ABSTRACT
Peace and conflict studies (PACS) alumni edited and/or contributed to a volume, Conflict Transformation, Peacebuilding, and Storytelling. Often the word “storytelling” is used in conjunction with or instead of narrative. Thesis work and the work of new scholars emerging from a relatively small group of doctoral programs globally have a significant role in the direction of PACS. This chapter seeks to review what is an emergent yet self-conscious methodological approach that seeks to position storytelling as a central concept in peace research. PACS researchers demonstrate great respect for the knowledge of research participants. In her research on Indigenous peacebuilding in the Inuit community in Canada and the Tiv community in Nigeria, Grace Kyoon-Achan referred to her research participants as “consultants.” In 2016, Paul Cormier’s research is grounded by the Indigenous idea of holism - not only as a theory to plug in a framework, but to fundamentally shape his research process and who he is as a researcher.
