Master of Science in Conflict ManagementDepartment of Political Science and International AffairsKennesaw State University Rm. 5030A, MD 2205, 402 Bartow AvenueKennesaw, GA 30144

Master of Science in Conflict ManagementNewsletter

Letter from the Director

In this Issue:

S e p t e m b e r 2 3 , 2 0 1 4 I s s u e h t t p : / / w w w . k e n n e s a w . e d u / p o l s / m s c m /

Welcome Cohort XVI ...................2Featured Article............ .............3 Announcements ..........................4Upcoming Events ........................5Faculty Accomplishments .........6

Colleagues, alumni, friends, and supporters,

MSCM had an incredible exciting spring

and summer! With three conflict

management and peacebuilding

conferences, research and training across the

country, and students continuing their interesting

practice and research projects, I see all this as evidence of MSCM

continuing to thrive. In addition to our growing alumni network, this fall I had the privilege of welcoming the students of Cohort XVI into our program. That number is a significant milestone for the program that deserves some special recognition from everyone. Welcome to our community Cohort XVI!

As we start the fall semester, we wish

Cohort XV well as they head out into the community and world to do internships, research projects, and training. We also look forward to Cincinnati for the Association for Conflict Resolution Conference and Cambodia for our international field experience trip. It won’t be long before December is upon us to graduate yet another Cohort. We are very proud of the group Cohort XV has become.

As always, please contact us with news, events, job opportunities, or other information. A significant strength of our community continues to be our relationships to one another.

All the best,

Sherrill Hayes, Ph.D., MSCM Director

Cohort XVI Begins New Academic Year

2

As of August 16, Cohort XVI officially began the first day of the next 16 months in the MSCM program. Comprised of twenty-one students with thirteen educational backgrounds, five of which hold advanced degrees, Cohort XVI is an extremely diverse group!

They began their first class weekend on August 23rd with Conflict Theory with Dr. Hayes. Dr. Hayes is please with his classes so far and reports that this group is very eager to learn!

As Conflict Theory comes to a close, Cohort will begin Negotiation Theory with Dr. Hedeen. We can’t wait to see Cohort XVI thrive!

WelcomeCohort XVI

Top: The new faces of Cohort XVIMiddle: MSCM Alumni answer questions from new students about the program.Bottom: Students work together to build the tallest spaghetti tower in the team building challenge.

FeaturedArticle

I served in the Peace Corps in Ghana from 2010–12. I was a health, water and community sanitation Volunteer who worked with the district assembly to fight open defecation in rural communities. While in Ghana, I also partnered with other Peace Corps Volunteers to implement several elective projects that focused on gender, youth, and development. We hosted a camp with over 75 middle-school girls that taught them hygiene lessons, empowerment workshops, and budgetary skills all while incorporating the sport of soccer for teambuilding experience.

While I took joy in being able to help in these areas, I was personally interested in learning and experiencing the culture of the Dagomba people in the northern region of Ghana.

Coverdell Fellow Zack Mancuso Transitions from WASH to Refugees

3

Article first appeared in the Peace Corps Partners newsletter

Moreover, at the request of the youth in my village, I helped form the Maltiti youth cultural group. This group helped promote the customs and drumming and

dancing rituals, which are often not experienced by the youth these days. Upon the successful implementation of this group, I was bestowed the title of cultural chief and given a large ceremony.

I am currently studying at Kennesaw State University where I am working toward a master’s degree in conflict management with an expected graduation date of December 2014. The degree incorporates negotiation skills and research method and dispute system design, as well as cross-cultural skills in a 16-month executive-style program.

For my service component, and as a graduate research assistant, I am working with Dr. Sherrill Hayes, director of the master of science in Conflict Management Program on Refugee Resettlement research. We are focused on the life trajectories of young adult refugees who came to the United States at an early age. We are particularly focused on the people, processes, programs, and policies that impacted their lives upon resettlement.

I have the opportunity and privilege to talk to people who have seen and experienced incredible journeys to come to the United States in search of a better life. It gives me great pride and pleasure to hear about their successes and about what enabled them to succeed despite their circumstances. I have the ability to listen to some of the most remarkable stories being told by some of the most resilient people I have ever met. They inspire me every day to not take what I have for granted and to always do my best in any task that I take on.

My Coverdell Fellows work with refugees is helping me gain research skills as well as further develop the cross-cultural skills I learned in the Peace Corps. This will enable me to seek a professional career in refugee services with an NGO or to one day be accepted into the Foreign Service. I am focused on refugee services and the ability to support and serve the refugee communities in the United States. A Peace Corps Volunteer who served with me was a refugee from Sudan. He immigrated to the U.S. and was able to gain citizenship and then joined the Peace Corps to give back. His story is truly remarkable and inspires me to always find time to give back to my community.

Cohort XVI

Anno

unce

ments

Vivien Cservenka, Cohort XIV, accepted a job at Bridgehouse Law Atlanta, which is a German-American law firm that also embraces ADR. She will help restructure the law firm to emphasize more ADR.

John Lash, Cohort XIII, was featured in the KSU alum magazine as a “Man on a Mission” in his “quest for restorative justice.” The two page spread in the alum magazine (found on pages 34-35: http://editiondigital.net/publication/?i=208879) explains his career with the Georgia Conflict Center and his life work with non-violent communication.

Joshua Floyd, Cohort XII, accepted the position of Director of Risk Management for Yellowstone Insurance Exchange, RRG. He is responsible for Risk Management for 24 hospitals across the Northwest including Washington, Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota. Jacqueline Leslie, Cohort XIV, accepted a position as a long-term care ombudsman volunteer at the Atlanta Legal Aid Society.

