Cynthia Anne Marie Boaz

Dr. Cynthia Boaz is associate professor of political science at Sonoma State University where she specializes in political development, quality of democracy, political communication and media, civil resistance, and nonviolent struggles. She has written extensively on the nonviolent democracy movements in Iran and Burma. She is also an analyst and consultant on nonviolent action and is a contributing writer with Truthout and the Huffington Post.

Background

Boaz was previously on the faculty at the State University of New York at Brockport. She received her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California at Davis. Her areas of expertise include nonviolent conflict and global nonviolent struggles, civil resistance, political development, quality of democracy,and political communication with an emphasis on media coverage of war. Her work has appeared in numerous venues, including Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, Feminist Media Studies, Comparative Political Studies, and Sojourners Magazine. Boaz is an affiliated scholar at the UNESCO Chair of Philosophy MA Program in Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies in Castellon de la Plana, Spain, where she has taught courses on "Political Development and Democratization", "Violence and Human Rights", and "Education and Communication for a Peaceful Transformation of Conflicts". She serves on the academic advisory board for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, and is the former Rochester area coordinator for CODEPINK: Women for Peace. She is also on the board of directors of the Metta Center for Nonviolence Education in Berkeley, CA and of Project Censored at Sonoma State University. Boaz has contributed to many online news and commentary sites, including Truthout, Common Dreams, Campaign for America's Future, and the Huffington Post. She was the opening speaker at the 2009 annual conference of the MK Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.

Boaz has recently been published, referenced, or interviewed by various media about strategic nonviolent conflict, especially Burma's "Saffron Revolution" and Iran's "Green Revolution", including by Waging Nonviolence, the BBC Radio Newshour , Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR)'s radio show "Counterspin" , BoomGenTV, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, KRCB Radio (North Bay), WHEC News 10 NBC (Rochester, NY affiliate), WXXI Radio Rochester (PBS/NPR affiliate), the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle , the Toronto Star , CommonDreams.org , Truthout.org , and The International Herald Tribune .

At Sonoma State University, Dr. Boaz is the faculty advisor to the Model United Nations organization, which received a "Distinguished Delegation" award at the 2011 National Model United Nations Conference in New York City.

In January 2008, Michael Barker wrote a response to Boaz's recent Truthout article "Burma's Uprising: People Power, not Political Puppetry", to which Boaz responded.

Professional Affiliations

• Academic Advisor, International Center on Nonviolent Conflict
• Vice President and Board of Directors, Metta Center for Nonviolence, Berkeley, CA
• Board of Directors, Project Censored/Media Freedom Foundation, Rohnert Park, CA
• Board of Directors, United Nations Association, Sonoma County, CA Chapter
• Affiliated Scholar, UNESCO Master para la Paz, Conflicto, y el Desarrollo, Universitat Jaume I, Castellon de la Plana, Spain
• Contributing Writer and Board of Advisors, Truthout
• Former Associate Editor, Peace and Change Journal

Recent Audio/Video/Podcasts/Webinars

• "The Arab Spring: Myths, Realities, and Prospects for Nonviolent Change," presentation to the Oakmont Symposium Series, May 20, 2012.
• "Cynthia Boaz on Egypt Part II," Interveiw with the [Metta Center for Nonviolence], February 13, 2011.
• "Cynthia Boaz on Egypt Part I," Interview with the [Metta Center for Nonviolence], February 13, 2011.
• "Media Frames on Civil Resistance," for US Institute for Peace and International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, November 11, 2011.
• "Media Misconceptions of Nonviolent Struggles," for the Modern Media Dialogue Series, Project Censored, Sonoma State University, April 21, 2010.
• "Thoughts From a Satyagrahi," Cynthia Boaz on YouTube.com
• "Dr. Boaz talks to Jesse Lee Peterson about the "Tea Party Movement" and the Civil Rights Movement, Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show, March 30, 2010.
• "On Media Coverage of Burma's Struggle," Counterspin, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, October 5, 2007.
• "Obama and Human Rights in Iran," Boomgen TV, Daily Update 33, November 3, 2009.
• "Should the United States Promote Democracy Throughout the World?," Panel hosted by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University, November 19, 2009 (Boaz comes in at 18:30 mins.)
• "A Conversation with Bruce Robinson about Strategic Nonviolent Action around the World," North Bay Report, Telling Our Stories, Connecting Our Communities, KRCB Radio, January 26, 2010.

