Kevin Avruch Appointed as Rice Chair: His Vision For Point of View

At the beginning of the 2009-10 academic year, the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution named Dr. Kevin Avruch the new Henry Hart Rice Chair.

ICAR’S Rice Chair, carries a three-year term with a mandate to oversee the development of academic programming and the study of conflict resolution practice at Point of View (POV), ICAR's research, retreat, and conference center. POV is situated on 40 acres of pristine nature, secluded on idyllic Belmont Bay, in Mason Neck, Virginia.

The center, which is located just 25 miles south of Washington D.C., was a gift from the Lynch family. While expectations for the future are that POV will become an internationally renowned center for research and conflict resolution, it was always Edwin and Helen Lynch’s hope that their home would simply “be used as an instrument to help people resolve differences and work through disputes in a secluded and restful environment.”

The Rice Chair was endowed by Ed Rice in of honor his father, Henry Hart Rice. The Rice and Lynch families were close friends. The endowment for the Rice Chair is also a gift to ICAR to help expand the work of POV.

Dr. Kevin Avruch, who was a member of ICAR’s original faculty advisory group in 1981, is an internationally recognized anthropologist and a pioneer in the development of theory and practice relating to cross cultural approaches to conflict resolution, as well as issues of ethnicity, nationalism, negotiation, and mediation. He has published more than 50 articles and essays and is the author/editor of several books.

Last year Dr. Avruch served as the Joan B. Kroc Peace Scholar at the University of San Diego, where he lent his expertise as a consultant, in addition to teaching. This spring, he will teach “Approaches to Violence,” which explores levels of violence, from interpersonal to international, considering its roots and sources as well as approaches to intervention.

Dr. Avruch sees his appointment as Rice Chair as abounding with opportunities. “It’s a very exciting chance to help guide POV to fulfill its potential and achieve the dreams of Ed and Helen Lynch and their family and the vision they had.” He also sees it as an opportunity to help foster the vision of his colleagues at ICAR and invest the energy that will centrally locate POV on the conflict and peace studies map, building on the current momentum.

As part of his Rice responsibilities, Avruch chairs POV’s Academic Committee, which sets academic policy for the center and consists of both ICAR and non-ICAR GMU faculty. Current committee members are: Andrea Bartoli, Susan Allen Nan, Peter Mandaville (from GMU’s Public and International Affairs Center for Global Studies), Chris Mitchell, Jeremy Peizer, and Jamie Price.

Over the years, ICAR has hosted a variety of events at POV, including conferences on various topics, monthly advanced theory seminars for Ph.D. students, workshops, classes, and ICAR community gatherings. ICAR also provides a reflective space where its students can work on research, presentations, and dissertations. In the future, activities that incorporate theory-building and practice in the form of problem solving workshops, conferences, retreats, and classes, will all be part of POV's offerings.

While ICAR already enjoys broad national and international recognition, the development of POV is seen as a chance to enhance and add to the field so that others will benefit from its programs and natural setting. In its next phase of development, (POV will soon undergo major expansive construction), Avruch forecasts POV as a place where other universities and organizations will also benefit from its use. He points out that “It is essentially a place for the whole community.”

Dr. Avruch encourages ICAR students who have not yet had the chance to visit POV, to take advantage of every opportunity to do so. He believes that, “the name itself really tells a lot about the ambiance. It is a wonderful place to get away from the daily hustle of Washington and think through matters of peace and conflict.”
According to Dr. Avruch, “POV is a place where research, theory, and practice will come together, reflecting ICAR’s long term commitment to reflective practice and the development of theory and of the conflict resolution field.”