The “Jackie Chan” of Peace. The extraordinary life and career of Dr. Tatsushi Arai

From selling his car in order to purchase a plane ticket to Rwanda to teach to post-genocide survivors; to suffering malaria many times to working for peace in Nigeria (and half the planet). Dr. Tatsushi Arai has built an extraordinary career as a seasoned U.N. adviser; peacebuilding academic and practitioner. Dr. Tats career trajectory, his academic and practitioner credentials, his global practice should be the standard by which conflict resolution scholars and social change professionals should be measured. Listen to the closing episode of Season 3 to learn more about the life and (career) of Dr. Tats.

*This episode was recorded in the Fall of 2018

Episode 6 of Season 3 is brought to you by The Rotary Peace Center.

In this episode we discuss:

Where exactly does Dr. Tats lives and why he has a tri-national household
On Dr. Tats Japanese origins in mountainous japan with ice-cold water fishing heritage
Earlier influences of what influence Dr. Tats in Hiroshima, specially their ability to forgive
How Dr. Tats made a life-long promise to Hiroshima victims
In 1997, Dr. Tats traveled to post-genocide Rwanda as a permanent lecturer who came from a non-African context
How Dr. Tat bartered French skills in order to learn the language to be useful in Francophone Africa
How he sold his car to buy a ticket to Rwanda and how he negotiated his “pay” in the University of Rwanda for $250 dollars a month (local salary)
Tats or “Jackie Chan” guy taught genocide survivors and got malaria many times
Why he couldn’t explained mass graves and why he left Rwanda to pursue a PhD (where he was my classmate!)
How Dr. Tat fund his PhD (Hint: it took him two years)
Tats take on what a PhD can provide you for your career (both academically and as a practitioner)
On how Dr. Tats became a UN senior mediation adviser (appointment on a when-actually-employed basis) for the UN Department of Political Affairs.
Tats solution on how to solve the dilemma of how to gain Track 1 (government to government) experience to work at the U.N.
Tats and the importance of building connections
How to get our “fingers wet” in the world of training
Tats best career advice he has been given
Tats stories on failure and how he got the paparazzi
Tats three top tips for a career of impact

Links:

University of Rwanda

U.N Department of Political Affairs

Dr. Tats TedX UCSD

School for International Training (SIT) Graduate Institute

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This episode was brought thanks to the Rotary Peace Center:

Are you an existing or emerging peace leader looking to take your career to the next level? You might be eligible to receive full funding to pursue a MA or professional certificate in peace & conflict studies. Learn more about Rotary Peace Fellowships at www.rotary.org/peace-fellowships

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