Conflict Studies Syllabi Sampler Introduction

(from The Conflict Resolution Syllabi Sampler: 1998
edited by Juliana Birkhoff)

by Juliana E. Birkhoff

How This Project Came About

In March 1996 about 25 professors and directors of college and university conflict resolution programs gathered at Nova Southeastern University. The meeting, hosted by Nova's Department of Dispute Resolution, was designed so faculty could learn more about other programs' curricula and pedagogies. Participants also wanted to identify areas for collaboration among programs. This meeting grew out of several previous meetings of faculty in conflict resolution. 50 peace and conflict studies professors and directors met for a day in 1995 in Minneapolis, MN at the National Conference of Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution. Additionally, many peace and conflict studies professors met, both formally and informally, at National Association of Mediation in Education (NAME) conferences over the last five years.

As in previous meetings, participants discussed important issues and developed new relationships at the meeting in Florida. There were enthusiastic discussions on what each program was trying to produce and what our programs ought to produce. There were also interesting discussions on pedagogy and resources. The meeting at Nova Southeastern was slightly different, however, from previous meetings. Specifically, participants identified several specific ways to work together to further the development of conflict studies programs in higher education and conflict resolution pedagogy.

This anthology is one of the projects that participants identified at the Nova Southeastern meeting. As faculty discussed how to teach mediation skills or concepts of collaboration, we inevitably talked about readings, videos, simulations and role plays, and how these all came together into one course. We learned from each other and became excited about sharing that learning with others in the field.

As part of the Conflict Resolution Education Network (formerly NAME) program, NIDR readily agreed to publish the anthology. To solicit participation for the anthology, NIDR mailed an invitation to about 500 college and university programs on the Consortium of Peace, Research, Education, and Development's (COPRED) mailing list. NIDR also mailed 100 invitations to its mailing list of law schools, business schools and schools of planning. Finally, NIDR circulated the invitation on ConflictNet and the Cornell University Dispute Resolution List Serve.

There were several other collaborative suggestions at the Nova Southeastern meeting including: discussions of accreditation or standard setting for programs, collaborative websites describing conflict resolution programs in higher education, research on the goals of curricula and how to measure results, U.S. and international internship banks, student conferences, and faculty and student exchange programs. Several of these collaborative projects have occurred. For example, the University of Massachusetts, Boston hosts student conflict resolution conferences. Some of the other collaborative projects, including future meetings, have taken place.

NIDR hopes that by publishing the Syllabi Anthology conflict resolution faculty across higher education programs will learn about each other and build on each others experiences. As conflict resolution studies expand in higher education there will be growing pains. Certainly, there will be tensions between new programs and older ones, between freestanding programs and those located in other disciplines or schools. We have the choice to compete with each other or work together to enlarge our scope. I believe that collaboration promises larger impact. Collaboration allows us to develop more innovative pedagogies and programs. We can learn and build on the innovations and developments of each other. Collaboration encourages cross fertilization and comparisons across different disciplinary and professional perspectives. We also impact more students as the varieties of ways of studying conflict resolution proliferate.

Continue to the
Brief History of the Development of Conflict Resolution Study in Higher Education