Opening Up: A Conflict Transformation Podcast

On today’s episode, we are excited to share a story of an experiential learning opportunity for exploring peacebuilding and intercultural competence (ICC). The CT interns lead a conversation with professor Thor Sawin. At the time of recording, Sawin was associate professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and has since taken on the role of Associate Dean of Language Schools for curriculum. Sawin has 20 years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels in the United States, Lithuania, South Korea and China, as well as in summer secondary-level programs in Korea, Taiwan and Albania.

Sawin has led several experiential learning trips to the former Yugoslavia to explore national identity, education, language, and culture, and how these and other factors fuel tensions and conflict within each country. This is a longstanding course at MIIS and offers an invaluable opportunity to see and understand post-conflict reconstruction, language and communication, and national identity in process.

· For a story on the 2022 trip: https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/advancing-your-career/career-guide/field-work-students-share-photos-immersive-peacebuilding-course

· For information about the most recent trip: https://sites.miis.edu/balkans/

· About Thor Sawin: https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2023/04/thor-sawin-appointed-associate-dean-language-schools

· About Thor Sawin:https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2023/04/thor-sawin-named-new-associate-dean-of-middlebury-language-schools-for-curriculum

As we have started teaching "Conflict Transformation Skills" at Middlebury, we have been fortunate to have a leading global mediator as a guest speaker and teacher.

Francisco Diez is senior mediation advisor at the United Nations (UN). He has contributed to the UN’s efforts to foster dialogue and reconciliation in Bolivia, and provided expert advice on conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy in Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela. From 2014 onwards he worked with the Kroc Institute to set up the Colombia Peace Accord Matrix to monitor and support the implementation of the peace agreement between the Colombian Government and the FARC, and assisted dialogue processes in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

This episode starts with introductions from Julian Portilla, mediator and co-instructor of the CT Skills class, and Caroline Harding, CT Collaborative intern. Diez gave this talk remotely in 2023, and we were lucky to have him back in January 2024 to lead trainings for students.

For more on Francisco Diez, see: https://franciscodiez.com.ar/

For a video recording of this talk, see our video library: https://www.middlebury.edu/ct-video-collection

Restorative justice, transnational activism, and communication across cultures are all spaces in which conflict transformation can inform the long work of social change. In this episode, restorative justice leader sujatha baliga and civil society scholar Sarah Stroup discuss the foundations of their work and its connection to the CT Collaborative at Middlebury. The conversation, held at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey in September 2023, was moderated by Netta Avineri, the leader of the Graduate Pillar of the CT Collaborative and a scholar of intercultural communication.

You can watch a full recording of the talk in our Video Library here: https://www.middlebury.edu/ct-video-collection/restoring-justice-cultivating-hope-scholar-practitioner-conversation

Learn more about sujatha baliga here: https://www.sujathabaliga.com/

This episode features selections from a September 2022 talk at Middlebury by John Paul Lederach, with an introduction from Middlebury president Laurie Patton.

John Paul Lederach is globally recognized for his pioneering theory and practice in the field of conflict transformation (CT). Lederach is senior fellow at Humanity United and professor emeritus of international peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame. He is also the co-founder and first director of the Eastern Mennonite University’s Center for Justice and Peacebuilding.

Our work at Middlebury has been inspired and enriched by Lederach's work and by his personal example of hope and generosity. In September 2022, he was the keynote speaker at the college's Clifford Symposium. He serves on the Middlebury CT Collaborative External Advisory Board. His 2005 book, The Moral Imagination, identifies risk taking, curiosity, creativity, and a relational focus as key dispositions for constructive engagement in conflict.

Thanks as always to our team of interns and staff who edit and produce these episodes. Special thanks to Caroline Harding for selecting powerful parts of Lederach's talk!

https://www.middlebury.edu/conflict-transformation/who-we-are#external-advisory-board

In this episode, we speak with Elspeth Boynton, the founder and CEO of diiVe, a South Africa-based organization that offers high-impact internships to college students. The in-person and remote global internships integrate leadership development, purpose coaching, data science skills, and cultural immersions. diiVe has brought conflict transformation approaches into their curriculum, with interesting lessons for responding to conflict in the workplace and in cross-cultural experiences.

