Summary
This past summer was busy with 2 books published by alumni, 5 journal articles by current and alumni students, a grant awarded to Susan Allen, 2 book chapters by Karina Korostelina, 2 reports by alumni, and 39 newspaper articles by or about S-CAR community members. S-CAR members appeared on 13 television programs and 10 radio shows. In addition, we welcomed Aya Hijazi back to S-CAR following her ordeal in Egypt and at the end of the summer, Daniel Agbiboa joined the faculty.
Awards and Honors
Congratulations to Susan Allen for receiving a $50,000 grant from Carnegie Corporation to convene a community of practice for conveners of track 1.5 and track 2 dialogues. The meeting is planned to be held in October at Point of View. August 1, 2017.
S-CAR Academic Publications
Books and Book Chapters:
Borislava Manojlovic, PhD ’13, published her first book, "Education for Sustainable Peace and Conflict Resilient Communities" by Palgrave Macmillian, August 8, 2017.
Imad Salamey, Mohammed Abu-Nimer, PhD ’93, and Elie Abouaoun published "Post-Conflict Power-Sharing Agreements: Options for Syria" by Palgrave Macmillian, August 30, 2017.
Karina Korostelina, published two book chapters: “Insulter Trump: A Bonus for His Followers?” In Why Irrational Politics Appeals, by Praeger Publishing, 2017 and “Constructing Identity and Power in History Education in Ukraine: Approaches to Formation of Peace Culture.” In Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education, by Palgrave Macmillian, 2017.
Journal Articles and Reports:
Keil L. Eggers, BA '15, co-wrote, along with several others an article entitled "Lemonade for Life – A Pilot Study on a Hope-Infused, trauma-informed approach to help families understand their past and focus on the future". It was published in Children and Youth Services Review, on June 9, 2017.
Michael English, PhD ’15, and Derek Sweetman, PhD candidate, co-wrote “Critical Conflict Resolution, Systemic Consciousness and Systemic Contractions.” It was published in The Journal of Mediation & Applied Conflict Analysis, no. 1, June 15, 2017.
Ali E Erol, MS '09, wrote an article that explored “Queer Contestation of Neoliberal and Heteronormative Moral Geographies during #occupygezi” in Sexualities, May 31, 2017.
Mary Hope Schwoebel, PhD ’07, explored “Peacebuilding Approaches to Preventing and Transforming Violent Extremism” in the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, no. 2 August 4, 2017.
The two reports include David Alpher, PhD ’11, entitled “Re-Balancing the Triangle: American Strategy in Africa Should Prioritize African Leadership, Not Chinese Competition” for The Henry L. Stimson Center, June 20, 2017 and Ned Lazarus’s (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, August 2011 – August 2014) report exploring “A Future for Israeli-Palestinian” for the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre. It was published July 17, 2017.
S-CAR in the News
Newspaper / Magazine / Online Articles:
Remaz Abdelgader, BA ’17, “Speak Even If Your Voice Quivers’ Interview with Remaz Abdelgader” in S-CAR’s Center for Gender and Conflict’s new journal Counter/Act, June 9, 2017, 1 edition.
David Alpher, PhD ’11, wrote a popular article about “Charlottesville and the Politics of Fear” in NewsOk, on August 17, 2017.
Roi Ben-Yehuda, PhD candidate, is journalist in New York. He published several articles over the summer including: “Building A Beautiful Church: The Importance of Having Purpose.” Medium, June 12, 2017.; “Conflict Meets Power in the Workplace.” Medium, June 17, 2017.; “Negotiations Lessons I Learned From My Dog.” Medium, June 20, 2017. “The Steve Harvey Effect: How To Be Ruthless With Your Time Without Being Ruthless With Your Team.” Medium, June 8, 2017. "Being-ruthless-your-team"; and “Why I Named My Son after Bruce Lee.” Medium, August 2, 2017.
Mohammed Cherkaoui, PhD ’12, published an article entitled "‘Trump Factor’ and the Implosion of the Gulf Union” in Al Jazeera, June 10, 2017 and was quoted in another Al Jazeera news agencies article entitled “Qatar Lashes out at UAE over QNA Hacking” on July 17, 2017.
