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. Under his stewardship CANVAS has trained and advised activists from dozens of countries and produced widely used manuals and curricula on nonviolent struggle.

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. 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. 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.

Popovic has been recognized repeatedly for the practical impact of his work. 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. 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 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. His public-facing scholarship combines tactical manuals for activists with analytical reflections on the ethics and practice of nonviolent struggle.

Tufts has engaged with Popovic and CANVAS in multiple ways. 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. These interactions illustrate a concrete link between Popovic’s practical teaching and Tufts students’ experiential global learning.