Learning Vigorously and Learning Peacefully: Connecting the Fragments of our World with Education
Our class at the Yi Jun Peace Museum
Lessons Learned from the Final Week
One of the most important lessons I learned from our time in The Hague came to light during the final week of class. During this week, we spent one full day on Korea in The Hague. During this time, we visited the Yi Jun Peace Museum where we learned about Korea’s attempted involvement in the 1907 Second Hague Peace Conference. We learned that the Korean envoys sent to The Hague were not allowed to be a part of the conference and, therefore, could not ask the international community for help in recovering Korea’s diplomatic sovereignty. The museum also taught us about issues in Korea at the time when Japan was attempting to control Korea using its government.
Our class at the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in The Hague.
During this day, we also traveled to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the Kingdom of the Netherlands in The Hague. Here we learned about the younger generation in Korea and their current involvement in peace movements. We spoke with diplomats at the embassy about how individuals in South Korea are fighting against the human rights atrocities in North Korea. When these diplomats asked us what we knew about Korea, we, the students, did not know any of this. They also asked us about our culture, what younger Americans think of Korea today, especially related to the division between the Koreas, and whether or not the younger generation in America is interested in world events. The experience at the embassy was an exchange of knowledge. Rather than one party lecturing another, we asked each other about peace and justice and all learned from one another.
The day we spent learning about Korea taught me a lesson on education. Our experience at the embassy and the museum proved that there is an important history related to a collective world peace that many people do not know about. The U.S. and Korea seem not to be educated about each other. Koreans seem to be uncertain about what Americans think of their country and their situation, and Americans seem to be unaware of what is going on in Korea, especially related to peace. What is shocking about all of this is the gap in knowledge. Most Americans do not know about what happened in 1907 with Korea, and most do not know about the efforts of individuals there today regarding human rights issues. It is haunting to think of all that could be achieved if the countries were even closer and worked together, but there seems to be a hesitation between the two. This is likely because of a lack of education.
The Relevance to International Peace and Justice
Education is the first stepping stone on the path to creating peace
A large part of international peace and justice lies in education. Many of the miscommunications between countries or individuals are the causes of major injustices or acts of violence in the world. A lack of education about other countries and their cultures and traditions can lead to a separateness between nations that causes fear and even leads to war. Education about cultures is also essential in making sure justice is actually complementary to the traditions and needs of the country that is seeking justice. If Americans knew more about the efforts of individuals in Korea to prosecute North Korea for human rights issues, then we might be more involved in the process of helping bring justice to the victims of these atrocities. However, education in the U.S. fails to mention that this is happening in South Korea. Much of the American education on Korea is about North Korea and is aimed at creating fear. Students hear about their potential use of nuclear weapons against the U.S. and a hatred harbored for Americans. They are taught that injustices occur daily in North Korea, but they are not taught that people in South Korea are trying to take action against it or what Americans can do to help. Furthermore, they only learn about the negative side of Korea’s history that is related to the war and the separation. They are not shown Korea’s desperation to be a part of the Second Hague Peace Convention in 1907 or how strong the bond between America and Korea was even during the Korean war.
May Wright Sewall, an American educator and reformer, said that peace must be taught through positive history. If students only grow up learning about the negative history of a country, such as all of the wars it fought, they will not believe their country to be capable of peace. However, if they learn about the positive steps their country took towards peace, they will see the potential for their nation to continue on that path and understand that there is an alternative to war. This is also the idea of the word “schatzwiederentdeckung,” a term our professor, Hope May, discovered that means recovering a buried treasure, for example, a positive peace history in a nation’s past. This is what the education at museums like the Yi Jun Peace Museum and discussion with diplomats at the embassy can provide for individuals. Experiences like these help to recover, through education, a positive past, and help to uncover the positive present that is not being talked about enough. At the Bertha von Suttner Master Class Don Ferencz talked about the ability of countries to turn people who are diverse and different into the enemy of the citizens and justify treating them unjustly. If the U.S. educates its people as if all of Korea is North Korea, a place and a people to be feared, it enables Americans to enact all sorts of injustices. The U.S. does not usually do this with education, but the possibility is always there. Promoting justice involves reducing fear by using education to create common understanding and acceptance of each other.
