Students

On February 11, 2026, Olesya Vartanyan, a first-year PhD student at George Mason's Carter School and conflict analyst with more than 15 years of field experience in the South Caucasus, took part in a congressional briefing on the political situation in Georgia. The event was hosted by the U.S. Helsinki Commission, a bipartisan body bringing together members of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Honor College student Cashlyn Bonds said her time at George Mason University has been defined by her passion for justice, human security, and international understanding.  

For the past 10 years, the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason has partnered with Shinnyo-en Foundation in their shared mission of developing young people as peacebuilders. The Carter School and the California-based Shinnyo-en Foundation seek to bring different groups together, honoring every voice, navigating darkness, and illuminating paths toward peace.

For the past 10 years, the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason has partnered with Shinnyo-en Foundation in their shared mission of developing young people as peacebuilders. In a world of division, both the Carter School and Shinnyo-en Foundation seek to bring groups together, navigate darkness, and illuminate paths toward peace.

Four George Mason University students from the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution traveled to Oxford University’s Magdalen College in the United Kingdom with Carter School dean Alpaslan Özerdem for the 2025 Oxford Consortium for Human Rights (OCHR). 

Senior Seung Gyo Kim recently spearheaded the inaugural Korean ArtPop Storytelling Workshop, bringing together more than 100 students from diverse backgrounds during Peace Week.

Nathaniel Socks,
Pathways Internship, Department of State.

George Mason University senior Nathaniel Socks has had two internships in his field, and he credits a course he took his sophomore year with his advisor Jane Walker for helping him get them.

George Mason University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution hosted its largest group of high schoolers to date, 46, for its ninth annual Conflict Resolution Youth Summit in July.

U.S. Navy chaplain Andrew Hoyle studied hard in the classroom to complete his master of science in conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University in one year, but he hasn’t stopping learning and gaining more experience. This summer, the active-duty officer interned at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington, D.C.

The Carter School and College of Engineering and Computing are teaming up on a peace engineering minor.