Volume 2, Number 1, October 2001

Recently Found in the Periodicals

Anderson, S.K. & Davies, T.G. (2000). An Ethical Decision Making Model: A Necessary Tool for Community College Presidents and Boards of Trustees. Community College Journal of Research and Practice 24(9): 711-727.

This article presents an ethical decision-making model that can help presidents and boards maneuver through difficult situations. Is describes six steps: identifying the ethical dilemma; gathering facts, self-monitering, and consulting; asking difficult questions; creating alternate courses of action; evaluating alternatives; and implementing a course of action by moral follow-through and virtuous ethics.

Bloemhof, B. & Zorn, D. (1999-2000). Leading a Workshop of Conflict Management for Teaching Assistants. Journal of Graduate Teaching Assistant Development 7(1): 39-64.

This article describes a conflict management workshop for graduate teaching assistants. It includes the workshops rationale, a detailed plan of such a workshop, and results of a survey that shows improved perceived ability to deal effectively with conflict.

Brownstein, A. (8/3/2001). Student Activists are Making Noise, but is Anybody Listening? The Chronicle of Higher Education.

In this article, Brownstein reviews the effectiveness of student protests and demonstrations at US Colleges and Universities He explains that, although sit-ins in 2001 were long and large, they failed to touch the heart of the modern college student. The reason behind the apathy could be that popular topics of protest, such as sweatshops in Indonesia, is too far removed from national concerns. Students at schools such as Harvard and the University of Michigan have been holding more successful protests since they shifted their focus to local concerns.

Another important piece of advice for activists is that they organize protests. Students need to communicate with each other, keep speeches relevant and powerful, and network with students at other schools who are organizing.

Brownstein's full article contains many examples of recent protests. Chronicle subscribers can read the full article at: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v47/i47/
47a03801.htm.

Connoly, M.R. (2000). What's in a Name? A Historical Look at Native American-Related Nicknames and Symbols at Three US Universities. Journal of Higher Education 71(5): 515-547.

This article explores the adoption and use of Native American-related nicknames and symbols by three US Universities: the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Miami University of Ohio, and Eastern Michigan University. Historical case studies review how the nicknames were chosen, how they evolved, and why the decision either to keep or replace the nicknames can stir bitter conflict.

Findlen, R.A. (2000). Conflict: The Skeleton in Academe's Closet. New Directions for Community Colleges (109): 41-49.

Interpersonal conflict is a fact of daily life for the dean. This articles examines how conflict can be altered into a source of constructive change. It delineates three myths about conflicts, describes sources of conflict in higher education between administrators and faculty and students and faculty, and describes new approaches to dealing with conflicts.

Grupe, F.H. & Jay, J.K. (2000). Incremental Cases: Real-Life, Real-Time Problem Solving. College Teaching 48(4): 123-128.

Asserting the usefulness of case studies in college teaching, this article begins with an exploration of the advantages and drawbacks of traditional cases. It then describes an alternative: incremental cases, in which material is released piecemeal in an effort to infuse drama and conflict, and participants play certain roles. The article concludes with teaching suggestions and examples of campus-based conflicts that students may relate to.

Illsley, R.E. (2000-2001). Community Standards: A Hands-on Approach to their Implementation in Residence Halls. DAI 61(06A): 2210.

Community standards are agreements made by college students living on each floor of a residence hall identifying how they will relate to and treat each other. It is a process by which individuals begin forming a community-based mechanism for dialogue, compromise, and commitment.

This dissertation details a study that designed, implemented, assessed, and evaluated a Community Standard model in Seton Hill College's residence halls.

McCarthy, C. (9/29/2000). Educating Peacemakers: College Peace Studies Lacking. National Catholic Reporter.

In this article, McCarthy writes about the lack of peace education in higher education. According to McCarthy, "Peace illiteracy is rampant...Peace education is far from flourishing on US campuses. Less than 10 percent of the nation's 3000 colleges and universities are offering any courses in peace studies, with fewer than 100 offering degrees." Mccarthy specifically highlights Catholic colleges, which tend to offer more courses in war making than in peacemaking. This trend leads to frustration among staff and students, who desire stronger promotion and support for peace programs.

McCarthy elaborates on the state of peace education and provides examples of successful and struggling Catholic peace programs.

McPherson, M.S. and Schapiro M.O. (3/23/2001). When Protests Proceed at Internet Speed. The Chronicle of Higher Education.

