Reporting on Conflict | Media Watch Blog

• News source:
• originally published 17 Feb 2012
• Aljazeerah
• Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge? A new book by Steven Pinker says that the answer is "yes".
• By Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Munich, Germany – Would the world be more peaceful if women were in charge? A challenging new book by the Harvard University psychologist Steven Pinker says that the answer is “yes”.

In The Better Angels of Our Nature, Pinker presents data showing that human violence, while still very much with us today, has been gradually declining. Moreover, he says, “over the long sweep of history, women have been and will be a pacifying force. Traditional war is a man’s game: tribal women never band together to raid neighbouring villages.” As mothers, women have evolutionary incentives to maintain peaceful conditions in which to nurture their offspring and ensure that their genes survive into the next generation.

• News source:

“A Relational Approach to Cross-Cultural Conflict: A Decade of Work”
Ken Fox, Professor and University Director of Conflict Studies at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota
Senior Fellow of the Dispute Resolution Institute at Hamline University School of Law
Thursday, March 8^th
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Allard Hall Forum, 1822 East Mall, Vancouver, BC

The Middle East is emblematic for intractable conflict. Thoughts about the region evoke visceral reactions, draw upon incommensurate narratives, and raise fundamental questions of how to support constructive change within and among diverse communities. For those who seek to help, are we peace-makers, peace-builders or unintentional partisans? Are we supporters of peace or supporters of justice and, if so, whose? Since 2001, Hamline University has partnered in a series of interrelated U.S. State-department funded civil society projects in the region. Working with Palestinian, Israeli, Jordanian and Lebanese educators, civic leaders, students and citizens, these projects have focused on social and structural change through education, informed by principles of relational practice. This talk will examine lessons from these various projects and discuss a relational framework for engaging constructively in social change across communities and cultures.

Ken Fox is a Professor and University Director of Conflict Studies at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a Senior Fellow of the Dispute Resolution Institute at Hamline University School of Law. He has a particular interest in the intersection between the way we understand human behavior, interaction and response in conflict. His publications focus on conflict theory, negotiation, mediation, and restorative justice. Professor Fox has taught, trained and consulted throughout the United States, in Central and Western Europe and in the Middle East. He has worked with private companies, regulated industries, non-profit organizations (NGOs), federal, state and local government agencies, courts, schools, and universities. He is a U.S. State Department Fulbright Senior Specialist grantee in law/peace and conflict resolution studies, where he taught conflict theory and practice at the Riga Graduate School of Law in Latvia. Since 2001, Professor Fox has been an active participant in a series of on-going U.S. State Department-funded civil society and conflict transformation project initiatives with Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and Lebanese educators and civic leaders.

UBC Program on Dispute Resolution

For more information on the Program on Dispute Resolution’s 2011-12 Speaker Series: http://www.law.ubc.ca/pdr/index.html or http://www.law.ubc.ca/files/pdf/events/2011/dr-Speaker-Series-2011-12.pdf

• News source:
• 1 March 2012
• Reporting on Conflict
• By Patricia Morris

I am a teacher. I love what I do, and I work very hard for the children of BC. Abolishing limits on the number of students with disabilities in Vancouver classrooms threatens every child’s education.

Imagine this scenario. A child with autism is disrupting the classroom because he can’t communicate his needs. The child’s support worker has little or no training in how to work with a child with autism and even less training on how to work in a school setting.

The teacher, who has between 18 and 30 other children in the classroom, has to stop teaching and give support to the support worker to get the autistic child under control and get the more typical children back on track.

This can happen several times in a day. What kind of learning do you think is going on in that classroom? Here’s your answer: Very little. Nobody is getting a good education.

Now imagine the same scenario with a well trained and skilled support worker. The child with autism doesn’t become disruptive because the support worker has training on how to recognize when the child is becoming agitated. The support worker also has training on how to work in a school setting with a teacher.

In this scenario, the teacher can trust that the support worker knows how to help the child with autism in the most appropriate manner. And the typical children don’t even know that the child with autism is having a difficult moment. What kind of learning in going on in this classroom? Here’s your answer: Quite a lot. All those children are getting an education on more levels than you can imagine. Not only are they learning the curriculum but they are also learning acceptance of others and self regulation. (read more…)

• News source:

Rotary World Peace Symposium

Thursday-Saturday, 3-5 May
Impact Exhibition & Convention Center

This event will allow Rotarians, Rotary Peace Fellows, and alumni to take part in a dialogue on peace-building and to learn how political, economic, and ethnic forces can work for — or against — conflict resolution. Get up-to-date information from experts in the field, and learn practical skills from peace practitioners.