UNC Greensboro|Directory|Jeremy Rinker

Jeremy Rinker

Jeremy Rinker, Professor, Peace and conflict studies , uncg

Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department Chair

Peace and Conflict Studies

Email Address: jarinker@uncg.edu

Phone: 336.355.8152

Bio & Education

Jeremy A. Rinker is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, where he is engaged in research that explores the complex intersections between peacebuilding, collective historical trauma, and systems of oppression. His research agenda spans the globe but has primarily focused on South Asia and anti-caste activism, narrative meaning making in conflict, and transitional/transformative justice processes. Jeremy graduated with a Ph.D. from George Mason University’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (now GMU’s Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Studies) in 2009. His master’s is in Asian Religion from the University of Hawaii (2001) and his bachelor’s degree is in Philosophy and Political Science (University of Pittsburg, 1995). Along the way, Jeremy also worked with several 501c3 non-profit organizations doing international development and restorative justice work. These organizations have included The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and Offender Aid and Restoration (OAR), among others. Dr. Rinker is currently the Executive Director of the Institute for Peace and Harmony, a local Greensboro non-profit working to promote peace locally through community building, dialogue, and peacebuilding practices. Dr. Rinker also edits the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis, an innovate biannual academic journal of peace praxis.

Jeremy’s research, writings, and teaching focus on the broad connections between justice and peace and takes a praxis-based approach to conflict analysis and

intervention. His past work emphasizes both the theory and practices of nonviolent conflict transformation in decision making, justice advocacy, and identity formation. With expertise in restorative justice conferencing, group dialogue and facilitation, program development and management, and social movement mobilization and framing, Jeremy is a prolific writer and conflict intervention practitioner.

Jeremy’s past book-length publications include two edited volumes and two single-authored books:

Dr. Rinker has also published articles and book reviews in various outlets, including: Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, Peace and Change, the Journal of Peace Education, and the Journal of Settler Colonial Studies, among other academic outlets. In addition, Dr. Rinker’s has contributed many book chapters to collaborative edited volumes.

Courses Taught

  • PCS 112: Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies
  • · PCS 205: Violence in the Modern World
  • · PCS 206: Democracy and (in) Conflict
  • · GES 164: Introduction to Environmental Studies
  • · PCS 305: Foundations of Peace and Conflict Studies
  • · PCS 311: Conflict Research
  • · PCS 416: Conflict Practicum
  • · PCS 420: Senior Seminar in Peace and Conflict Studies
  • · PCS 601: Indigenous Peace Practices
  • · PCS 610: Transitional Justice
  • · PCS 623: Community and Action Research
  • · PCS 665: Religion, Conflict, and Confrontation
  • · PCS 433/633: Restorative Justice
  • · PCS 467/667: Borders, Partitions, and Other Conflict Generative Narratives
  • · HHS 589D: Sikkim Study Abroad: Buddhism, Peace, and Postcolonial Paradox

Research

Research interests include:

  • Values-based Social Conflicts
  • Narrative Analysis, Narrative Conflict, and Social Transformation
  • Religion and Conflict
  • Social Movement Mobilization, Organization, and Activism
  • Collective Historical Trauma, Remembrance, and Storytelling
  • Self-Reflective Conflict Intervention Practice and Action Research Methods
  • Trauma Awareness and Resilience
  • Marginalized Resilience and Resistance
  • Peace Education and the Pedagogy of Peace Praxis

current projects

Operating on all levels of analysis from international to intrapersonal, my research has long focused on South Asian communities, untouchability, human rights, and narrative meaning making in social justice movements. The various threads of my research weave together in a way that others in my field would recognize as valuable to knowledge-production around identity, meaning, and traumatic remembrance in social conflict. One focus of my work emphasizes the processes of nonviolent conflict transformation in decision making and identity formation, while another thread explores the role of trauma and resilience in asymmetrical and protracted community conflicts. Ongoing research projects engage both the theory and practice of conflict transformation and range from work on violence prevention to anti-caste social movement research and practice to understanding religion, conflict and how to counter violent extremism.

My most recent book, The Guide to Trauma-informed and Emotionally Mindful Conflict Practice (Bloomsbury, 2024) is both an interrogation of contemporary conflict intervention practice as too focused on interests, needs, and rational choice, and a guide for conflict professionals to develop more emotionally mindful and trauma-informed conflict intervention work. In short, the book argues that trauma and its emotional resonance have been under-appreciated in favor of seemingly more ‘pragmatic’ attempts to manage conflict parties’ interests and needs in hopes of restoring social harmony. Most texts on mediation or conflict intervention spend a great deal of time on needs, positions, and interests and little to no time on emotions and psychological affect. The restoring of social harmony requires both emotion and the difficult embrace of past felt traumas, and this work aims to foreground these, often avoided, yet important aspects of social conflict. Many of my other ongoing writing project continue to revolve around these themes of the effects of collective trauma and marginalization on conflict dynamics, proposed interventions, and outcomes.

