King's students learn about de-escalating conflict, building relationships in Rondine

Every spring, King’s students and faculty travel to Italy to the Rondine Cittadella della Pace (Rondine City of Peace), to work towards a more peaceful world. Rondine, an international, Nobel Prize-nominated centre for conflict resolution and peacebuilding, brings together youth from around the world, from regions dealing with ongoing conflict, to collaboratively design strategies to de-escalate conflict and build cross-cultural relationships.

In its ninth year, the King’s at Rondine Seminar is a unique program that includes students from 11 different departments, demonstrating the interdisciplinary approach to the program that is one of its strengths. 

This year, 103 students, including 33 King’s students and students from Western and Huron, will take part in the King’s at Rondine program. Dr. Pietro Pirani, Lecturer in Social Justice & Peace Studies (SJPS), is the coordinator for the King’s at Rondine seminar. Dr. Allyson Larkin, Associate Professor and Chair of Social Justice & Peace Studies, will attend as support faculty. Dr. Claudia Clausius, Associate Professor of English, will attend during the final week of the program, when a group of King’s Scholar students will be participating.

King’s students engage in workshops; symposia; site visits to Rome, Bologna, Florence and other regional cities; and seminars focusing on issues of inter-ethnic conflict, climate, religion, border, migration and other fields of conflict and peacebuilding, including with the Vatican Section for Migrants and Refugees.

The founding principle that guides the Rondine method for peacebuilding is that enemies must learn to live with one another for there to be the possibility of achieving enduring peace. The full, two-year Rondine program has youth from Israel and Palestine, Russia and Ukraine, Sudan and South Sudan, the Balkans and many other countries living and studying together as a way to explore the challenges of living with their enemies.

Rondine provides our students with an extraordinary opportunity, taking the theories they have acquired in classrooms and engaging with youth preparing to be global leaders on the frontlines of urgent social issues. King’s students learn and implement global citizenship and responsibility through cross-cultural communication and engagement at Rondine. By being completely immersed in another culture and having conversations about difficult topics, students consider different global perspectives, further enriching their understanding of issues studied in the classroom and the interconnectedness of humanity.

Jake Thomson, a third-year Philosophy and Social Justice & Peace Studies student, became interested in the King’s at Rondine program because of the unique opportunity it offers for both academic and personal growth. He hopes learn about peacebuilding alongside brilliant students with diverse perspectives from around the world, particularly from those who have lived experiences with war and other forms of violent or protracted conflict. 

“King’s at Rondine will greatly impact my academic experience by allowing me to take the ideas learned at home and engage with them in real-world experiences. I think this practical and experiential component is vital for a complete education at King's,” says Thomson.

Each week of the King’s students’ stay at Rondine has a theme. The first week will be an introduction to Italy, and provide a history of humanitarianism, and how Rondine came to be. The second week will be “Human Rights Week,” in which Italian professors discuss the role of human rights. The third week will focus on social justice and Catholic thought, with travel to the Jesuit Refugee Centres in Rome. The fourth week will provide students a chance to finish their presentations and papers.

Dr. Larkin says that not everything is planned during the stay at Rondine, however, as there have been times when world leaders will visit. “Students have to be able to pivot, and be prepared to take notes and ask questions,” she says.

Because students have the weekends off, they can take trips to Naples, Rome and other locations in Italy. “They make the most of it,” Dr. Larkin says. There is also an opportunity to form connections and create networks, not just among the other students, but with those youth from different countries. “It really is a global community that’s being formed,” she adds.

All members of the Rondine community, including international participants, must learn Italian, meaning King’s students take a course in Italian Language and Culture (ITAL 1045). It presents an incredible opportunity for King’s students to encounter a new language in the context of its history and culture.

This month-long experiential learning experience for King’s students is made possible in part by the generous awards, scholarships, and bursaries available to them, including International Experiential Learning Awards, valued at $1,000 each. Additionally, SJPS students are eligible for the Dr. Joan Mason-Grant Awards for Experiential Learning, the Dutrizac Family Student Bursary, and Sisters of St. Joseph Travel Bursaries. This academic year, a total of $40,000 was awarded to King’s students in SJPS 2211G to support costs related to experiential learning opportunities for the King’s at Rondine seminar.

Learn more about the King’s at Rondine Seminar.