justice major, I found that the most valuable skill I practiced was the ability to listen without judgment. This is something I remember learning in Introduction to Peace Studies, but I hadn’t fully appreciated its value until I had to use it in real-life settings. I now see it as central to my major. Listening with respect and care in order to acknowledge our shared humanity was something every person we spoke to emphasized in one way or another.

Looking back at my first blog post, I see that my goal, like many of my peers, was to gain a more cohesive and inclusive understanding of the Troubles, especially given my British upbringing. My main concern had been whether I would be able to set aside any inherent biases I might hold because of that. With that in mind, I’d say the academic highlight of the trip was our first day. We learned a mainly factual overview of the Troubles from Professor Bill Rolston, and then we heard from a panel that included Nationalists, Loyalists, and a former British Army member. It strongly fulfilled my initial goal of hearing different perspectives and recognizing the personal and political differences across each side.

On a more personal level, the highlight of my trip was speaking with Lee, an ex-British soldier. He helped me untangle a lot of what I had previously thought about the Troubles, based on how I’d been raised. Lee helped me reconnect with the importance of listening and recognizing our shared humanity, and he helped me understand that no side was fully right or wrong.

My biggest challenge was actually one I did not expect. I had anticipated that I would struggle internally with my British identity as I learned more about the Troubles, but I wasn’t prepared for the discrimination I experienced due to being British. I was approached on the street and told to “go back where I came from,” that I wasn’t welcome, and that it would be a united Ireland soon. There were also comments made by individuals suggesting that peace was important—excluding the British. I was really surprised by this, especially since it felt at odds with the peacebuilding work we were witnessing throughout Northern Ireland. Reassuringly, after speaking with adults on the trip, it seems those were extreme instances, but still, they were difficult to face.

Overall, this trip was incredibly eye-opening. It helped me discover possible career paths, understand the importance of active listening in Peace and Justice work, hear multiple perspectives, confront discrimination, and enjoy meaningful conversations with others. I’m so grateful to my teachers and peers for making this trip so informative, joyful, and exciting. I look forward to using what I’ve learned about active listening and potential job paths as I continue studying Peace and Justice.

This trip has opened my eyes to the complications of conflict and what it does to the communities and its people decades after the violence ends. At first it was portrayed as a religious conflict between Protestants and Catholics, but that is just one layer to the conflict. Throughout the trip I kept asking myself why they were fighting when they both believed in the same God, and both follow sects of Christianity? In other religious based conflicts it is about the fight over different beliefs in God, Israel and Palestine for example. It was not until I got to Northern Ireland that I learned that framing the conflict as a conflict over religion was a media ploy and that the basis of the conflict was the fight against colonization. I am a Religious Studies major and the aspect of religion in this conflict really piqued my interest in this trip, and learning about the religious groups that would be a neutral advocate for both sides of the conflict helping people and making sure they do not get injured. My personal highlight of the trip was visiting Corrymeela, where we talked to people, who during the conflict went into battle zones and got civilians out of the chaos, risking their lives to make sure people were safe. I have been interested in missionary and Christian fellowship work after college and seeing a group doing what I am passionate about overseas makes me want to pursue that career more seriously. An academic highlight about this course was having the chance to hear from all sides of the conflict and being able to understand the motives of all parties and why they are fighting. An essential lesson I learned during this trip is that everyone has their own stories and own side to the conflict. On paper it is easy to come to conclusions on who the good guys are and who is in the wrong. However, once hearing from the Nationalist Catholic side, then the Unionist Protestants, and even the ex-British military, I learned that the conflict is much more complicated than black and white and that each side had reason to fight and defend what they believed in. My personal challenge was definitely the weather. I run hot blooded so I did not pack nor wear a lot of layers on this trip, which resulted in being caught in the rain multiple times and even getting sick for a day due to the weather. However, I adapted to the cold and it was very pleasant and much better than the 90 degree weather I am dealing with now in California. My biggest surprise about this trip is how relevant the material is. With current conflicts going on and the conflict in Northern Ireland still lingering on the island, the lessons about communication and peace resolutions can be applied in the middle east, and in restorative justice in Northern Ireland. Overall, I learned much more in Ireland than I could ever read about the conflict, and it will help me with my future as a lifelong learner.

This trip was incredibly eye-opening and allowed me to apply everything I learn and discuss daily in my classes to a real-world experience. It was one thing reading material and watching documentaries detailing what the Troubles were like and how it affected the community, but having the opportunity to see the lasting effects of the conflict throughout the cities and speaking to the people who were at the heart of it was an entirely different experience. As a sociology major, a lot of what I study has to do with taking social theory and using it to explain things like group conflict, and it was especially useful in this environment. Like I said before the trip, I enjoy engaging in meaningful discussions in my classes that have to do with unpacking how theory connects to real-world issues. However, I will admit that sometimes, in the classroom, it can get repetitive and difficult to imagine what these dynamics actually look like in real communities. Being on this trip allowed me to break out of my academic bubble and fully immerse myself in an area that is, to this day, deeply affected by the trauma of its past. Looking back on my first blog post, I talked about wanting to gain more clarity and understanding on how the content of my major connects to the real world, and not only seeing but hearing an array of different perspectives all across Northern Ireland got me excited about my academic future. 

