Kaziprst srdja popovic biography
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These interactions illustrate a concrete link between Popovic’s practical teaching and Tufts students’ experiential global learning.
Srdja Popovic is the founder and executive director of the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies (CANVAS), a Belgrade-based organization dedicated to teaching nonviolent methods for social change.
He was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews in 2017, a student-elected office he held through 2020, and his work has been honored with prizes and lists including selection as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and the Penn State McCourtney Institute Brown Democracy Medal.
Education, teaching, and public engagement are central to his profile.
Popovic served as a member of the Serbian Parliament from 2000 to 2004. He co-founded the student movement Otpor!
Popovic has been recognized repeatedly for the practical impact of his work. He subsequently served a term in the Serbian National Assembly, and then focused on education, scholarship, training, public speaking, and writing about people powered change.
(Resistance!), which played a significant role in ousting Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. He is also the author of Blueprint for Revolution.
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Under his stewardship CANVAS has trained and advised activists from dozens of countries and produced widely used manuals and curricula on nonviolent struggle.Otpor!’s campaign against Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic was successful in October 2000 when thousands of protestors took over the Serbian Parliament. After the revolution, Popovic served a term as a member of the Serbian National Assembly.
In 2003, Popovic and others started the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies (CANVAS).
In 2014 he was listed as a “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum in Davos. In addition to presenting him and CANVAS with the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, students affiliated with the Institute for Global Leadership have worked directly with Popovic and CANVAS through internships and research placements; for example a Tufts Oslo Scholar reported a summer research internship working with Popovic and CANVAS in Belgrade while participating in IGL programs.
"Srdja is also the author of the recent book Blueprint for Revolution, a fun and humorous look at nonviolent activism worldwide."
Srdja Popovic
Srdja Popovic is a global educator, strategist, and the cofounder and long time leader of the Centre for Applied Nonviolent Action and Strategies, known as CANVAS, an international training and resource organization that teaches activists how to plan and execute nonviolent social movements.
In February 2016 Tufts University presented CANVAS and Popovic with the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award, an honor that recognizes moral courage and global public engagement. Born in Belgrade in 1973, Popovic initially studied biology and played guitar in a rock band before focusing on activism.
Popovic first came to international attention as a leader of the student movement Otpor, the movement that helped end Slobodan Milosevic’s rule in Serbia in 2000.
Tufts has engaged with Popovic and CANVAS in multiple ways. He is the author of books and practical guides on nonviolent strategy, and he has been a frequent speaker and visiting teacher at universities and policy forums worldwide. CANVAS has worked with activists from 46 different countries, including Zimbabwe, Burma, Iran, and Venezuela, spreading knowledge of the nonviolent strategies and tactics used by Otpor!
Popovic studied at the University of Belgrade, and in later years he has taught courses and given seminars at institutions such as Harvard Kennedy School, and he is a frequent invited lecturer at conferences, TED and major policy forums.
Srdja Popovic was one of the founders of the Serbian nonviolent resistance group Otpor!
He later established CANVAS to help spread nonviolent strategies globally, working with activists from 46 countries.
Popovic's influence has earned him recognition, including being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012, listed among Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2011, and named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2014.
In November 2011, Foreign Policy Magazine listed Srdja Popovic as one of the "Top 100 Global Thinkers" of 2011 for inspiring the Arab Spring protesters.
In 2012 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.