Acting out peace

The role of dramaturgy in peace studies in higher education

Bibliographic Data

ID21691593
AuthorsSuci Lestari Yuana (0000-0002-7545-0714, Universitas Gadjah Mada, corresponding author), Teresa Gaia Sebayang (Universitas Gadjah Mada)
Year2026
Volume31
Issue3
Pages555-573
Publication date2026-04-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueTeaching in Higher Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1356-2517 • E-ISSN: 1470-1294
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13562517.2025.2610217
OpenAlexW7117774018
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited23

This paper reflects on teaching an Introduction to Peace Studies course at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) in 2024, shaped by student protests over education fees in Yogyakarta and the genocide in Gaza. The course used drama, poetry, speculative writing, and privilege-based activities to foster critical thinking, emotional engagement, and challenges to hierarchy.Using a dramaturgical framework, we examine the classroom as a performative space where pedagogy intersected with real-world struggles. Students negotiated peace and violence through embodiment, dialogue, and reflection, while protests outside the classroom added urgency and ethical dilemmas to their learning.We argue that higher education functions as both a site of transformation and complicity in structural violence. Dramaturgy – through staging, scripting, and performance – served as an estrangement tool, provoking reflection for both teachers and learners. Grounded in the Indonesian context, this study also speaks to Global South debates on reimagining peace pedagogy in times of conflict

Dramaturgy · Higher education · Peace and conflict studies · Peace Education · Peacebuilding · Qualitative research · Cultural Studies · Flannery O'Connor and Thomas Merton · Peace and Human Rights Education · Peacebuilding and International Security

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