Upcoming Events

 

Interfaith Dialogue across the Christian/Muslim Divide

Imam Mohammed Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye

Co-founders of the Interfaith Mediation Center in Kaduna Nigeria

Wednesday May 7, 2008    6:00 – 7:30 PM

UMass Boston Campus Center                         

100 Morrissey Blvd, Boston                      

 Ballroom C, Third floor

Join us for a remarkable tale of religious peacemaking and reconciliation from two men who started out as leaders of militant Christian and Muslim youth gangs and became grassroots peacebuilders.

The UMass Boston Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution is partnering with the Interfaith Mediation Center on an exchange program for Nigerian youth leaders. Supported by a grant from the US State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the program will bring 15 Nigerians to Boston in June for 3 weeks of intensive training in conflict resolution skills. 

Light refreshments will be served

For additional information contact the Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution

disres@umb.edu            617-287-7421

directions: http://www.disres.umb.edu/directions.php

 

 

Thursday May 8, 2008

Masters Project Presentations
Dispute Resolution Masters Candidates present their research

5:30 – 7 PM

Campus Center, third floor, conference room 3545

Public Policy and Deliberative Democracy Participative Practices: A Fish Story
Ellen Steele

Divorce Mediation and the Child's Voice
Alexa Boeck

Conflict in the Camps: Dispute Resolution in the Dadaab Refugee Camps
John Lewis Moore

How Effective Are Traditional Conflict Mechanisms in Refugee and IDP Communities in Liberia? Manouchka Jacques

Sulha (Traditional Arab Dispute Resolution) and Israel's Formal Legal System:
How Do They Coexist? Doron Pely

Assessing the African Union's Capacity to Intervene in Conflicts on the Continent

Nnaemezie James Malo

An Evaluation of NGO Conflict Resolution Models and Techniques in Nigeria
Yusef Tango

Restorative Justice and Culture:  A Case Study of the Nickel Mines Amish

Teresa Ralicki

Assessing the Need for an Ombudsman at a Scientific Institute

 Lisa Chuda Witzler

Navigating Conflict During Building Design – a project in process

Celia Kent

 

Recent Events

 

Wednesday March 12, 2008

The Global Identity Crisis: 

Dealing with Conflict in a Multicultural World  

As our world flattens, how should we deal most effectively with the identity-based challengesunderlying conflict management efforts?  Dr. Shapiro is in the beginning stages of writing a book on this subject and will discuss some of his preliminary ideas.  He looks forward to exploring the ideas further with participants.

Daniel Shapiro
Director, International Negotiation Initiative,
Harvard Program on Negotiation

Co-author w/ Roger Fisher of
“Beyond Reason: Using Emotions as you Negotiate”

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Campus Center, third floor, conference room 3540

Wednesday February 13, 2008

Christopher Byner

Youth Services Unit Manager; Boston Centers for Youth & Families

Director of the Streetworker Program

 

One of the most effective violence prevention and early intervention services programs in the country is the Boston Centers for Youth and Families’ Streetworker Program. Initiated in 1990, the program puts “feet on the street” to seek out and interact with hard-to-reach, high risk youth and connect them with needed health, education, social services, and job resources.  Much of their time is spent trying to prevent, de-escalate, or mitigate violence in Boston’s many neighborhoods. A large part of that effort involves negotiating disputes between rival gang members.

5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

Wheatley Hall, fourth floor, student lounge 0148

 

 

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Dispute Resolution Colloquium Series: Fall 2007

 

September 11, 2007

Conflict Management in the Age of Terrorism

"The New Face of Conflict: Challenges and Opportunities for the Field of Conflict Management in the Age of Terrorism"

Ivan Sascha Sheehan, Ph.D.

Sascha Sheehan has joined the Dispute Resolution faculty for the 2007-2008 academic year. He is the author of the forthcoming book "When Terrorism and Counterterrorism Clash: The War on Terror and the Transformation of Terrorist Activity."

Tuesday September 11, 2007, 5:30 -7:30 PM
Healey Library 11th floor

 

October 9, 2007

Citizen Involvement and Consensus Building:

The Chelsea City Charter Process

A Discussion with Susan Podziba

The City of Chelsea was required to create a new charter after the State of Massachusetts suspended all activities of its elected bodies because of fiscal mismanagement and corruption. Due to the breakdown in the local democracy, few citizens participated in city government. Susan Podziba was given the job of designing and implementing a consensus process to reach deep into the community to involve residents in creating the new charter.

 

Susan Podziba specializes in complex public policy conflicts involving multiple parties and stakeholders. She has mediated and designed conflict resolution processes for scores of public policy cases in areas involving international relations, governance, environmental disputes, land use and development decisions, transportation planning, labor standards, public health, and education policy.

Ms. Podziba has written and published numerous articles on negotiation, mediation, and consensus-building; has taught at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School  and MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning; and is Principal of her own consulting firm Susan Podziba & Associates.

Tuesday October 9, 2007, 5:00 -7:00 PM
Healey Library 11th floor

 

November 13, 2007

Tales from the Front Line:

Roles for Conflict Resolution Professionals

in Environmental Policy & Management

For more than 15 years Stephanie Moura has worked on issues related to marine and coastal resource policy/management and has developed complementary experience in managing multi-stakeholder processes and public involvement efforts.

As Project Coordinator for the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership Fund initiative, she is currently managing the effort to establish a public-private partnership to support comprehensive ocean management for Massachusetts’ waters.

Tuesday, November 13, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Healey Library 11th floor

 

December 4, 2007

Conflict Resolution in the Operating Room

Sunil Eappen, M.D.
Vice Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine
Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston

Dr. Eappen is a practicing anesthesiologist as well as a senior administrator at a busy teaching hospital. He estimates that close to half of his job involves conflict management and resolution.

Tuesday, December 4, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Healey Library 11th floor