Dr. Bhagat is currently serving as Manager of School Culture and Climate Strategy for Richmond Public Schools (RPS). His primary role is to envision, design, implement, and evaluate trauma responsive practices and restorative practices throughout the division. He is committed to working with school leaders and community partners on an emergent strategy for equitable and just learning environments for all students. His efforts are centered around healing community with rhythm, transforming In School Suspension to a system of In School Supports, and decreasing exclusionary discipline practices.
Dr. Bhagat is an international conflict resolution trainer and the visionary behind the Richmond Youth Peace Project (RYPP), a dynamic program that is building a culture of nonviolence (ahimsa) with the city’s youth, through creative youth-led peacemaking initiatives. Dr. B. is also a master facilitator for The Conciliation Project (TCP), which utilizes active and challenging dramatic works to promote open and honest dialogue about racial healing, social justice, and the intersections of oppression in order to guide communities towards ‘conciliation.
Ram uses the drum to unite people of all races, of all ages, and of all abilities through innovative arts-based learning experiences. This award-winning science teacher created a series of original curriculum units for Yale University, through a multi-year fellowship with the National Initiative to Strengthen Public School Teaching. His 3D curriculum, which is based on the conceptual framework of Aesthetic Science Education and theoretical framework of Changing Education Through the Arts, infuses drumming, dance, and drama into the science and social studies curricula.
Ram was an inaugural member of the International Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) training for trainers in Burundi, East Africa, held in August 2011. This transformative program facilitates community-based trauma healing, particularly trauma caused by war, violence, and genocide. He is actively involved in healing the effects of racial trauma within communities of color, as a conductor of Emotional Emancipation Circles in Virginia.
In the early 1990s, Ram co-founded Drums No Guns world percussion ensemble to engage youth in a process of “healing community with rhythm.” More than two decades later, the Drums No Guns Foundation continues to support Dr. Bhagat’s commitment to work with youth and families traumatized from gun violence, by integrating yoga, mindfulness, drumming, dance, drama, trauma healing, and restorative practices.
Dr. Bhagat received his doctorate in Educational Leadership from VCU, where he concentrated on A Regional Approach to School Diversity. His areas of expertise include Conflict Resolution, Arts Integration, Restorative Justice in Education, and Trauma Responsive Schools. He fulfilled the requirements for his MEd in School and Community Counseling from Virginia State University, where he specialized in group counseling, with a keen focus on African American males affected by gun violence. Ram received Bachelor of Science degrees in Microbiology from Virginia State University and Science Education from Virginia Commonwealth University. Dr. Bhagat is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) with a concentration in Community Health Sciences from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Dr. Bhagat is an adjunct professor in the Graduate Teacher Education program at Eastern Mennonite University (EMU). He is also a certified trainer in Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) for the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at EMU. Dr. Bhagat’s unique approach to Trauma Healing and Restorative Practices, called Massive Resilience, is rooted in the indigenous African principles of Ubuntu and Sawubona.
A ‘Native Son’ of New Haven, CT, Ram lives with his blended family in Richmond, Virginia, where he continues to study and practice Ishwara Yoga with his Guru, Dr. Janeshwar Upadhyay. Ram is a certified Integral Yoga teacher, Kripalu Yoga in Schools leader, and Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga facilitator.
“Rhythm is universal. I use the drum to unite people of all ages, of all races, to lead to understanding and healing.
I believe there is a heartbeat that connects us all.
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