Researching Peace: Progress, Issues and Challenges

Abstract: Despite the recent efforts to revive the discourse on peace and tourism and the launch of two important publications: The Journal of Tourism and Peace Research and the text Tourism, Progress and Peace (Moufakkir & Kelly, 2010), this subject of study struggles to gain sufficient scholarly interest and remains under-researched. The broad ‘church’ of Tourism Studies, together with Hospitality Studies and the emerging field of Event Studies provide prisms through which the intricate relationships of objects, people, places, and environments can be further explored critically. The purpose of this seminar is to bring together researchers who are interested in exploring the complex issues of peace in these fields.  This talk will also look at the developments in tourism by drawing on the achievements of the International Centre for Peace through Tourism Research (ICPTR), and the recent initiatives such as the Exploring Peace through Tourism, Hospitality and Events network (EPTHE), and the commencement of a new ATLAS Special Interest Group: Tourism Conflict and Peace Research Group. 

Biography: Tomas teaches event management papers at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) in Auckland, New Zealand.  He has published in leading tourism journals and is one of the editors of The Journal of Tourism and Peace Research. He founded the epthe network which was created for researchers and students interested in critically exploring the issues of peace through tourism, hospitality, and events. His primary research focuses mainly on knowledge production of and theoretical inquiries into tourism, constructionist epistemology, hermeneutic phenomenology, sustainability, and the critical exploration of issues surrounding peace (mainly in the context of tourism, hospitality, and events).