International Nonviolence Trainer’s Award
The Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island (URI) recognized Dr. Charles Collyer with the International Nonviolence Trainer’s Award on October 9, 2024.
Dr. Collyer is honored for his dedication to nonviolent education, which he exhibits through his excellence in teaching, research, mentorship, and activism in support of countless initiatives directly related to Nonviolence. Dr. Collyer believes that Nonviolence is an excellent framework for working with all people and is especially valuable with those whose disrespectful stereotypes and discriminatory treatment have held them back. He believes that learning Nonviolence can open possibilities for people that did not exist before. Dr. Collyer believes that Nonviolent teachers, by their example, offer all students a new toolkit of life skills.
Dr. Collyer grew up in Canada and moved to the United States to obtain his higher education, including a PhD in Psychology from Princeton University. Upon graduating in 1976, he soon began working as an Assistant Professor for the URI Psychology Department. Dr. Collyer remains actively involved as the Interim Ombud at URI. He continues to mediate disputes peacefully and support positive social transformation through various levels of formal and non-formal educational programs designed to foster Nonviolence. Dr. Collyer believes that through teaching, being involved in the community, and always welcoming questions about Nonviolent problem solving, one can change the world for the better, one light bulb moment at a time.
Dr. Collyer offers a beautiful course on Peace Psychology, which he supplements with recorded videos related to questions and discussions that emerge from studying the psychology of Nonviolence. He developed a series of over seventy videos, which he hosts on a YouTube channel called ‘Learning Nonviolence.’ All are encouraged to explore this site, noting that a few videos are private for specific audiences, but ‘Learning Nonviolence’ is a public channel. Dr. Collyer’s Peace Psychology course at URI combines aspects of cognitive, social, clinical, and cross-cultural psychology that bear on preventing violence and promoting constructive, nonviolent behavior.
Dr. Collyer has said that people tend to be afraid of Nonviolence because they think it makes them vulnerable. However, he maintains that Nonviolence gives us a new repertoire of skills that leads to discovering many things close to the heart. By contrast, choosing violence is like choosing to fail. Teaching Nonviolence is a bit like vaccinating people against future violence, says Charles. Like other kinds of prevention, it isn’t easy to measure the impact.
In another example of determination in actively pursuing the universal goal to improve our world, Dr. Collyer has contributed significantly to Silver Oak Academy, which has helped transform many lives. Silver Oak Academy is a residential school for adjudicated teenage boys. Dr. Collyer’s work began with staff training and progressed to classroom and group work with students, membership on the School Board, and finally being elected President of the Board. Under his leadership, Silver Oak offers a minimum-security countryside campus with academic, vocational, and athletic programs for students and opportunities for paid and volunteer work in the community.
In his further efforts to support Nonviolent Education, Dr. Charles and his wife, Dr. Pam Zappardino, co-founded The Zepp Center, a Center for Nonviolence and Peace Education in Maryland, which has delivered many nonviolence training courses in Maryland and beyond on a global scale. They sponsor civil rights tours to the Deep South annually so that students and others can learn about the Civil Rights Movement and immerse themselves in history.
Dr. Collyer is also a prolific writer. One of the books he is most proud of is the one he co-wrote with Ira Zepp, the well-known Martin Luther King scholar. The book was titled ‘Nonviolence: Origins and Outcomes, ‘ and is now in its 3rd edition. His research papers, including Sensitivity to Violence Measured by Ratings of Severity Increases after Nonviolence Training, were published in the Sage Journals.
Dr. Collyer became involved with the International Nonviolence Summer Institute at the University of Rhode Island in 1997. During that time, he also helped create the name for the new Center. He then continued with full participation in the first official International Nonviolence Summer Institute, which was held in the new (at the time) Multicultural Center building, in 1999. Charles had the opportunity to train alongside Dr. Bernard Lafayette, an incredible civil rights activist, and original Martin Luther King staff member. Charles returned during subsequent summer sessions as a co-trainer. For this year’s International Nonviolence Summer Institute, Charles returned as a special guest lecturer for the Twenty-fifth Annual Summer Institute and delivered a fascinating presentation.
The University of Rhode Island’s Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies sincerely thanks Dr. Collyer for his peaceful mission to promote Nonviolent Education. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and congratulate him on this esteemed International Nonviolence Trainer’s Award.