These ongoing writing project include articles on topics as wide-ranging as: settler colonialism in Kashmir, comparison of peace education in the U.S. and India, and coping and dialogue methods of anti-caste activists in the North American Dalit diaspora. I encourage you to explore my writings and reach out with questions, comments, and ideas for collaborative research.

books

SELECTED ARTICLE AND CHAPTER PUBLICATIONS

  • Rinker, Jeremy (forthcoming) “The Settler Colonial Imagination: Hindutva, Neoliberal Development, and Coming to Grips with the Collective Trauma of Kashmir’s Protracted Colonization” Journal of Settler Colonial Studies (Accepted and set for online publication in Fall 2025).
  • Lalit Khandare, Jeremy Rinker, & Nitin Dhaktode (forthcoming) “South Asian Migrants in North America: Caste-Based Cultural Practices and Coping Mechanism for Handling Collective Trauma” Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration Special Issue: Casteism Across Borders: Mapping the Diasporic Reproduction of Caste Discrimination and Anti-Caste Struggles (forthcoming November 2025
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2022). Developing Transnational Networks of Belief and Identity: Centering Interpretive and Devotional Networks as Sources of Positive Peace in South Asian Religious Traditions. In N. Sandal (Ed.), Religion and peace: Global perspectives and possibilities. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2022). Collective Historical Trauma and Retelling the Past: Towards Trauma-informed Transitional Justice Praxis. In J. Cox, A. Khoury, & S. Minslow (eds.), Denial: The final stage of genocide? New York, NY: Routledge.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2020). Reading Dr. Ambedkar as Narrative for Social Change. In P. Ranjan (Ed.), The different facets of Ambedkar. New Delhi, India: Forward Press Books.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2020). Peacebuilding in the Context of Structural Inequality: the Inescapable Grounding of Collective Trauma in Challenges to Neoliberal Social Norms. In L. Finley & M. Minch (eds.), Revolutionary nonviolence in violent times. (pp. 83-110). Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 13: 978-1-5275-4573-1.
  • Janke, E. Hooper, C., Demo, D., Bulls, J. & Rinker, Jeremy. (2019). “Community-Engaged School: Health and Human Sciences at The University of North Carolina Greensboro” ejournal of Public Affairs, 8 (3), 35-52. Special issue on Institutionalizing Community Engagement at the College Level
  • Rinker Jeremy & Lawler, Jerry. (2018). “Trauma as a Collective Disease and Root Cause of Protracted Social Conflict.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. 24(2), 150-164.
  • Khadka, Narayan & Rinker, Jeremy. (2018). Resilience and Belonging Among Bhutanese Refugees: Using Trauma Discourse to Overcome Community Discord. In Y. Kamalipour (Ed.), Global discourse in fractured times: Perspectives on journalism, media, education, and politics. (pp. 168-195). United Kingdom: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 13:978-1-5275-1109-5.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2017). Engaging Narrative as Rights-based Peace Praxis: Framing, Naming, and Witnessing in Overcoming Structural Violence and Marginalization. Chapter 18. In T. Matyok & P. Kellett (eds.), Communication and Conflict Transformation through Local, Regional, and Global Engagement. (pp. 355-376). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN: 978-1-4985-1498-9.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2016). Buckle in the Hindu Belt: Contemporary Hindu-Muslim Violence and the Legacy of Partition in Banaras, Uttar Pradesh. In Singh, Iyer, & Gairola (eds.), Revisiting partition: New essays on memory, culture, and politics. (pp. 283-304). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN: 978-1-4985-3104-7.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2016). “Narrative Reconciliation as Rights-based Peace Praxis: Custodial Torture, Testimonial Therapy and Overcoming Marginalization.” Peace Research: The Canadian Journal of Peace and Conflict Studies 46 (1), 121-143.
  • Rinker, Jeremy & Jonason, Chelsey. (2014). “Restorative Justice as Reflective Practice and Pedagogy on College Campuses”. Journal of Peace Education. 11: (2), 162-180.
  • Rinker, Jeremy. (2013). “Why Should We Talk to People Who Do Not Want to Talk to Us? Inter-caste dialogue as a response to caste-based marginalization.” Peace and Change. 38 (2), 237-262.