Tuesday, September 1, 2015
CCS is pleased to announce its fourth annual conference on the topic of Race and Conflict. The conference is titled “Breaking Down Shades of Color: Power, Privilege and Potential in Race Conflicts” and will be held in Monterey from November 5-7, 2015. This conference aims to highlight the sources, nature and growing incidence of race-based conflicts and the efforts being made to manage, resist and transform these conflicts.We invite proposals from graduate students, academics and practitioners in conflict studies, peace studies and other related disciplines (such as law, human rights, gender, culture, criminology, and media). For more information about the conference and for proposal submission guidelines (deadline for submissions is September 30, 2015), visit go.miis.edu/race.
The 2015 Summer Peacebuilding Program has begun! CCS is happy to welcome 17 participants to the beautiful MIIS campus for a 3-week intensive course on bridging the theory and practice of building peace in societies emerging from conflict. The program launched on Sunday night with a reception to welcome the students and introduce the faculty. It will continue in the coming days with sessions by Dr. Iyer, MIIS faculty, practitioners, and visiting academics, including influential voices in the field of conflict studies such as Dr. Christopher Mitchell. Participants will also visit local organizations and projects including Rancho Cielo and Oakland Ceasefire.
Follow the reflections and experiences of the program participants on the SPP blog.
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CCS would like to introduce our 2015 Peacebuilder Fellows! Christine Young and Tayna Martins are participating in this year’s program in Honduras. Partnering with the Catholic Relief Services, they will research water conflicts in the country, gathering stories from stakeholders and learning about approaches to conflict resolution. Upon their return, the fellows will work with the Center to share the stories they have heard and the knowledge they have gained. Read about their background and experience here, and be sure to follow the blog for updates about their experiences!
The Center is proud to share the first issue of the new, re-launched Reflections magazine! Reflections will now be an annual publication, reviewing the year’s activities at the Center, sharing research and field experiences, highlighting alumni accomplishments, presenting the coming year’s events, and more. As ever, the magazine’s articles and features are designed to make readers reflect on new thoughts and important issues in conflict studies and peacebuilding.
This year’s magazine was presented at the “Violence Explained and Peace Explored” presentation at MIIS on April 4, and will also be available on our website as a PDF.
The Center for Conflict Studies invites you to attend its upcoming presentation, “Violence Explained and Peace Explored.” In 2015, CCS organized two field courses: “Challenges to Peacebuilding in Mindanao” and “The Praxis of Conflict Transformation: Poverty, Homelessness and Violence in Los Angeles.” Dr. Pushpa Iyer will lead 15 MIIS and 3 CSUMB course participants in telling stories of violence and peace.
We will also be celebrating the re-launch of our magazine, Reflections.
The presentation will take place Thursday, April 9 at 6:30 pm in Irvine Auditorium, 499 Pierce Street in Monterey.
You are also invited to a reception following the presentation. This event is open to the public. For more information, email ccs@miis.edu
The CCS Visiting Scholar for 2015-16 will be Robert C. Brears, founder of Mitidaption, an ideas lab. Robert is an expert on the impacts of climate change and environmental risks to business, governance and society as well as adaptation strategies to mitigate these risks. He is a contributing author for the Johns Hopkins University’s Global Water Magazine, China Water Risk and RepRisk. He has published widely on water security, water resources management, and related issues, and has conducted field research around the world, including Antarctica. His research with CCS will focus on water security in the Asia-Pacific.
For more information on Robert and past visiting scholars, please visit our website.
2014 Peacebuilder Fellows in the West Bank.
Applications for the second summer Peacebuilders Fellowship are now open! The 2015 program will once again focus on water conflicts, this time in Honduras. Fellows will work with Catholic Relief Services and their partners to conduct research and document local challenges and approaches in dealing with water conflicts. This material will provide vital information to the Center in developing a manual for peacebuilders working on water conflicts.
Two fellows will be selected for the project, and are expected to be in the field for 8 to 10 weeks over the summer. Following the field research, fellows will work with the Center to finalize reports and document their stories.
For more information, including eligibility requirements, please visit our website. To apply for the fellowship, please click here.
Dr. Iyer and the 2015 Los Angeles course participants.
CCS Director Pushpa Iyer and 6 MIIS students are currently in Los Angeles for “The Praxis of Conflict Transformation” field course. The course seeks to help participants link the theory of peacebuilding with practice through field research. LA is the perfect location for this course because it is a city of contrasts: it is home to Hollywood and a celebrity culture, but also overwhelming poverty, homelessness and violence. Participants will be meeting with NGOs, government officials, and civil society members to learn about how they work on these deep-rooted conflicts in the context of racial tensions, extreme wealth, and other structural imbalances. Outcomes of the trip will be shared in presentations and various publications.
You can keep up with the participants’ research and experiences in LA by reading their blog. Bios of the course participants can be found here. For more information about the course, please visit our website.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
CCS is excited to announce the launch of the Summer Peacebuilding Program (SPP), a three-week long intensive training program designed to bridge the theory and practice of building peace in societies that are emerging from conflict, violence or war.
SPP provides an opportunity for participants to learn from the experiences and approaches of scholars and practitioners who work on some of the most difficult challenges our world faces today, including: resolving conflict, ending all forms of violence, providing social justice, and creating more secure and developed societies by transforming the conditions and relationships of conflict. SPP therefore welcomes all those interested in exploring the above-mentioned topics through a process of self-reflection, gathering of theoretical and conceptual data and its application to real world problems. Students and practitioners in the field of conflict, peace, development and security studies are eligible to apply.
Please visit our website for more information on SPP, including an outline of the sessions, important dates, application information, cost, scholarship opportunities, and more. You can apply online here.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
On Tuesday, November 18 the Center for Conflict Studies and the William Tell Coleman Library at MIIS will host a discussion on race, the death penalty, and the U.S. criminal justice system through a reading and discussion of “I Am Troy Davis” by Jen Marlowe. Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia in September 2011, despite international protests. This discussion is a part of the Troy Davis Community Book Club events, which are being organized all around the country. For more information on the book club, please click here.
The discussion will be held at the DLC Design Space at 6pm. This event is open to the public, but all attendees must register.