Alison Trendell Williams, Cohort VIII, accepted a position for the international partnership of consulting firms, Cordence Worldwide. She works with the executives and CEOs of 9 independent consulting firms and helps the firms work together to drive business development.

4

Congratulations to MSCM Students and Alumni!

Patrick Shaver, Cohort X, launched and finalized the IndiGogo page to raise funds for his documentary project. As mentioned in the Spring newsletter, he is currently in production for a documentary entitled Officer Involved— A thoughtful look at officers who have used deadly force. He is interviewing police officers, psychologists, and other experts in order to show what influences a critical incident and how the aftermath stays with an officer long after the smoke clears. The film, which is made up of first-person interviews, illustrates the human side and personal toll of police work. You may follow the film’s progress at:www.officerinvolvedproject.com.

Marcel Maglo, Cohort X, is now the Associate Reporting Officer for the United Nations Multidemensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA). His assignment will explore the root causes of conflict, mapping areas of inter-communal tensions and conflicts and traditional ways of resolving them, and facilitating the establishment of early warning information-gathering.

His team will further support the work of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Commission, especially at the local level and explore the means for viable and multiple dialogue processes at the community level and building the required strategic partnerships for such processes.

5

Congratulations to MSCM Students and Alumni!

Upcoming Events

14th Annual ACR Conference October 8-11, 2014Alumni and friends are welcome to join us at the 14th annual ACR Conference in Cincinnati, OH. Carpooling is encouraged!

For more information, visit www.acrannual2014.com

Conflict Resoultion Symposium at Georgia State UniversityOctober 24, 2014

Dr. Kevin Avruch to speak to KSU about the School of Conflict ManagementOctober 16, 2014

Cohort XVI travels to Cambodia November 1-11, 2014

Dr. Avruch, Dean of the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University will present “Conflict Analysis and Resolution: Does our Field have a Center?” October 16, 2014 at 5:00 pm Social Science Building Rm. 1019

Come join new and seasoned Conflict Resolution practitioners, local artists, and undergraduate and graduate students as they network, discuss creative ways to create a peaceful community, and meet and mentor emerging leaders.

For more information:http://tinyurl.com/CRSymposium2014

As November approaches, we are excited to send our 15th cohort on their international field experience. Lead by Dr. Heather Pincock, 15 students and 2 staff members will depart for Phomn Pehn and Siem Reap on November 1st. Students will be blogging during the trip. Please follow their progress here: http://ksumscm.tumblr.com

Facu

lty Ac

comp

lishm

ents

6

• Taught an undergraduate course on World Peace, Film, and Literature.

• Won award as a finalist in the university-wide Foundation Scholarship Prize which examines faculty members’ career-long accomplishments in the area of publication.

• Represented KSU at three conferences in DC over the summer and co-presented with Birthe Reimers on communtiy engagement and service learning at the Conflict Resolution in Education conference in June.

• Attended the Graduate Education in Peace and Conflict Resolution Symposium.

• Attended the Alliance for Peacebuilding Conference.

• Presented at the Conflict Resolution in Education Summit (CRE Summit 2014). See the pre- interview here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/acrprofessional/2014/07/29/acr-conference-2014-preview-sherrill-hayes

Dr. Sherrill Hayes,Director, MSCM Program

Dr. Susan Raines,Professor of Conflict Management

• Traveled to Greece with her family.

• Took her daughter, Kennedy, to Georgia State University for her freshman year of college.

7

• During summer semester, he taught Dispute Systems Design for both the MSCM and Hamline University’s Dispute Resolution Institute; taught ADR at the undergraduate level.

• Published an article on ethics exams with Dr. Pincock in ACR’s magazine, ACResolution: “Examining Mediators on Ethics: Why, When, and How.”

• Presented day-long workshop on “Conflict Coaching and Negotiation: Preparing Yourself and Others” for the Oregon Mediation Association in Medford, Eugene, and Portland in June.

• Presented to Pennsylvania Office of Dispute Resolution mediators on neuroscience, coercion, and IEP facilitation in June.

Dr. Timothy Hedeen,Professor of Conflict Management

Dr. Heather Pincock,Assistant Professor of Conflict Management

• Taught CM 7600: Study of Specific Conflict Management Environment

• Conducted mediation training with Ray Rawls at the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution’s Summer Institute on Jekyll Island in June

• Published an article on ethics exams with Dr. Hedeen in ACR’s magazine, ACResolution: “Examining Mediators on Ethics: Why, When, and How.”

• Visited Family in Canada and welcomed her first niece.

Dr. Paul Story,Assistant Professor of Psychology

• Taught Experimental Psychology with Lab.

• Taught Leadership and Group Dynamics.

• Traveled to Florida with Family.

Master of Science in Conflict ManagementDepartment of Political Science and International AffairsKennesaw State University Rm. 5030A, MD 2205, 402 Bartow AvenueKennesaw, GA 30144

The Master of Science in Conflict Management (MSCM) program at Kennesaw State University provides students with the knowledge and skills to manage conflict in today’s challenging environments. MSCM education addresses the issues that divide our world by encouraging communication, fostering positive relationships and developing comprehensive, long-term solutions. Further, it provides a set of tools and a way of thinking that enhances the saftey and vitality of our families, communities and workplaces.

To provide submissions

to the MSCM newsletter,

email Nicole Connelly at

nconnell@kennesaw.edu

or call 470) 578-6299.