This is necessary if countries like Korea and America will ever understand each other and work together to create peace. Both countries need to have a common understanding of each other’s goals and histories. Each country needs to decide what peace and justice means to their citizens and educate them correctly about the other country and its citizens. Education is an exchange. It is conversation between different parties who come together for the purpose of understanding one another better in order to connect and work together. In small ways, education brings us closer together and allows for the creation of a world where countries are not afraid of each other, but interested in each other and willing to work together. This is how lasting peace and justice are formed.
For me, coming back from The Hague has been a whirlwind adventure of its own. In just a short time, I visited with many friends and family members who ask me about my time in The Hague. It is difficult to respond to this question, since we did so much while we were there, and I want to explain it all to them. However, I realize that most of the information about what we did, especially the terms and individuals related to international peace and justice, is completely foreign to many people here. For example, when I mention to people that we sat in on the South Africa decision at the International Criminal Court, most of them have no idea what I am talking about. When I mention that we stayed at the castle of Fey von Hassell, many of them smile and nod through the story but never really understand the deeply changing experience that it was for us. It is hard to comprehend how such meaningful and significant moments on the trip can be just words to people here. Even the ones who do understand how lucky we were do not fully understand the emotions we experienced. There really is no way to put into words for others the way in which this experience changed me, and sometimes it is frustrating when people back home want to act like everything is normal when I feel like so much has changed. It is even harder to explain to others the nostalgia for our days in The Hague when returning back to a life without any of our daily adventures and immersions into a new area of the world.
Ann Arbor, Michigan (home for me)
I have not had to acclimate too quickly to life in the U.S., since a student from Germany arrived to live with my family just days after I arrived home. I will travel to Germany with her in just a month. In a way, it was convenient that my trip was so close to her arrival, since most of the conversions from European to American standards that she was doing upon arrival were conversions that I had just been doing in reverse for a month. It felt like having a piece of Europe back home in the United States with me. The only thing that was missing was the tram system. It is almost as if we acclimated together. Acclimating while also trying to bridge the gaps for someone from Europe gives me a firsthand view of what I must have seemed like abroad, but it also helps me to be more sensitive to the differences in culture and things that need explanation. Upon returning from the states, some of our traditions suddenly seem more strange than they did before. While I have traveled enough in my life that I am not regularly phased by rapid changes in practices and traditions, each time I leave somewhere, I come back and view my own country in a new light, sometimes with pride for certain practices, other times with a sense of things that could be done better. This trip allowed me to return with a sense of both and to be especially prudent in noticing minute details in differences in culture that change the way people from other cultures experience the world.
Learning through discussion
Personally, when I think back to The Hague, I am most affected by what I discovered about education. Overall, I learned that the things we learn in our lives are all interconnected, even when we think they never could be. An example is the moment when I was talking to Don Ferencz at the Bertha von Suttner Master Class in Italy. He mentioned a poem by Alfred Noyes called “The Highwayman” that deeply affected both him and his father (Ben Ferencz). For many people, this poem would have been just any other poem that meant nothing at all. However, just a semester before this trip, I studied this poem extensively and even memorized it for a class about children’s literature. This is how I found myself at a castle in Italy reciting a poem with Don Ferencz from my completely unrelated class. This moment formed a connection and a link between us that might not have existed otherwise.
Another example involves language. I knew that my years of Spanish would be completely useless in Italy and the Netherlands. However, I found that my Spanish allowed me to understand the Italian spoken at the Bertha von Suttner Master Class and also connected me to various individuals of Hispanic backgrounds in The Hague. Part of knowledge and learning is making connections. It is as the author E.M. Forster said, “only connect … live in fragments no longer.” Growing and learning more, even if it is not in our area of study and we think it will never apply to what we are doing, does not ever hurt us. Learning more, learning vigorously and hungrily, learning anything and everything we can only helps us to connect the fragments of a relatively broken world to make a better picture. When we learn and connect with others through our knowledge, we can understand each other in new ways, as I found in my small experiences on the trip when I was surprised to use knowledge I never thought I would. When we work to understand each other on emotional levels, we take part in the creation of the world around us and actively bridge the gaps to make it a more connected and peaceful place.