Recent Publications

• "Must We Change Our Hearts Before Throwing off our Chains?," Waging Nonviolence, July 9, 2012
• "The Violence of Andrew Breitbart," Truthout, March 7, 2012
• "Nonviolent Revolution Clarified: Five Myths and Realities Behind Egypt's Uprising," Truthout, July 10, 2011.
• "The Obligations of Independence," WagingNonviolence, July 4, 2011.
• "14 Propaganda Techniques FOX "News" Uses to Manipulate Their Audience," Truthout, July 2, 2011.
• "Why Egypt's Nonviolent Victory is a Win for Us All," HuffingtonPost, Febuary 11, 2011.
• "Red Lenses on a Rainbow of Revolutions," OpenDemocracy.net, November 17, 2010.
• "Are Progressives Fiddling While Rome Burns?," HuffingtonPost, October 21, 2010.
• "Remembering Serbia's Nonviolent Victory," HuffingtonPost, October 8, 2010.
• "A Reality (and Sanity) Check for Progressives: Speech to the Petaluma Progressive Festival," HuffingtonPost, September 27, 2010.
• "Separating Church and Hate: Irrationality and Anti-Muslim Stereotyping," Truthout.org, July 6, 2010.
• "The Burmese Elections: Prolonging the Misery and Postponing the Inevitable," the HuffingtonPost, June 28, 1010.
• "One Year Later: The Green Movement Goes On," the HuffingtonPost, June 26, 2010.
• "On the Moral Depravity of Capitalism in 21 Tweets," the HuffingtonPost, June 23, 2010.
• "To John Lewis: An Open Letter to An American Hero.," the HuffingtonPost, March 22, 2010.
• "The New Grassroots: Social Media and the Post-Post Modern Campaign," the HuffingtonPost, February 22, 2010.
• "Women and the Struggle for Democracy in Iran: A Discussion with a Nobel Laureate, Part II," Truthout, November 4, 2009.
• "A Discussion with a Nobel Laureate: Shirin Ebadi and the Struggle for Democracy in Iran, Part I," the HuffingtonPost, October 10, 2009.
• "What if the Right was Right? A Reflection on the "Christian States" of America," the HuffingtonPost, August 19, 2009.
• "Shannon's Story: Health Care and Our Desperate Need for Cultural Healing," the HuffingtonPost, August 14, 2009.
• "The 'Birthers' and Our Ailing Political Culture," the HuffingtonPost, July 23, 2009.
• "On Patriotism and Principle: An Open Letter to the President," the HuffingtonPost, July 22, 2009.
• "Why Michael Jackson's Death is Heartbreaking for Me...Finally," the HuffingtonPost, July 7, 2009.
• "Independence Day for Everyone," the HuffingtonPost, July 4, 2009.
• "The Iranian Crackdown: Who's Really Afraid of Whom?," the HuffingtonPost, June 24, 2009.
• "It's People Power, not 'Democratic Diddling' in Iran," the HuffingtonPost, June 20, 2009.
• "The Green Revolution Belongs to the Iranians, Not the United States," the HuffingtonPost, June 18, 2009.
• "Framing the Green Revolution in Red," Truthout.org, June 16, 2009.
• "Why Torturing to Prove Torturing is Wrong is Never Okay: A Note to Keith Olbermann," CommonDreams.org, June 9, 2009.
• "TEA Parties? They're Kidding, Right?," Campaign for America's Future, March 24, 2009.
• "Obama's Justice: Reconciliation, not Retribution," Truthout.org, February 18, 2009.
• "Is the Election About to Be Stolen in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Elsewhere?" with Ange-Marie Hancock, David McCuan, Mark Crispin Miller, and Michael Nagler at Truthout.org, November 3, 2008, and the HuffingtonPost.com, November 4, 2008.
• "Why 'Change' Has Already Won," CommonDreams.org, October 14, 2008.
• "Welcome to Gilead, Governor Palin," Truthout.org, September 30, 2008.
• "What's a word for the opposite of progress? Palin," Truthout.org, September 17, 2008.
• "Not This Again: How Nader's Candidacy Illuminates Our Democratic Deficit," Truthout.org, February 29, 2008.
• "Buffy the Cynicism Slayer: Behind the Obama Phenomenon," CommonDreams.org, February 15, 2008.
• "A Citizen's Reflections on Race, Violence and Power," Truthout.org, December 16, 2007.
• "Burma's Uprising: People Power, not Political Puppetry," Truthout.org, November 1, 2007.
• "The power of nonviolence," with Shaazka Beyerle, International Herald Tribune , October 18, 2007.
• "Burma's junta: too late to turn back the clock," Truthout.org, October 16, 2007.
• "Some thoughts about the true miracle in the Andes," CommonDreams.org, October 13, 2007.
• "Burma's Struggle: The Avowed against the 'Atheists'," Truthout.org, October 12, 2007.
• "Resistance, not Repression, is the Real Story from Burma," Truthout.org, October 9, 2007.
• "Burma's Saffron Revolution: Goodbye, Generals," with Shaazka Beyerle, Truthout.org and CommonDreams.org, October 7, 2007.

Responses to Boaz

• Michael Barker, "People Power or Political Puppetry?", The Fanonite, January 16, 2008.