The steps the community has taken to repair and reconcile after decades of conflict were inspiring to see. A highlight for me was attending the panel with the two ex-political prisoners, one from a loyalist background, one from a republican background, and an ex-British army soldier. These men, all of whom were on opposing sides of this conflict, who once spent their lives viewing each other as enemies and risking their freedom to fight for their identity, were sitting across from us side by side, engaging in dialogue about peace and moving forward. Each of them gave us a quick individual backstory and where they are now, and their display of growth and resilience despite their pasts was incredibly powerful. They reflected on how they were once caught in cycles of violence but eventually chose a path of healing. This resonated with me on a personal level because it reminded me of the importance of rehabilitation. Career-wise, although I am unsure of the specific job title I’d like to pursue, I have always known that I wanted to work in rehabilitation. Growing up, I’ve seen firsthand how things like addiction, incarceration, or generational trauma have the power to deeply negatively impact individuals. But I’ve also seen how, when people are given the right support and resources, change is possible, and this panel was a key example of that.

A big challenge for me was the lack of women’s representation in the remembrance efforts of this conflict. Although many organizations have taken steps to recognize women’s contributions, it was alarming how often their stories were overshadowed or just completely left out of the narrative. Memorials and murals are heavily centered around men and the role they played, while women are barely acknowledged in this space. It is disappointing to see, especially taking into consideration that women are at the heart of the peacebuilding process and continue to play a crucial part in helping the community heal. Unfortunately, though, I was not surprised by this, it is a common pattern in society to exclude women’s stories. There are thousands of women who were pivotal in sustaining their communities and driving reconciliation efforts, yet many of their contributions will never get the chance to be honored, and that was a hard reality to face.

My participation in this course in the North of Ireland has further developed my understanding of the world and justice movements. To be honest, I did not directly connect my experiences during this course to my career aspirations, which are in the film industry. In fact, I found myself in a bit of a crisis when it came to sizing up what I had wanted to pursue after college, and what individuals we talked to have committed their lives to. There were several moments on the trip where I considered going a completely different path– especially after we spoke to Paul O’Connor from the Pat Finucane Center. I thought the work he was doing was incredibly admirable and while Paul said the Center could not necessarily attain justice for its clients, I still found that they were doing considerable work in offering closure to people who experienced trauma from the conflict. It took reflection after the course to understand that my original career aspirations could align with what I learned and even uplift it. After traveling around the North and talking to locals, it’s clear that there are so many stories that can be written, especially from people who desperately want to be heard. As a writer, I can narratively capture those and I hope to write something about my time in the North of Ireland that can be adapted for the screen.

When I made my first blog post, I had consumed a lot of media about the North of Ireland, but it did not feel real. After the first talk we had on June 2nd with Professor Bill Rolston, the history we learned became palpable. Before coming to the North, I was skeptical about those who claimed the conflict had roots going back as far as seven hundred years. However, it became clear to me that the conflict did not start in the 1960s or with Partition, but rather, at least, four hundred years ago with the forcible removal of Ulster Scots from their lands and placement onto plantations, put forth after the ethnic cleansing of Irish Catholics from their lands. It was hard to reconcile that such injustices occurred that have been either forgotten or rewritten to cleanse the harm done by the British. Something I had difficulty with was hearing from the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) on June 3rd. Hearing from the Chairmen of the RUC came after we heard from a panel of nationalists, loyalists, and a former British soldier, Lee Lavis– the last of whom eloquently explained the socialization that soldiers go through to equip them to act violently on behalf of the state. I could not help but think back to Lee’s words as we heard from the Chairmen of the RUC, who did not hesitate to use the word “terrorist” to describe anyone outside of the state who took up arms. Even if I did not agree with the stances of the paramilitaries who took up arms, there was a severe lack of nuance and historical context in the conversation that frustrated me. As I heard from the RUC, I unfortunately let my emotions take over, though I had questions that came up as they spoke to our class. Above all, the question I wish I could have asked in the moment is where they would place the start of the conflict. I came into this course with a focus on history, as it is my minor, but I did not realize it would be such a major part of the course. Ultimately, history informs the actions taken by all the sides of the conflict– for Republicans, it was the history of man-made famine and occupation. For loyalists, it was the historic cultural connection to Britain. For the British state, it was an imperial pursuit that fell in line with their other efforts to colonize– reaching from Myanmar to what became The United States.