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Narratives Matter at ICAR: Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict ResolutionNarratives matter. They are the architecture of consciousness; they both reflect and shape identity as well as govern interaction. Once institutionalized, dominant narratives anchor culture while marginalized counter-narratives struggle to gain traction. Conflict narratives consolidate patterns of exclusion and reciprocal delegitimation. Conflict transformation involves the evolution of these narratives toward narratives that complicate our understanding of history, challenge cultural assumptions, legitimize the marginalized and structure new solutions to wicked problems. From this perspective, conflict and its transformation involve attention to the politics of narrative as a struggle over meaning itself. The Center for the Study of Narrative... |
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GPP in the Great Lakes Region: MoU Enables Expansion of ICAR Genocide PreventionOn February 23, 2011, ICAR and George Mason University (GMU) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate with the International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) on Genocide Prevention in the region. The agreement with ICGLR was signed by GMU Provost Peter Stearns and ICAR Director Andrea Bartoli. Members of the ICAR Community are encouraged to participate and operationalize what the MoU offers in terms of research and practice, and to take advantage of such a regional focus to expand their expertise while contributing to the region and field of Conflict Analysis and Resolution. In the near future, more information will be made available though the office of the Program of Genocide Prevention at ICAR on how faculty, students and other members of the community can make this contribution and support the work of ICLGR in the region. ... |
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CRDC Field Experience in Syria: Lessons in Human Regard and CivilityIn January, a team of eighteen students from six universities participated in ICAR’s first CONF 713, Reflective Practice field experience through an eight day citizen diplomacy trip to Damascus, Syria. The team was led by CRDC Director Dr. Marc Gopin and supported on the ground by his Syrian counterpart Ms. Hind Kabawat.
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Panel Discussion on USIP Report: Education and Practice in Peace and Conflict
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Book Preview – Why They Die: Civilian Devastation in Violent ConflictAfter all the parades, the patriotic tributes, and the media portrayals that enshrine familiar virtues while maligning foreign vices, it is the weakest participants of armed conflict who bear its greatest burden. By any reasonable measure it is clear that civilians suffer most in large-scale violent conflicts. Violence against the innocent is not a secondary or passing consequence of war—it is deeply embedded in the character and evolution of today’s hostilities. In all too many armed conflicts raging across the globe, brutality to civilians caught up in the hostilities does not “just happen.” It is not merely occasional, nor is it circumstantial to some larger set of events. In times of war, civilians tend to live strange lives. They can be uprooted from their homes, removed from their guardianship of their land, and treated like refugees in their own... |
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Dispatch From Malta: Introducing the ICAR - MEDAC ProgramImagine going to class in December when temperatures are in the mid-sixties to lower-seventies. Imagine earning two coveted Masters degrees in thirteen months while studying on the doorstep of global headlines. Imagine that the program’s tuition equates to an out-of-state semester, and the cost of living is about the same as rural West Virginia. Plans for the weekend could point towards Rome, Valencia, Bologna, Paris, Cyprus or Morocco. The “too good to be true” adage does not apply here: this is the marriage of ICAR and the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC), hosted at the University of Malta. Last June, after receiving an ICAR email regarding an opportunity to study in Malta, I knew that it was an ideal... |