At the heart of the GHfP Institute’s work lies in the research expertise, field-based experiences, and professional knowledge and know-how from our Professors of Practice.
Our Professors of Practice are from interdisciplinary backgrounds. They not only enrich the Institute’s research and development, they are also major contributors to our teaching, dialogue, and reflection. Professors of Practice provide keynotes on the relevant courses and programmes. More importantly, they also offer guidance to students and mentoring to practitioners and professionals.
All our Professors of Practice are distinguished scholars, thinkers and pedagogues. With their support, the Institute is pioneering a truly 21st century approaches to teaching, learning and professional development in higher education. Their presence and guidance constitute an innovative aspect of the Institute’s courses and programmes.
Professor, the Lord Alderdice FRCPsych is a member of the House of Lords and was the Chairman of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords during the Liberal/Conservative Coalition Government. As Leader of Northern Ireland’s Alliance Party from 1987 to 1998, he played a significant role in the negotiation of the 1998 Belfast/Good Friday Agreement which brought peace in Ireland, and when the new Northern Ireland Assembly was elected, he became its first Speaker. He subsequently served as one of the four international commissioners of the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) that dealt with the problems of the remaining paramilitary activity in Ireland. He was President of Liberal International from 2005 to 2009 and continues to serve on its Bureau as a Presidente d’Honneur. John Alderdice’s professional background was as a medical doctor in psychoanalytic psychiatry in Belfast where, as a consultant psychiatrist and senior lecturer at Queen’s University, he established the Centre for Psychotherapy. As a scholar, Lord Alderdice has devoted himself for many years to understanding and addressing religious fundamentalism and long-standing violent political conflict including those between indigenous peoples and the descendants of colonists in various parts of the world. He has held a number of Visiting Professorships and currently fulfils several roles at the University of Oxford, including as Senior Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College, Executive Chairman of The Changing Character of War Centre at Pembroke College, and Director of the Conference on the Resolution of Intractable Conflict (CRIC). His work has been recognised around the world with many fellowships, honorary doctorates, and international awards.
Professor Patrice Brodeur teaches at the Institut d`études religieuses, the Université de Montréal. He was the Canada Research Chair (junior) on Islam, Pluralism and Globalization (2005-2015). His expertise includes contemporary Islamic thought and intercultural and interreligious dialogue. He is also Senior Adviser at the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID). His publications include more than fifty articles, book chapters and books. He has lectured academically to a variety of audiences and conducted trainings on different forms of dialogue in over fifty countries around the world.
Dr Ali Moussa Iye holds a PhD in Political Sciences from the Institute of Political Sciences in Grenoble, France. He was journalist, editor in Chief of a weekly Newspaper and Director of Press and Audio Visual in Djibouti . He joined UNESCO in 1997 as Coordinator of the Programme of Culture of Peace in the Horn of Africa and then of the Programme on the Fight against Racism and Discrimination. Before leaving UNESCO in 2019, Ali directed two important UNESCO Programmes: The Routes of Dialogue, includign the Slave Route Project and the Silk Roads Project, and the General and Regional Histories Project. He served as the Coordinator of the General History of Africa project. Ali is the founder of a new international think-tank AFROPROSPECTIVE: A Global Africa Initiative.
Simon Sadinsky is Executive Director (Education) for the Prince’s Foundation. He oversees a portfolio of education programmes and academic partnerships which equip professionals, graduates, students and the public with the skills they need to design, build and preserve sustainable communities. Simon also serves as the Trustee of a small educational charity in Sierra Leone, is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Craft, and is on the governing board of the Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation at Kellogg College, University of Oxford.
Professor Garrett Thomson is Compton Professor of Philosophy at the College of Wooster, USA. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of the Guerrand-Hermès Foundation for Peace. He was formerly the CEO of the World Subud Association (2005-2010). Garrett received his DPhil from Oxford University, and is the author of numerous books including Needs; Kant; Introduction to Modern Philosophy; and a series of introductory texts on Descartes, Locke, Aristotle, Kant, and Leibniz. He co-edited the six-volume The Longman Standard History of Philosophy. His other recent works include Una Introduccion a la Practica de la Filosofia, On Philosophy and On the Meaning of Life.