Cheryl Duckworth, PhD ’08, wrote several articles including “Public ‘Schools of Hope’ Could Be Anything But” in The Palm Beach Post, May 14, 2017; “Resisting? 5 Lessons on Authoritarian Regimes from Latin America” in Informed Comment, August 2, 2017; and “Six Mistakes We Keep Making When We Oppose Bullying and Violence in School” in Teach for Peace Blog, on June 2, 2017.
Frank Dukes, PhD '92, wrote an “Opinion/Letter: Time Is over for Honorably Opposing Statues’ Removal” published in The Daily Progress, August 17, 2017.
Marc Gopin and Tom Duncan, co-wrote a piece on the “Extraction, Exploitation And The Morality Of Switching From Gasoline To Cobalt For Cars” in The Huffington Post, August 11, 2017. Marc Gopin was quoted in an article about “The 2017 Arthur N. Rupe Great Debate: Is ISIS an Existential Threat to the United States?” Santa Barbara Seasons, May 16, 2017.
Ibrahim Fraihat, PhD ’06, published “Why Kushner’s Middle East Visit Is Set for Failure” in Al Jazeera on August 23, 2017.
Aya Hijazi, BA’10, published her first article after her release titled “Egypt Imprisoned Me for Defending Human Rights. But I Haven’t Lost Hope” in The Washington Post, August 21, 2017.
Several other articles mentioned Aya Hijazi’s experience: “Trump Got Egypt to Free an American Prisoner. Here’s Her Story” in The Washington Post, May 25, 2017; “Exclusive: Aya Hijazi on Her Surprising Meeting with President Trump after Release from Egypt Prison” in PBS Newshour, May 26, 2017, “Trump Takes Personal Interest in Americans Held Overseas, Not Human Rights More Broadly” in Los Angeles Times, June 22, 2017; and “Aya Hegazy Announces Plans to Establish Belady in US, Prioritizing Child Political Prisoners,” Egypt Independent, August 22, 2017.
Susan Allen, Patricia Maulden, and Mark Thurston were referenced in an article entitled “Bitter or Better? Conflict as a Force for Well-Being at Mason” for the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being The College of Humanities and Social Sciences, June 21, 2017.
Talha Kose, PhD ’09, wrote a piece about “Isolating Qatar: A Move to Disable Conditions That Triggered Arab Spring” for the Daily Sabah, June 8, 2017.
Charles Martin-Shields, PhD ’16, was referenced in an article about “How Technology Plays a Vital Role in Conflict and Crisis-Affected Settings: Dr Charles Martin-Shields from DIE Offers Insights” for the Bonn Sustainability Portal, June 8, 2017.
Richard Rubenstein was quoted in two articles, “Rubenstein, Faculty Member of the Year, Took Time to Find His Calling” University News: George Mason University, May 12, 2017 and in “When We See Political Actors as Good or Evil” in the Times of Malta, June 2, 2017.
Yerevan Saeed, PhD student, wrote one article “Tariq Ramadan in Chicago’s Holocaust Museum” for Rudaw, May 26, 2017 and was quoted in two more: “Journey to Statehood Still Long for Iraq Kurds” in AFP, June 12, 2017 and “U.S. Military Weapons Are Being Used by Kurdish Militants to Fight ISIS” in Newsweek, June 23, 2017.
Michael Shank, PhD ’12, wrote two articles, “Westchester Could, and Should, Lead on Renewable Energy: View” Lohud, May 22, 2017 and “Why Waste-To-Energy Plants Are Problematic” in The Huffington Post, May 25, 2017. He co-wrote with government leaders Rep Raul Grijalva. “Bailing On the Paris Climate Deal Would Be a Huge Security Risk” in Time, June 1, 2017 and U. S. Representative Steve Cohen “By Pulling Out Of The Paris Agreement, Trump Just Threw Away America’s Biggest Business Opportunity” for Fast Company, June 1, 2017.
