The book Teaching About the Violent Past: Opportunities and Challenges for Teachers in Conflict-Affected African Societies introduces an innovative interdisciplinary framework for exploring secondar school teachers’ engagement with so-called conflict-history education, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. This practice-oriented book aims at identifying teachers’ needs to feel confident and competent in driving reconciliation in their classrooms and provides concrete pedagogical strategies and policy recommendations to support them in this essential role.

During the launch event, the authors will not only present their book, but also engage in a roundtable discussion on teacher professional development for conflict-history education, and reflect on the role of context, exploring how insights from the African case studies are relevant to contemporary European and Dutch classrooms, together with:

• Prof. Bjorn Wansink (Utrecht University
• Prof. Michael Merry (University of Amsterdam)
• A secondary school teacher (name to be confirmed), connecting research to classroom practice

This event invites participants to reflect, debate, and engage critically with a pressing question in education today: how to teach about conflict in ways that foster understanding, empathy, and peace. At the end, there is a short reception.

About the speakers

Line Kuppens is an assistant professor in conflict studies at the University of Amsterdam, and visiting fellow at the Centre for Research on Peace and Development, KU Leuven. Her research focuses on peace education.

Justin Sheria Nfundiko is an associate professor at the Université Catholique de Bukavu and Université Officielle de Bukavu. His research focuses on the role of education in consolidating peace.

Bjorn Wansink is an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Utrecht University. In his work Wansink deals with themes such as cultural diversity, history, citizenship, critical thinking, multiperspectivity and dealing with controversial issues.