VFH Violence & Community Center
Fellowships
The Center began fifteen years ago with the goal of creating a place in which those most intimately acquainted with violence – its survivors – could research, write about, and comprehend the phenomenon. Since that time, we have hosted over thirty Fellows in residence studying genocide, mass violence, and family violence in India, Guatemala, Venezuela, Argentina, Australia, Cambodia, Nicaragua, Serbia, Bosnia, Zimbabwe, El Salvador, and the United States. We have recognized and researched the common paths of violence, and how violence functions in similar ways across cultures.
We have seen that violence, particularly mass violence, tends to operate according to its own laws, and that once it is begun it becomes its own justification. We have seen that the language and logic of violence are simple and limiting, but more compelling than any other. We have also studied the ways in which violence changes the world for those who experience it, not only in the superficial destruction of buildings or personal safety, but in the deepest patterns of thought, belief, and trust that allow people to function rationally in the world.
Learn more about the Fellowship Program including how to apply.
