SAVE the 'PEACE STUDIES' COURSE at PISA UNIVERSITY
course
PETITION TO SAVE
the ONLY PEACE STUDIES UNIVERSITY COURSE
in Italy:
Pisa University's "Scienze per la Pace"*
The university course in Pisa, the only one of its kind in Italy, was set up out of a need for an international culture of peace which came about after the second world war, when several institutions were created in northern Europe and the USA, and which are still operating today. Our studies, which are needed more and more, offer us the opportunity to find alternative, non-violent solutions to conflict resolution. Our interdisciplinary approach is fundamental for the analysis of what is happening in the world. In our opinion peace doesn't mean the mere absence of conflicts, it does mean active construction of a better reality. Therefore, the quest for peace is led by a scientific approach and a strategic study of various proposals and specific methods.
We think that our country needs the continuity of the non-violent culture of our philosophers and masters that are studied all over the world, such as Aldo Capitini, Danilo Dolci, Lanza dal Vasto, Lorenzo Milani, Tonino Bello, Ernesto Balducci. This cultural continuity must remain in the academic world of the Italian university. Teaching and training are necessary to avoid the decline of non-violent philosophy, culture and experiences. Our course is based on them and we think they are the only tools for a real change in our society. If Scienze per la Pace ceased to exist, the will to defend democratic institutions both in Italy and in the rest of the world without using arms would be even weaker than now. Peace studies cannot fail to be included and not have equal dignity within the Italian university system. The Italian University needs a thorough course of peace studies to create new cognitive and ethical foundations for politics and social action.
In an Italian and European context which is daily more and more more impervious to the needs of those on the other side of Mediterranean Sea, in a geographic zone where the reply to the recent economic and financial crisis can only be an alternative model of development for some time now a fierce attack on culture in our country has been in act, an attack on any different voice and dissonant idea. The meaning of the word "peace" is being impoverished. But there were some in Pisa who were able to start up this