Conflict Resolution

Can enemy groups learn to develop compassion for one another? That was the question Carter School professor Daniel Rothbart set out to answer in his research at Rondine, a two-year “laboratory for peace.” Now, the results are in.

“This is the first in-depth case study of compassion among civilians who live in conflict zones,” said Rothbart, who collaborated with George Mason University professors Thalia Goldstein, Marc Gopin and Karina Korostelina. “We hope this is a model that can help create new practices for peacebuilders to cultivate compassion.”

Of the more than 4,000 lynchings of Black Americans that took place in the United States between 1865 and 1950, at least 43 cases occurred in Maryland.
George Mason University’s John Mitchell Jr. Program (JMJP), housed within the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, has been helping research several of these cases since 2019 to support the Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In October, they received news that they will be taking their research to the next level, thanks to a $300,000 Department of Justice grant they helped secure for the commission.

The Carter School has partnered with Restorative Arlington, a new initiative aimed at incorporating restorative justice practices into Arlington County’s public schools, legal system and community.

Celine Apenteng may only have one biological sibling, but she regards nearly a dozen people from around the world as her sisters. This “extended family,” as she calls them, and Apenteng’s travels abroad, have had a profound impact on her view of education.

“There’s always something for you to learn,” said Apenteng, whose family has hosted exchange students from France, Moldova and Germany since she was 10. “Even if it’s not something new, the way somebody says something could impact how you think about it.”

The Arctic is warming at more than twice the rate of the rest of the planet, but for a team of researchers at George Mason University that’s just the tip of the iceberg of the changes to come.

Kevin Avruch received his A.B. from the University of Chicago and M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). In 2009 Avruch was appointed the Henry Hart Rice Professor of Conflict Resolution (succeeding Nadim Rouhana), and in 2013 he became S-CAR’s second Dean, succeeding Andrea Bartoli. In 2020 he became Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Henry Hart Rice Professor of Conflict Resolution Emeritus.

Susan Allen is a scholar-practitioner of conflict resolution. Her main focus is on reflective practice and research that emerges from practice contexts.