Ivan Sascha Sheehan, PhD ’06, described how “Trump Sanctions Set Stage for Necessary Regime Change in Iran” in The Hill, August 4, 2017.
Juliette Shedd, Associate Dean for Administration, was referenced in an article about her part as “George Mason University Teams up with Library to Offer Fake News Seminar” in the Associated Press, August 22, 2017.
David J Smith, MS ’09, published two articles in The Huffington Post, “Peace Elitism” on June 29, 2017, and “Fostering Humanitarianism with American Young People” on July 24, 2017.
Kimaris Toogood, PhD ’14, wrote an article about “Despair and Determination in Nigeria: Can We Build Peace amid Humanitarian Crises?” for International Alert, August 18, 2017.
Tv and Radio Presentations:
Tv:
Mohammed Cherkaoui, PhD ’12, appeared on four television programs. His first appearance was entitled “Crosstalk: Saudi Arabia vs Qatar” on RussiaToday, June 14, 2017. This was followed by “برنامج وراء الحدث | سوريا : تطورات ميدانية مهمة.” On Alghad TV, June 15, 2017, “واشنطن والأزمة الخليجية.. تخبط أم سياسة؟ ” on Al Jazeera, June 16, 2017, and finally “The Gulf Crisis: Is the Western Media Aligned to Qatar? -الأزمة الخليجية.. هل انحاز الإعلام الغربي لقط.” France24, July 21, 2017.
Ibrahim Fraihat, PhD ’06, made a couple of appearances. They were “Inside Story - How Open Is Saudi’s Invitation to Hajj Pilgrims from Qatar?”, Al Jazeera, August 18, 2017 and “Why Was Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi Released from Prison?”, Al Jazeera, Inside Story, June 11, 2017.
Aya Hijazi, BA’10, described her ordeal in “Free from Prison in Egypt, Aid Worker Aya Hijazi Speaks out on Her Message for Sisi, Meeting Trump.” PBS Newshour, May 26, 2017.
Ned Lazarus (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow August 2011 – August 2014) spoke on his book “Voice of the Week- Ned Lazarus, Author of ‘A Future for Israeli-Palestinian Peacebuilding” Fathom, July 12, 2017
Yerevan Saeed, PhD student, made a couple of tv appearances where he spoke about “Qatar Diplomatic Crisis: Interview with Yerevan Saeed.” TRT World, June 6, 2017 and “دیمانە لەگەڵ یەریڤان سەعید سەبارەت بە سەردانەکەی سەرۆک ترامپ بۆ ڕۆژهەڵاتی ناوەڕاست” Voice of America (VOA), May 23, 2017.
Juliette Shedd, Associate Dean for Administration, and Samantha Borders-Shoemaker spoke on “Hot Topics: News Blues and How to Defuse” 16 Around Fairfax, August 3, 2017.
Gregory H. Stanton, made a couple of appearances. The first was “The Call - Greg Stanton.” TEDxFoggyBottom, July 21, 2017 and the second, “The Use of the Term Genocide by Politicians - Testimony of Dr. Stanton to the Dutch Parliament” Youtube video of Dutch Parliamentary Testimony, June 12, 2017.
Radio:
David Alpher, PhD ’11, spoke about “Why Taking Out Assad May Be a Bad Idea.” BYU Radio, May 8, 2017.
Mohammed Cherkaoui, PhD ’12, examined “Arab Nations Cut Ties To Qatar. What Does It Mean For U.S. Interests?” NPR, June 6, 2017.
Al Fuertes, PhD '07, described “One Man’s Story of War and Peace.” The Clearing, August 14, 2017.
Marc Gopin analyzes “Is ISIS an Existential Threat to the United States?” KCSB-FM, May 18, 2017.
Tehama Lopez Bunyasi was interviewed twice on a Duke University podcasts and a radio show. “Episode 40: Citizen Thind (Seeing White, Part 10).” Scene on Radio, June 14, 2017; “‘Seeing White’- The Supreme Court Cases of Ozawa v. United States and United States v. Thind.” May 1, 2017. The radio topic was the “‘Trump Supremacy’: Mason Professor Discusses Equivocator-in-Chief’s Lack of Moral Leadership” for Voice of America (VOA), on August 16, 2017.
