Colloquium MSc thesis Rianne Veldman

You are hereby cordially invited to the presentation of the MSc thesis of Rianne Veldman entitled 'Is there a future for young religious peace-building leaders?'

Supervisor: Otto Hospes (co-examinor: Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen)

Date and time: (RESCEDULED) Friday, 29 May, 10:30-11:30 hours

Location: room 2047, Leeuwenborch, Hollandseweg 1, Wageningen

Religion can either be a source or a solution to any type of conflict and under the right conditions religious peace-building leaders can play a role in solving conflicts. This research explores the perceptions of international students in the Netherlands, people involved in international student work, and experts on the relevance of religious peace-building and on preparations needed for international students to fulfill a role as religious peace-building leaders.

For this purpose, current and graduated international students and staff members of ‘IFES-Nederland’ and the GZB have been interviewed as well as experts in the field of religious peace-building. IFES and the GZB showed an interest in this research and organise activities for international students. In the research the perceptions of the experts were compared with the ideas of the current and graduated students and with the staff members of IFES and the GZB.

The main objectives of the thesis are (I) to generate insight in the perceptions of students and experts about preparing international students for religious peace-building and the intercultural dialogue, (II) to give advice to IFES and the GZB on their programmes for international students and (III) to give input to the scientific debate about religious peace-building and the related concepts ‘leadership’, ‘personal capacity-building’ and ‘intercultural dialogue’. Based on the interviews and review of literature, two different types of preparation on religious peace-building for international students in the Netherlands are proposed: (1) Preparation for dealing with regular (intercultural) conflicts, and (2) In-depth preparation.

Keywords: religious peace-building, intercultural dialogue, international students, leadership, personal capacity-building, IFES-Nederland, GZB