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American Democracy & ConflictThe current U.S. presidential campaign between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is one of the most bitterly fought contests in American history. It is a form of domestic warfare occurring within the larger context of gridlock and decisionmaking paralysis, causing alarm globally as well as nationally: The U.S., the world’s “indispensible nation,” no longer “works!” I am less concerned here with how we arrived at this dysfunctional situation – e.g., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s veritable declaration of war in January 2009 that his “single most important goal for the next four years [was] to ensure that Barack Obama [was] a one-term president."(2) Instead, I am more concerned with what might be done to mitigate this toxic state of affairs. To assist in this project, I have sought... |
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Insight Conflict Resolution ProgramThe Insight Conflict Resolution Program (ICRP) is a center of theory, research and practice at S-CAR that is focused on developing the Insight approach to conflict analysis and resolution and applying it to transform deep rooted social conflict. ICRP started in 2010 with a grant from the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute. Sargent Shriver, the master peace builder who renewed trust in America through the Peace Corps and brought voice and agency to disenfranchised Americans through the War on Poverty, is its icon. The Insight approach is a cutting edge contribution to the field. It uses Bernard Lonergan’s critical, reflexive philosophy as a framework for explaining what we are doing when we are in conflict and when we disengage... |
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S-CAR's Annual Welcome DinnerOn September 8, 2012, the School for Conflict Analysis held its annual Welcome Dinner, open to all faculty, staff, and students. The dinner provided an opportunity for friends, colleagues, and acquaintances of past years to come together and express their projections for the future of S-CAR, with fresh and innovative input from new scholars and practitioners. The event began with an introductory speech by Solon Simmons, and from there it was established to be much more than a simple reunion and meet-and-greet. Richard Rubenstein had the opportunity to introduce the school’s faculty members, and Julie Shedd acknowledged the full variety of the visiting scholars that were present for the evening. While this dinner was a fun and... |
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Opinion: Improving Rhetoric About Rape: The Todd Akin CommentsRep. Todd Akin’s (R-MO) bombastic comments about “legitimate rape” should be heard as an urgent call for practitioners, researchers, and theorists working in the conflict analysis and resolution field to highlight more empirically sound understandings of rape, power and gendered violence within the public and political spheres. The recent political hoopla following Akin’s statement that a woman’s body has the ability to “shut down” a pregnancy resulting from “legitimate rape” suggests that Akin’s comments were atypical of rhetoric on sexual violence, abortion, and women’s health. However, despite wide condemnations from both the established Right and Left,... |
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Clara Driscoll, Incoming S-CAR Masters StudentClara Driscoll grew up in a bilingual household (Danish and English), and lived in Denmark and Singapore. Clara’s parents taught her to place value on travel, exploring different cultures and developing an intellectual curiosity about how the world works. After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 1999 with a degree in history, Clara joined the United States Army and received a commission as an Army officer. During her 13 years in the Army she has lived and worked in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Qatar, Kuwait, Italy, and Germany. She made it her goal to develop a genuine interest in the history, culture and, when applicable, conflict that exists in each of those countries. According to Clara, “my time in Iraq, Afghanistan, and... |
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Soolmaz Abooali, Incoming S-CAR Ph.D. StudentSoolmaz Abooali is part of an exciting class of Fall 2012 Ph.D. students joining the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. She brings a unique perspective to the program, as she is a very accomplished amateur athlete. This is evident in her being a seven-time U.S. National Champion and a World Silver Medalist in Shotokan Karate, a traditional style of martial arts. Soolmaz is no stranger to the dynamics of conflict. After the Islamic revolution in Iran, she became a refugee from a very young age. Having spent some time in various locations like Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Canada, Soolmaz and her family eventually came to settle in the United States. Like many people who are forced to relo- cate to a totally different culture,... |