Joe Cole, Ph.D.

Joe Cole, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Department of Peace and Conflict Studies. Joe graduated with a doctorate in Philosophy from Duke University. His research and teaching interests include: ecovillages and intentional communities; restorative practices; the morality of war, pacifism and nonviolent social change; consensus governance; conflict transformation; racial equity and social justice; and peacebuilding and sustainable community development.

Joe is a facilitator who supports communities in developing cooperative skills, nonviolent communication, collaborative governance, and conflict transformation. He is a speaker, trainer, and consultant working with ecovillages, non-profit organizations, and intentional communities in North Carolina and around the country. He is a non-resident member of the Valley of Light community at Oracle Campus.

Joe’s academic publications include:

• “Studying War and Contributing to Community,” Experiential Learning in Philosophy, (Routledge Press, 2015);
• “I’m Not a Racist, But Racism is in Me: Racism and Intentional Communities,” Communities magazine #178;
• “Skill Building for a Culture of Collaboration,” Communities magazine #181;
• “Ecovillages, Sustainability, and Social and Environmental Healing,” in Rinker & Lawler (Eds.), Realizing Nonviolent Resilience (Peter Lang, 2020);
• “Photography, Healing, and Justice in Appalachia,” in the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis, (Vol. 3, No. 1, 2021);
• “What’s in a Name? Connecting Sustainable Community and Racial Justice,” in Ruiz (Ed.), Comunidades Intencionales: Utopias Concretas en la Historia, (Autonomous University of Madrid, 2023).