Conceptual Lesson Learned
I believe that Cora di Brazzà ’s ideas about how to create peace have resonated with me the most and created a holistic lesson of the course. At the start of class in Mt. Pleasant, we talked about different methods to promote peace. Henri Dunant had ideas about organizations stepping in during war time, but Cora di Brazzà emphasized education. Cora lived her belief that education could foster peace in her everyday life. In Italy we learned about how she educated the women in her town on how to create and sell lace as well as how to make cookies. She empowered people and taught them how to be a part of society in a peaceful and industrious way. She steered them away from being violent by educating them and empowering them. When people are empowered, they do not turn to violence because they have no need. Education is also necessary to show people how to accept and be kind to others. Cora’s ideas are infused in the experience of this course. It is as if her ideas were a part of the collective subconscious. She lives on through her descendent, Federico Pirzio-Biroli, who endeavors to create peace and harmony in Africa by empowering people and allowing them to be entrepreneurs. He is giving them the means to continue to educate others in their community on spreading peace. He gives them a sense of empowerment through being able to contribute to their community (including the world community). The peace movement that exists in The Hague lives on through the same concept that Cora mentioned. Individuals at organizations wholeheartedly seek to educate others, both citizens of The Hague and those who come to visit, on the idea and history of peace. This can be seen in the Hague Talks events, the countless museums for peace history (including the Peace Palace Visitor’s Center ) and the willingness of individuals, such as judges; lawyers; library directors; or any others, to meet with young students and talk with them about peace. While Henri Dunant’s ideas were valid and make sense, for the common person, Cora’s ideas are simple and attainable.
Learning from Corrado at BrazzĂ
This class was a trial of Cora’s ideas that proved them to be right. As students, we learned about positive history, which is what made us first start to question the use of violence and the ethical issues of war while still in the classroom at Central Michigan. When we went to The Hague, we immediately entered into the world of the individuals who work there who taught us what peace and justice look like in everyday events. Once we learned about the efforts of different countries and individuals towards making peace, it was impossible not to notice the difference that is being made and impossible not to feel the pull to be a part of it. We even learned from each other and developed more in-depth ideas through conversation about various topics and by debate. It is easy to say that one should work for peace, but if it seems like one is alone in the endeavor, it is easy to give up. If one is educated by others and given examples of how to engage in this process, it becomes much more feasible. It is in this way that Cora’s idea is made real. Education makes peace efforts tangible and shows the ways in which one might start and take part in the effort. We were continually learning through our time at The Hague and Castello di Brazzà . We did something simple, learning and becoming empowered in our knowledge, and it made an impact on us that was, as Cora predicted, not simple or small at all.
A quote by Albert Einstein that is consistent with Cora’s beliefs about peace and education
The lesson is, for the ordinary person, peace does not have to be a large, lofty, impossible goal. Education is peace and peace is education. Cora believed that the two were inseparable, and I have come to agree with this idea because of the ways in which I have changed since my time in The Hague. One is never done learning and can always learn new ways to be peaceful, such as memorizing the Seven Rules of Harmony or discovering the meaning behind the peace badge pin. One can always become a more peaceful person, and one can also always spread peace in small ways. Education can be as simple as telling someone about the history of peace or being kind to another person and serving as an example. Cora had it right all along and was a living, breathing example of the concept. One can create the world one wants to live in. We raise children to be the way they are and our actions influence the way others, in turn, act towards those around them and towards us. If we want to live in a more peaceful world, we have to teach others what it means to be peaceful, and that means teaching ourselves as well and living what we learn. Cora’s lesson is that we are all students, and the takeaway is that peace is not the end goal, but the entire journey itself.
