Greg Sullivan, Undergraduate Student

Greg Sullivan, a native of Fairfax, Virginia, is a conflict analysis and resolution major who just completed his sophomore year at Mason. “I chose this field because of the broad perspective it offers in analyzing conflicts from around the world," he said. "For example, the media usually focuses on the political sources of conflict but at S-CAR, there is more of a holistic approach that covers the individual, societal, economic, social, economic issues that are not treated mutually exclusive from one another.”

Greg is currently looking to start a project that will involve meeting ambassadors from different countries in Africa, and engage them in discussions to share examples of locally developed initiatives at improving their nation's development. According to Greg, “I think this project will be very beneficial because it appears that most African nations have been dictated to for a long time by non-African nations on how to improve their country. The current process has not yielded the desired results and I want to start a new approach and see how these nations could benefit from learning from other African nations instead." Greg also believes that this project would lead to an interesting cultural exchange, as many of these nations do not interact with one another despite sharing the same continent.

"If the initial phase of this project is successful, I will like to have similar meetings using representatives from marginalized minority communities within Africa, for example a meeting involving representatives from the Malian Tuaregs, white Zimbabweans, Congolese Twa, Sudanese Nubans, and Nigerian Fula. Such initiatives have been implemented in the US, Canada, Australia and Europe but not Africa," he said.

Greg is hoping to finish his degree and work for a non-profit that has an international focus. According to
him, "I am interested in learning more from communities who have engaged with other cultures to work for peace and development.