Once again, the continuing violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict cycle and the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza makes us face the grievous reality that it is civilians who pay the heaviest toll with their lives, suffering, and trauma in conflict. We also grapple with the polarizing impact of this conflict on our diverse Mason community.
In these trying times, where we witness increased acts of violence and hostility not only on a global scale but within our own community, the importance of Carter School’s mission becomes ever more evident. It is not enough to be passive recipients of peace; we must be active proponents of conflict resolution. This clarion call echoes through our halls, urging us to contemplate our role in this narrative and the fabric of a peaceful society.
Therefore, we are organizing a series of events, including dialogue sessions, roundtable discussions, workshops, and other opportunities for our Mason community to gain a deeper understanding of this conflict and engage with each other through constructive means.
-Dr. Alpaslan Özerdem, Dean of the Carter School
These events are focused on the Israel-Palestine conflict. For all Carter School events, please visit our event page.
Previous Carter School Events on Israel-Palestine
The Gaza Narrative: Between Clinical Analysis and Moral Judgment
HUB Ballroom, Fairfax Campus
Thursday, December 7th from 12 PM to 2 PM (ET)
Since the events of October 7, the world has been shaken by events that are difficult for anyone to accept. And yet, almost all of us have no unmediated access to these events, experiencing them as pictures in our heads, as parts of stories told by various agents, each with their own interests and points of view. In short we experience these events as narrative.
The Carter School and it’s Narrative Transformation Lab is hosting this event, open to the whole Mason community, in which we will use clinical narrative techniques to develop a more comprehensive (if not objective) perspective on the recent events in Gaza.
Professor Solon Simmons leads the Narrative Transformation Lab and teaches CONF 101, as well as “Narrative Approaches to Conflict Analysis” and “Conflict and Discourse Analysis” for the Carter School.
For more information on the clinical narrative analysis that will used in this event, please visit the Narrative Transformation Lab's website.
More details are available on the registration page linked below.
More Details
Since the events of October 7, the world has been shaken by events that are difficult for anyone to accept. And yet, almost of us have no unmediated access to these events, experiencing them as pictures in our heads, as parts of stories told by various agents, each with their own interests and points of view. In short we experience these events as narrative.
The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School and it’s Narrative Transformation Labhosts an event open to the whole Mason community on December 7th in the Hub Ballroom from 12-2 PM (ET), in which we will use clinical narrative techniques to develop a more comprehensive (if not objective) perspective on the recent events in Gaza. In the session, we will formally analyze more partial and partisan statements by groups like Anti-defamation League (ADL) and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, along with the official statements made by Mason’s leaders, in order to explore how these statements work as narrative interventions and to learn together how narrative techniques could be used to redirect them if we so chose.
The goal of this session is not to established an uncontested set of facts, to come to a single political agreement about Gaza as a community, or to decide on a concrete course of collective action, but instead to discuss together the ways in which “The Gaza Narrative” speaks us, how it therefore tells our story for us, and prevents us from educating our own moral imaginations as critical thinkers. Our goal is use the university for what it is best at: telling our own stories, coming to own moral judgments and choosing our own independent courses of action in the wake of tragic and troubling human suffering.
Women and Children as Targets of War
November 30, 2023 at 11 AM (ET)
Virtual
Children and women have long been seen as legitimate targets and have beenkilled with impunity. In other words, they are seen as legitimate targets not only from the point of view of destroying the group under assault but also assuring that the population of that group will be decimated.
This event, hosted by the Dialogue & Difference Project, shines the light of inquiry on the skyrocketing death tolls of women and children at the hands of Hamas, Israel, and proxy groups within and without the region.
Speakers include:
- Dr. Patricia Maulden, Professor of Conflict Resolution, Carter School. Professor Maulden directs the Dialogue & Difference Project and teaches courses on "Youth and Conflict," “Facilitation Skills,” and “Building Peace in Divided Societies” for the Carter School.
- Dr. Roger Mac Ginty, Professor in Defence, Development, and Diplomacy, Durham University, UK
- Federico Borello, Former Executive Director of Center for Civilians in Conflict
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Israel-Palestine Conflict: Why are we in a war and how do we go for peace?
November 29, 2023 at 3 PM (ET)
Virtual
Personal reflections by members of the Carter School community facilitated by Richard Rubenstein, Professor Emeritus.
Speakers include:
- Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer, American University, founder of Salam Institute for Peace and Justice, co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development
- Professor Daniel Rothbart, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, author and conflict resolution practitioner
- Moien Odeh, doctoral candidate, Carter School, Human Rights attorney
- Dr. Adina Friedman, Carter School alumna and adjunct professor, conflict resolution practitioner
- Dr. Fakhira Halloun, Carter School alumna, Senior Specialist on Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding, Salam Institute for Peace and Justice
Hope Amidst Conflict: Book talk with Oded Adomi Lesham
November 13, 2023 at 1 PM
How does hope for peace form and proliferate in the seemingly hopeless reality of conflict, and why do despair and fear often prevail? How do political elites utilize hope and skepticism to manipulate their public during conflict? And how does hope manifest itself at the societal level? Hope Amidst Conflict takes on the bold challenge of answering these questions by merging insights from philosophy and social psychology and investigating hope for peace in an intense political context--the intractable, violent conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Dr. Oded Leshem is Carter School alum and Senior Research Associate at the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Conciliation Lab at Hebrew University. Hope Amidst Conflict and Dr. Oded Leshem's other books can be ordered here.