Religious groups’ way of protest. That is the topic of the research I’m participating in here at the University of Otago. I’m a research assistant at the National Centre for Peace and Conflict in Dunedin for two months. The research is part of my master studies in peace and conflict at Uppsala University. The purpose is for me to learn about current research within religion in peace and conflict as well as how bigger research projects are conducted. Therefore, it is a great opportunity being able to work as a research assistant. I will only be participating in parts of the project which is a larger study at the University of Otago.

The study’s purpose is to answer why religious groups choose either nonviolent or violent protest. It’s a quantitative study and we use different databases and dataset from existing research to find causation with different variables. The daily work consists of looking for information and credible sources. In other words, sitting by the computer checking for credible media sources, previous research or information in different datasets. It is very interesting and, like my colleague put it, “it’s almost like being a detective” referring to the skill to find reliable information.

I love working at the Peace and Conflict Centre and I now only have one month left. Enjoy some pictures of the University area