Dr. Hedley Abernethy, adjunct professor
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  • Adjunct Faculty

Dr. Hedley Abernethy

Titles

  • Adjunct Professor

Degrees

  • PhD, Ulster University
  • MA, Eastern Mennonite University

Contact

Biography

Dr. Hedley Abernethy grew up in Belfast during the height of the Troubles. A trained youth worker, he has worked with church and para-church youth organizations in Northern Ireland developing and promoting peacebuilding programs. In 2006, Hedley graduated with an MA in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia, before going on to work with Catholic Relief Services at its headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland, as a peacebuilding education officer. On his return to Belfast, he worked with WAVE Trauma Centre, an organization supporting victims of the violence in and about Northern Ireland. From WAVE he went on to work with the Corrymeela Community developing their history and heritage education programs. In 2022, he graduated with a PhD from Ulster University after completing a study of reparations for victims of the political conflict. From 2022 to 2025, Hedley worked with Kate Nicholl, an Alliance Party MLA for South Belfast.

Hedley is a Belfast City Councillor and is also a board member of Healing Through Remembering, an NGO working on dealing with the conflict in and about Northern Ireland.

Departments

  • Center for Justice Reform