Boynton spoke with Amy McGlashan, Director of Academic Initiatives and Special Projects in the Center for Careers and Internships, and Sarah Stroup, CT Collaborative director.

Learn more about diiVe at their website: https://www.godiive.com/

Addressing social and political conflicts seems particularly challenging in an era of high polarization. Yet under certain conditions, perspective taking and story telling may shift exclusionary attitudes and policy preferences.

In this episode of our podcast, we are sharing audio from a campus talk in October 2023 on persuasion by Professor Joshua Kalla of Yale University. Kalla's research explores political persuasion, prejudice reduction, and decision-making among voters and political elites. Kalla (PhD, UC Berkeley) is Associate Professor of Political Science at Yale University with a secondary appointment as Assistant Professor of Statistics and Data Science.

See the full talk and others in our library here: https://www.middlebury.edu/ct-video-collection

Learn more about Professor Kalla here: https://politicalscience.yale.edu/people/joshua-kalla

Water shortages in the USA and dozens of other countries have highlighted our tenuous relationship with the world’s most important resource. In this podcast episode, we share audio from a TED-style talk from MIIS Environmental Policy and Management ProfessorDr. Jeff Langholz. Langholz shares a vision for the future of water that transforms the way we collect and distribute water resources.

Dr. Langholz is a recipient of a 2023 Faculty Research Grant from the CT Collaborative. Learn more about Langholz's work and our research grant recipients at the links below.

https://www.middlebury.edu/institute/people/jeff-langholz

https://www.middlebury.edu/conflict-transformation/supporting-faculty-research/spring-2023-grant-recipients

In this episode, Joseph Kaifala recounts his experiences growing up in civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and lays out a vision for peacebuilding that requires first dealing with the legacies of mass atrocities.

Kaifala is the inaugural recipient of the Projects for Peace Alumni Award. The newly created award, supported by the CT Collaborative, grants up to $50,000 in support of the ongoing peacebuilding efforts of a pastProjects for Peacerecipient who demonstrates innovation and persistence in working for peace and transforming conflict. A former Davis United World College Scholar, Kaifala earned his bachelor’s degree from Skidmore College, a master’s in international relations from Syracuse University, and his juris doctorate from Vermont Law School.

This episodes draws from an interview with PfP director Betsy Vegso and from a July 2023 campus talk that Kaifala gave as part of a convening on experiential learning and CT.

Learn more from our newsroom and video library:

https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2023/05/projects-peace-presents-first-alumni-award

https://vimeo.com/852855029

In this episode, dance professor Lida Winfield is interviewed by Middlebury College senior and CT intern Joe Hanlon. They discuss the importance of transformation and growth and the role of the arts in facilitating communication, relationship-building, and social change.

Lida Winfield plays several important roles in the CT Collaborative. She is a facilitator in the Engaged Listening Project, leading professional development in structured dialogue, and also has advanced training in restorative practices. The Dance department, with the support of a faculty research grant from the Collaborative, has hosted a year-long artist in residency program focused on “Movement Matters: Global Body in Conflict.”

Winfield is an innovative and accomplished dancer, choreographer, spoken word artist and educator; who has created original work merging storytelling, dance and visual art. Learn more at https://www.lidawinfield.com/

Learn more about the Global Body in Conflict project at our website and in our event listings:

https://www.middlebury.edu/conflict-transformation/supporting-faculty-research/spring-2023-grant-recipients

https://www.middlebury.edu/conflict-transformation/events

Strategic empathy is the sincere effort to identify and assess patterns of behavior and the underlying drivers and constraints that shape those patterns. In a CT Collaborative-funded research project, a team from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS explored the utility of this concept for understanding the acquisition, threat, and use of strategic weapons.

In this episode, we offer selections from a 2023 webinar describing the project's insights. Through case studies involving three US adversaries – Russia, North Korea, and Iran – the authors suggest that a more holistic, nuanced understanding of the adversary can inform effective policy responses. The CNS team included Sarah Bidgood, Robert Carlin, Siegfried Hecker, Jim Lamson, and Hanna Notte.

You can read their full report at our website: https://www.middlebury.edu/conflict-transformation/supporting-faculty-research/spring-2022-grant-recipients