REPAIRING THE BROKEN BRIDGE

The Workshop

Japanese and Chinese transforming their historical legacies into constructive action

The “Rape of Nanking”—i.e. the massacre and atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army after it captured Nanking in 1937—has become the most important symbol of the seven-year Sino-Japanese war. An impasse continues between the need of the Chinese for acknowledgement of the enormity of their suffering and resentment, and the feelings of defensiveness and shame on the part of the Japanese at the thought of their country’s having committed such despicable crimes against humanity.

As a prelude to the gathering in Nanking in December of 2008, Japanese and Chinese members of the post-World War II generation are invited to participate in a one-day workshop. Participants will explore the impact of their countries' war-time past as well as their common future by sharing their stories and taking steps toward healing personal and collective wounds. Through drama, music, poetry, ritual, dialogue and therapeutic processes, participants will give shape and meaning to their World War II legacies.

Healing the Wounds of History

Healing the Wounds of History is a process in which experiential techniques are used to work with a group of participants who share a common legacy of historical trauma. The process was developed by Armand Volkas, MFT, a psychotherapist and drama therapist from Berkeley, California. Volkas is the son of Auschwitz survivors and resistance fighters from World War II. He was moved by his personal struggle with this legacy of historical trauma to address the issues that arose from it: identity, victimization and perpetration, meaning and grief. Healing the Wounds of History helps participants work through the burden of such legacies by transforming their pain into constructive action.

International House, Berkeley

International House at UC Berkeley is a multi-cultural residence and program center serving students, the local community and alumni worldwide. Its mission is to foster intercultural respect, understanding, lifelong friendships and leadership skills for the promotion of a more tolerant and peaceful world.

Facilitator Bios

Armand Volkas, MFT, RDT/BCT, is a psychotherapist and Registered Drama Therapist in private practice and Clinical Director of the Living Arts Counseling Center in Oakland, California. In addition, Armand is Associate Professor in the Counseling Psychology Program at California Institute of Integral Studies and Adjunct Professor at John F. Kennedy University. He has developed innovative programs using drama therapy and expressive arts therapies for social change, intercultural conflict resolution, reconciliation and intercultural communication. Armand directs Healing the Wounds of History, a therapeutic approach in which theatre techniques are used to work with groups of participants from two cultures with a common legacy of violent conflict and historical trauma. Healing the Wounds of History has received international recognition for its work in bringing groups in conflict together: Germans and Jews; Palestinians and Israelis; Japanese, Chinese and Koreans; Armenians and Turks; African-Americans and European-Americans, to name a few.

Joyce Lu, Ph.D., is the daughter of Chinese immigrants whose lives were directly affected by Japanese invasions before and during World War II. She has studied drama therapy and Playback Theater with Armand Volkas since 2005, and is a member of the Living Arts Playback Theatre Ensemble. She has also taken workshops in sociometry and psychodrama with Ann Hale, and Dorothy Satten, respectively. Joyce has over fifteen years experience leading writing and performance workshops for women, and facilitating other autobiographical performance pieces. In 2007, she was invited by the California Institute of Integral Studies to direct their Theater for Change program which produced a theatre piece that addressed issues of institutional racism in this university. Joyce holds a BA in Theater and Studio Art from Occidental College, a MFA in Asian Performance from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from UC Berkeley.

Aya Kasai, M.A., Expressive Arts Therapist, works in bay area hospitals as as well as conducts peace education workshops. Aya was one of the Japanese participants of "Remembering Nanjing: Bearing witness to the past, living together in the future "International Conference on the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing Tragedy held in 2007 at Nanjing Normal University and Nanjing University. Aya is working with a group of Japanese people to raise awareness of this issue and will return to Japan and China in 2008 to co-facilitate workshops with Armand Volkas.