Global Health and the Arts: Trauma Informed Practice in Communities and Society

 

The Arts, Health and Society Division of the European Graduate School (EGS) offers a professional development course for students and current facilitators interested in arts-based trauma recovery and conflict transformation.  In the aftermath of COVID-19, pervasive systemic injustices such as racism, misogyny, poverty, and escalation of international wars, it is argued that we, as a global community, are living in collective trauma. Arts-based interventions led by experienced facilitators have helped communities utilize the arts to realize their resilience to trauma while also fostering personal and communal agency and boosting a group’s capacity to act in the face of conflict. In these times of deepened divisions, increased isolation, and violence, it is crucial that we work to cultivate global health and peace.This course provides didactic learning and practical skills training for artists, peacebuilders, humanitarian workers, health care providers, teachers, and change agents from all fields who work with individuals, groups, and communities experiencing traumatic stress and crisis. 

 

Course Format:

This course offers a diverse learning experience with 10 days onsite in Malta. The program is led by an internationally acclaimed faculty and was initiated as a pilot program in April 2016. Students will engage in interactive trauma-informed practice as well as attend lectures via Zoom with scholars work in the fields of the arts and global health. This learning experience concentrates on themes of arts-based trauma intervention and community health through trauma-informed methods for stabilization and regulation while touching on key concepts from the conflict transformation and peacebuilding fields. Research components from the expressive arts will be integrated throughout the course.

 

Credits: 

As this is a required learning experience for EGS students enrolled in the Expressive Arts, Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding track*, those students will be awarded 10 (study points) ECTS towards the fulfillment of their master’s degree.

 

*Please note: This professional development course is required for students specializing in Expressive Arts in Conflict Transformation & Peace building at EGS with the exception of those students who have a graduate level academic background in arts-based trauma interventions and/or conflict and peace studies.

 

Location: This 10-day intensive will take place at Fort St. Elmo in the Maltese capital of Valletta. Students are responsible for their own accommodations in the city.

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Date: Thursday, October 24 to Sunday, November 3, 2024