Living One - Jim Torczyner

This is the second of a special four-part Living One series, CONTEMPLATIVE ACTIVISM AND NONVIOLENT ACTION. As human history illustrates, nearly all radical and long-lasting social justice movements, such as the Indian Salt March and American Civil Rights have been rooted in practices of contemplative activism. They demonstrate the vital role that nonviolence plays in making profound change. This series of speakers reflects on contemplative activism in their own transformative work and civil resistance.
Rights-Based Community Practice and Academic Activism in a Turbulent World
Jim Torczyner is Professor of Social Work and founder of the McGill Middle East Program in Civil Society and Peace building (ICAN McGill). Jim joined the faculty at McGill University in 1973 after obtaining his M.S.W. and D.S.W. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Torczyner has been directly involved in social work, human rights education and the development of social movements for well over a half century. In 1975, he founded Montreal's Project Genesis-- a community-based, grassroots organization situated in one of Canada’s most diverse communities that works to empower all through unity of purpose that promote the well-being of all. In 1981, he founded the McGill Consortium for Ethnicity and Strategic Social Planning and the Montreal Consortium for Human Rights Advocacy Training (MCHRAT) in 1990 which extends multidisciplinary expertise to groups that have traditionally lacked access and power such as the homeless, Indigenous communities, and victims of racial, ethnic, or religious violence. His book, Rights-Based Community Practice and Academic Activism in a Turbulent World: Putting Theory into Practice in Israel, Palestine and Jordan (2020) chronicles a 25-year experience of joining Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian academic institutions and community activists to advance social justice and peace at a grassroots level. Jim is the recipient of The Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, the Canadian Bureau of International Education: Innovation in International Education Award, the Gold Medal of the Jordan Red Crescent bestowed by the Prime Minister of Jordan, and served as visiting professor and Advisor to the Rector and President of Ben Gurion University (2008-2013)-forging a joint Israeli-Jordanian partnership in disaster management and the training of paramedics.
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