Jeremy Rinker

Bio & Education

Jeremy A. Rinker is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, where he is currently engaged in research that explores the intersections between peacebuilding, collective trauma, and systems of oppression. Jeremy graduated with a Ph.D. from George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 2009. His Masters is in Asian Religion from the University of Hawaii (2001). His Bachelor’s degree is from the University of Pittsburgh in Philosophy and Political Science (dual major, 1995).

Jeremy’s research and writings have long focused on South Asian communities, untouchability, human rights, and narrative meaning making in social justice movements. His past work emphasizes the skills and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation in decision making, justice advocacy, and identity formation. With expertise in restorative justice conferencing, program development, and social movement organization, Jeremy is the editor of the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis and his past publications include: [Identity, Rights, and Awareness: Anti-Caste Activism in India and the Awakening of Justice through Discursive Practices] (Lexington Books, 2018), as well as articles in [Peace and Conflict]: Journal of Peace Psychology], [Peace and Change], and the [Journal of Peace Education], among other academic outlets.

Courses Taught

• PCS 212: Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies
• GES 164: Introduction to Environmental Studies
• PCS 305: Foundations of Peace and Conflict Studies
• PCS 311, PCS 607: Conflict Research
• PCS 420: Senior Seminar
• PCS 600: Fundamentals of Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies
• PCS 601: Indigenous Peace Practices
• PCS 610: Transitional Justice
• PCS 665: Religion, Conflict, and Confrontation
• HHS 589D: Sikkim Study Abroad: Buddhism, Peace, and Postcolonial Paradox

Research

Research interests include:

• Values-based Social Conflicts
• Narrative Analysis and Social Transformation
• Religion and Conflict
• Social Movement Mobilization, Organization, and Activism
• Collective Historical Trauma, Remembrance, and Storytelling
• Self-Reflective Conflict Intervention Practice
• Marginalized Resistance

current projects

Operating on all levels of analysis, my research has long focused on South Asian communities, untouchability, human rights, and narrative meaning making in social justice movements. The various threads of my research weave together in a way that others in my field would recognize as valuable to knowledge-production around identity, meaning, and traumatic remembrance. One focus of my work emphasizes the processes of nonviolent conflict transformation in decision making and identity formation, while another thread explores the role of trauma and resilience in asymmetrical community conflicts. Ongoing research projects include both theory and practice and range from work at a local high school to infuse conflict resolution and restorative justice skills in 9th grade Health and Physical Education curriculum to anti-caste social movement research and practice in India.

I am currently completing an edited volume entitled [Realizing Nonviolent Resistance: Neoliberalism, Societal Trauma, and Marginalized Voice]. Contracted by Peter Lang Publishers as part of their Conflict and Peace Book Series.This volume is due out in 2020, and its emphasis is on the ascendant context of, and sites of resistance to, neoliberal ideology in the early 21st century. By asking what can the poor and marginalized do to resist such powerful forces, this co-edited volume endeavors to bring together practitioners interested in the complex interrelationships between the forces of neoliberalism and collective trauma, particularly as they relate to traditionally marginalized populations and systems of oppression.

books

• Rinker, Jeremy. (2018). [Identity, Rights, and Awareness: Anti-Caste Activism in India and the Awakening of Justice through Discursive Practices]. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books). ISBN: 978-1-4985-4193-0

selected publications

• Rinker, Jeremy. (forthcoming). “Collective Historical Trauma and Retelling the Past: Towards Trauma-informed Transitional Justice Praxis” in John Cox, Amal Khoury, and Sarah Minslow, eds., [Denial: The Final Stage of Genocide?] (New York: Routledge, 2020).
• Rinker, Jeremy & Khadka, Narayan. “Resilience and Belonging Among Bhutanese Refugees: Using Trauma Discourse to Overcome Community Discord,” in [Global Discourse in Fractured Times: Perspectives on Journalism, Media, Education, and Politics], Ed. Yahya Kamalipour (United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2018). ISBN: 13:978-1-5275-1109-5
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Collective Trauma and Narrative Harmony: Mapping the Legacy of Trauma and Displacement in Post Conflict Peacebuilding” in [Transformative Harmony], Ed. Ananta Kumar Giri (New Delhi: Studera Press, 2019), 589-614. ISBN: 978-93-85883-21-7
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Engaging Narrative as Rights-Based Peace Praxis: Framing, Naming, and Witnessing in Overcoming Structural Violence and Marginalization,” Chapter 18 in [Communication and Conflict Transformation through Local, Regional, and Global Engagement], eds. Matyok, T. and Kellett, P. (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2017), 355-376. ISBN: 978-1-4985-1498-9
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Buckle in the Hindu Belt: Contemporary Hindu-Muslim Violence and the Legacy of Partition in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh” in [Revisiting Partition: New Essays on Memory, Culture, and Politics], eds. Singh, Iyer, and Gairola (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2016), 283-304. ISBN: 978-1-4985-3104-7
• Rinker Jeremy & Lawler, Jerry. (2018). “Trauma as a Collective Disease and Root Cause of Protracted Social Conflict” [Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology]. Vol 24(2), May 2018, 150-164. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000311
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Reading Dr. Ambedkar as a narrative for Social Change” Forward Press – https://www.forwardpress.in/2017/04/reading-dr-ambedkar-as-a-narrative-for-social-change/ (April 2017)To be published in a book collection of articles on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (see above, forthcoming from Forward Press).
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Narrative Reconciliation as Rights-Based Peace Praxis: Custodial Torture, Testimonial Therapy and Overcoming Marginalization” [Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies] 46, no. 1 (2016), 121-143.
• Rinker, Jeremy & Jonason, Chelsey. “Restorative Justice as Reflective Practice and Pedagogy on College Campuses” [Journal of Peace Education], Volume 11: Issue 2 (January 2014): 162-180.
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Nonviolent Action and The Paradoxes of Sustaining Nonviolent Strategic Choice,”[ Peaceworks: An Interdisciplinary Journal]. Banaras Hindu University: Malaviya Center for Peace Research (4:1, 2014), 27-45.
• Rinker, Jeremy. “Why Should We Talk to People Who Do Not Want to Talk to Us? Inter-Caste Dialogue As A Response To Caste-Based Marginalization” [Peace and Change], Volume 38: Number 2 (April 2013): 237-262.