Carter School News

It’s been a year since George Mason University’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution touched base in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their goal? Accompany locals in creating their own sustainable peace—something the country has not experienced in more than 30 years. Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem, and Charles Davidson, PhD ’19, Carter School research faculty and alumnus, visited the Congo in October 2022 to check in on the “Peacemaking + Initiative,” funded by Milt Lauenstein, and assess the direction for its next phase.

The Political Leadership Academy (PLA) at the Carter School hosted recently re-elected Congressman Don Beyer on November 19.

On the morning of Wednesday, October 26th, George Mason University professor Suzanne C. de Janasz conducted her first-ever negotiations workshop for female high school students at McLean High School in Northern Virginia. An enthusiastic audience of about 100 young women came to hear de Janasz explain why negotiation is important for women of all ages and walks of life, and how to build negotiating skills for the future. De Janasz, an organizational researcher who holds a joint appointment in the School of Business and the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, says there is a pervasive cultural bias against women who ask for what they deserve. The negative labelling begins in childhood, with terms such as “bossy” being applied to more assertive girls.

Graduate students at Mason Square (formerly Arlington Campus) recently attended Movers and Shakers, a professional networking event with Arlington’s business, government, and community leaders.

For one of the more than 35 events of Peace Week Fall 2022, the Carter School partnered with Mason Men’s and Women’s Basketball programs on a joint initiative with PeacePlayers International, an organization that works with youth from divided communities around the globe, using basketball as a vehicle to unite, educate, inspire, change perceptions, create opportunities for peacebuilding, and develop leaders.

In partnership with the U.S. Department of State-sponsored Community Solutions Program, the Carter School is proud to welcome five community leaders from Bangladesh, Guatemala, Palestine, and Slovakia. Together, these fellows will participate in a four-month practicum with the Carter School.

Alpaslan Özerdem, dean of the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution explains the keys to effective peacebuilding, whether it concerns the war in Ukraine, gun violence or local issues. And don’t miss the discussions about how an alien invasion could help mend the rift between Russia and the West.

In  partnership with the GMU Afghan Scholars Program, the Carter School welcomes Dr. Mansoor Ehsan.  A political analyst and researcher, Dr. Ehsan joins the Carter School as Scholar in Residence for a year beginning summer 2022.

George Mason University Carter School professor Richard Rubenstein attended a workshop conference at the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences at the Vatican on June 6-7 to discuss peacemaking in Ukraine and other global conflict sites. The conference was organized by the U.N. Development Solutions Network headed by Columbia University professor Jeffrey Sachs.

We at the Carter School were saddened to learn of the passing of our friend and colleague, Joseph V. Montville. Joe died peacefully surrounded by family, a well-deserved blessing.

Rep. Cori Bush, Missouri's first Black congresswoman, is teaching at Mason this summer. A pastor, teacher, nurse, and a Black Lives Matter activist in Ferguson, Mo., Bush talks about her most her unusual, and activist, path to Congress. “There is always someone to help, something to give,” she says. And she doesn’t flinch discussing controversial issue around race and policing.

This summer, Congresswoman Cori Bush will be co-teaching a graduate-level course entitled, “The Public Pedagogy of Truth and Reparations.”