This article focuses on how the Internet is being used to assist social activism on college and university campuses worldwide. Activists trying to promote a cause, such as fair pay for campus workers or recycling in residence halls, can mobilize supporters by using the Internet. Activists can go as far as planning political action and organizing protests using the same device. According to the authors, "The Internet has fostered a national network of student activists and other advocates of social change, who are linked through e-mail lists and Web sites...Dedicated groups of such activists can quickly assemble rich archives of information, analysis, and advocacy -- and put significant pressure on colleges to respond at a speed that was unimaginable just a few years ago."

McPherson and Schapiro advise institutions of higher education to provide students with a context for which to think through issues they find on the Internet. They further suggest using debates about social problems and conversation about issues discovered on the Internet educational tools. Chronicle subscribers can read the full article at: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v47/i28/28b02401.htm.

Mindich, D. (2000). The Ada Valley Simulation: Exploring the Nature of Conflict. English Journal 89(5): 128-33.

In this article the writer discusses Ada Valley, a simulated society created in 1992 for the purposes of exploring the nature of conflict. The simulation is intended to bridge the gap between students' sentimental opposition to prejudice and aggression and intellectual consideration of the forces that cause people to come into conflict. Ada Valley is a society made up of three different groups--the indigenous people, settlers, and immigrants--who have distinctive lifestyles that bring them into conflict. Activities and procedures that enable students to use the Ada Valley simulation are outlined.

Rice, S. (2000). Conflict in Israel and the Middle East: Differing Perspectives. US California.

This curriculum project is intended for studying nonviolent conflict resolution at the undergraduate and graduate level. The project first presents an historical context of Israel to illuminate the present conflict in the Middle East. It then presents a series of vignettes that represent differing viewpoints on the current conflict. Lastly, through the filter of a paradigm about conflict resolution, some ideas are explored for the integration of what seems to be antithetical perspectives about what decisions should be made concerning the future of Israel and Palestine.

Available from ERIC.

Shreeves, E. (2000). The Acquisitions Culture Wars. Library Trends 48(4): 877-890.

According to this article, librarians have paid insufficient attention to the conflict on college and university campuses about the role of print and digital resources in the library of the future. Effective communication with all sectors of the academic community, especially those maintaining a strong loyalty to budgets, will be essential as hybrid print and digital libraries uneasily coexist and place even greater pressure on budgets.

Somma, T. (7/2000). Mediation: A Positive Alternative in Conflit Resolution for Clinical Laboratories. Medical Laboratory Observer.

This article explains how a lab manager can use mediation to effectively and productively resolve conflicts in the lab setting.

Full text of the article can be found at http://www.findarticles.com.

Tidwell, A. (2001). A Preliminary Evaluation of Problem Solving for One. Mediation Quarterly Special Issue 18(3): 249-257.

This article provides a preliminary evaluation of Problem Solving for One (PSI), a process which aims to help those who are in conflict but who cannot mediate with the opposing party. The evaluation presents data from staff welfare officers who received PSI training; it also includes case studies. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to 45 PSI trainees to determine the usefulness of PSI in the workplace over a 6 month period, and to identify the extent to which PSI was effective. According to questionnaire data, PSI was well-liked and deemed helpful in reducing the negative consequences of conflict.

Conclusions drawn in the preliminary evaluation of PSI are that PSI is worthy of further development, but that to be most effective it must have institutional support.

Weber, T. (2001). Gandhian Philosophy: Conflict Resolution Theory and Practical Approaches to Negotiation. Journal of Peace Research 38(4): 493-513.

It is puzzling that links between Gandhian social philosophy & recent conflict resolution/negotiation literature, especially given the latter's Gandhian "flavor," have received so little scholarly attention. While there seems to be no direct causal link between the two bodies of knowledge, conflict resolution literature in the guise of modern problem-solving & win-win (as opposed to power-based & zero-sum) approaches leading to integrative conflict resolution (as opposed to mere compromise & distributive outcomes) strongly echoes Gandhi's own writings & the analyses of some Gandhi scholars. This is especially true in the case of non-mainstream writings that see conflict resolution techniques as potentially being about more than the solution of immediate problems, that see a broader personal & societal transformation as the ultimate goal. This article explores these connections and argues that Gandhian satyagraha should be squarely located within conflict resolution discourse.

Winograd, D. & Milton, K. (2000). Construction of Conflict: A Microethnographic Study. US Arizona: February.

This paper explores the ways in which the perception of a real-time classroom exchange serves as the conduit to a grander socially constructed conflict through the mediation of an asynchronous online listserve.

Available from ERIC.