The first day of the seminar “Teaching About Global Conflict and Peacebuilding” brought together 29 community college professionals from around the U.S. Washington, DC based presenters emphasized current global conflicts, policy
considerations, experiential learning, and peace pedagogy.
Daryn Cambridge, a peace scholar from American University, provided core understanding and frameworks for peace education.
Nathan Zook from Montgomery College shared his work engaging students in Model UN activities. At lunch, Diane Randall from the Friends Committee on National Legislation shared the work of her organization, and provided the group, many of whom were not from DC, with an “inside the beltway” look at policy issues.
In the afternoon, Jennifer Haydel from Montgomery College, discussed her project centered on Vaddey Ratner’s book In the Shadow of the Banyan which was funded by the U.S. Institute of Peace. This was
followed by a panel presentation by the Montgomery College Peace and Justice Studies Community. Sahar Khamis from the University of Maryland provided the group with a historical understanding of the conflict in Egypt followed by an analysis of the current conflict in a social media context. The day ended with seminar organizer David J. Smith talking about resources available through the U.S. Institute of Peace including its Global Peacebuilding Center.
Day two (October 13) will start off with a talk by peace activist Colman McCarthy.
David J. Smith Consulting, LLC 