Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies
Our Staff
Dr. Lioba Lenhart | Lecturer and Researcher
Ph.D in Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Cologne;
M.A. in Cultural and Social Anthropology, University of Cologne;
Trainer for Local Capacities for Peace / Do No Harm Approach and Transcend Method of Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means.
Dr. Lioba Lenhart is a lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS) of Gulu University. She has also taught at the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, European Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) Programme, Ruhr-University Bochum (2005 to date), and the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne (1999-2008), Germany. At IPSS, she teaches courses of the post-graduate programmes “Post-graduate Diploma in Conflict Management and Peace Studies” and “Master of Arts in Conflict Transformation Studies”. The topics of her courses at Ruhr-University Bochum are cultural anthropology in humanitarian assistance and programming of aid in the context of violent conflict. Her lectures at the University of Cologne include history, theory and fields of cultural and social anthropology, research methodology, culture change, anthropology of conflict and peace, anthropology of forced migration, applied anthropology, nomadism, and regional studies (Southeast Asia and East Africa).
Dr. Lioba Lenhart received her M.A. in cultural anthropology from Cologne University (M.A. thesis on Orang Kuala resettlement and culture change/ aboriginal people of Malaysia) and her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Cologne University (Ph.D. thesis on Orang Suku Laut ethnic identity and interethnic relations / sea nomads of the Riau Islands, Indonesia). In the late 1980s and the 1990s she carried out long-term ethnographic field research on interethnic relations, ethnicity, conflict and culture change in Indonesia. Since 2002, her theoretical and methodological fields of interest have included anthropological approaches to war and disasters, conflict management and peace building, and her regional interests have included East Africa, focusing on Uganda. She has published an edited volume, two books and numerous articles on the problems of nomads vis à vis the state, on nation building and ethnic minority policy in Malaysia and Indonesia, on Orang Suku Laut identity, acculturation, gender relations, and effects of modernisation on their resource base, livelihood and culture, as well as on the Anthropology of War and the conflict in Northern Uganda.
Dr. Lioba Lenhart also holds various certificates for having undertaken trainings in the fields of crisis prevention, conflict transformation and peace building and is a recognised trainer for the Local Capacities for Peace / Do No Harm Approach and the Transcend Method of Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means. Since the mid-1990s, she has worked regularly in the field of development cooperation as a free-lancer (conception, moderation and evaluation of seminars, and conduction of consultancies and trainings with focus on conflict management).
Between 2006 and 2008 she conducted ethnographic field research on conflict management, reconciliation and peace building in northern Uganda and cross-cultural comparison, including East-Congo, the Balkans, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and East-Timor, focusing on culture as a source of conflict and a resource for peace and reconciliation. The research results are intended to contribute to the joint development of an action plan in cooperation with the Ugandan partners with regard to peace building in Uganda and elsewhere, in the shape of a conflict transformation curriculum for mediators and multipliers (here: cooperation with Gulu University), and the documentation of Acholi culture (here: cooperation with the Acholi cultural leaders’ organisation Ker Kwaro Acholi). They also inform joint activities of the Cultural Leaders of Uganda’s Greater North and the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS) and the Community Outreach Peace Project (COPP) of Gulu University, which aim at identifying and discussing the various cultural approaches to conflict transformation, reconciliation and peace building in the regions affected by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) – Government of Uganda (GoU) conflict, in order to develop an integrative approach that is applicable in the whole Greater North and will inform justice processes at the regional and national levels.
Currently, Dr. Lioba Lenhart is involved in the research project “Peace Building Needs Assessment of Karamoja” as the principal researcher and supervisor of four assistant researchers / students of Gulu University. This project is a joint activity of the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS) and the Community Outreach Peace Project (COPP) of Gulu University. Research results will contribute to the community exchange programme for Karimojong and Acholi people, conducted by IPSS / COPP in cooperation with the local communities. More ...
Professional Background
Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, Gulu University, Lecturer / Researcher and Coordinator of the Cooperation between the Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies, Gulu University and the Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne (exchange of students and staff and research collaboration);
Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, European Network on Humanitarian Assistance (NOHA) Programme, Ruhr-University Bochum, Lecturer;
Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Cologne, Lecturer / Researcher;
DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst / German Academic Exchange Service) Gulu, Resident Representative; More ...
Consultant and Trainer in the Fields of Crisis Prevention, Conflict Transformation and Peace Building.
Areas of Expertise
- Cultural and Social Anthropology:
- theory, history and fields of anthropology
- research methodology
- culture change
- ethnicity and ethnic identity
- interethnic relations
- minorities
- nomadism
- nationalism and nation building
- globalisation
- anthropology of conflict and peace
- anthropology of forced migration
- applied anthropology
- Peace and Conflict Studies
- Regional Studies: Southeast Asia and East Africa
- Development Cooperation:
- conduction of seminars
- consultancies and trainings with focus on crisis prevention,
conflict transformation and peace building