Daniel Rothbart discussed “Our Brothers’ Keeper: Does the US Belong in Other Countries’ Wars? With Steven Kinzer Dr. Daniel Rothbart.” Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio, July 5, 2017.
Yerevan Saeed, PhD student, analyzed “Could crisis with Qatar escalate?” SBS Radio, July 23, 2017.
Yamin, Saira, PhD '11, talked about “Civil-Military Relations in Middle East and South Asia.” Center for Global Policy MultiMedia, July 13, 2017.
S-CAR Presentations and Public Lectures
Dissertation Presentation:
Alexandra Schaerrer, PhD candidate, defended her dissertation entitled “The Importance of the Outlier: How Economic Liberalization Policies Impact Micro-Level Conflict Instances and Cleavage Dynamics in Tanzania,” on August 30, 2017.
Presentations:
Susan Hirsch gave a public presentation entitled "No Justice, No Peace: Can Protest Save Us in These Times?" It was sponsored by the President's Foundation for the Well Being of Society in Malta. May 10, 2017
Patricia Maulden an organizer of the Praxis Conference at George Mason University, on August 18th, 2017 gave the keynote presentation, "Why Praxis?" and a panel presentation, "Socio-Cultural Constructions of Youth: Perceptions, Policies, Impacts".
Richard Rubenstein gave four talks: "Resolving Structural Conflicts: How Violent Systems Can Be Transformed". Sponsored by the President's Foundation on the Well Being of Society in Malta. June 1, 2017; "The North Korean Crisis: Methods of Conflict Resolution" for the Jewish Community Center in Fairfax, Virginia. June 19 2017; a talk at George Mason University's Arlington Campus to 65 entering Fulbright Scholars on "The American Political System and the Crisis of American Politics” on August 16, 2017; a panel presentation entitled "Youth Culture and Late Capitalism" at the Praxis Conference George Mason University, August 18th, 2017. He was a Visiting Faculty member, and taught three classes on structural conflicts, terrorism, and transitional justice at the Middlebury College Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California. July 27-28 2017.
Juliette Shedd, Associate Dean for Administration gave a public lecture on “Extremism and the Media" Sponsored by the President's Foundation for the Well Being of Society in Malta. February 2, 2017.
Juliette Shedd, Associate Dean for Administration, and Samantha Borders-Shoemaker presented two public lectures at the Centreville Regional Library entitled, “Hot Topics: News Blues and How to Defuse” on July 26th, 2017 and August 22, 2017.
On August 17-18, 2017, S-CAR in partnership with ForgottenSong, Inc. and the Dialogue & Difference Project partnered to host The Praxis Conference. The conference was organized to help facilitate discussions and presentations that bridge the gap between scholars and practitioners in the fields of conflict, peace, and humanitarian initiatives. Presenters from S-CAR included: Jerome Barrett who presented on the theme "Youth Initiative in Falls Church City", Samantha Borders-Shoemaker on Conflict and Literature Education, Charise Cardenas on "The Economics of Prostitution in Indonesia", Rebecca Cataldi on "The International Center for Religion & Diplomacy: Bridging religious considerations with international politics in support of peacemaking", Alex Cromwell on "Building Cultures of Peace: The Long-Term Effects of Field-Based Peace Education with Pakistani Youth", Keil Eggers on "Sense Making for Structural Conflict Transformation", Alma Abdul Hadi Jadallah on "Iraqi Youth: Leading inter-religious and inter-ethnic dialogue in a divided Iraq" , Sarah Kincaid on "Conflict Resolution Youth Summit at George Mason University " and "Youth-led civic Engagement in Tunisia", Najla Mangoush "Social Cohesion Project - Iraq" and "Architecture for Peacebuilding in Oman" , Agnieszka Paczynska on "Foreign Direct Investment in Conflict Areas - Liberia", Tim Plum on "NTCEP: Bridging the Divides of Engagement, Education, and Practice for Transformational Change" and Margarita Tadevosyan on "Realities of NGOs in Development".