As we have started teaching "Conflict Transformation Skills" at Middlebury, we have been fortunate to have a leading global mediator as a guest speaker and teacher. Francisco Diez is senior mediation advisor at the United Nations (UN). He has contributed to the UN’s efforts to foster dialogue and reconciliation in Bolivia, and provided expert advic…

Restorative justice, transnational activism, and communication across cultures are all spaces in which conflict transformation can inform the long work of social change. In this episode, restorative justice leader sujatha baliga and civil society scholar Sarah Stroup discuss the foundations of their work and its connection to the CT Collaborative a…

This episode features selections from a September 2022 talk at Middlebury by John Paul Lederach, with an introduction from Middlebury president Laurie Patton. John Paul Lederach is globally recognized for his pioneering theory and practice in the field of conflict transformation (CT). Lederach is senior fellow at Humanity United and professor emeri…

In this episode, we speak with Elspeth Boynton, the founder and CEO of diiVe, a South Africa-based organization that offers high-impact internships to college students. The in-person and remote global internships integrate leadership development, purpose coaching, data science skills, and cultural immersions. diiVe has brought conflict transformati…

Addressing social and political conflicts seems particularly challenging in an era of high polarization. Yet under certain conditions, perspective taking and story telling may shift exclusionary attitudes and policy preferences. In this episode of our podcast, we are sharing audio from a campus talk in October 2023 on persuasion by Professor Joshua…

Water shortages in the USA and dozens of other countries have highlighted our tenuous relationship with the world’s most important resource. In this podcast episode, we share audio from a TED-style talk from MIIS Environmental Policy and Management Professor Dr. Jeff Langholz. Langholz shares a vision for the future of water that transforms the way…

In this episode, Joseph Kaifala recounts his experiences growing up in civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and lays out a vision for peacebuilding that requires first dealing with the legacies of mass atrocities. Kaifala is the inaugural recipient of the Projects for Peace Alumni Award. The newly created award, supported by the CT Collaborative…

In this episode, dance professor Lida Winfield is interviewed by Middlebury College senior and CT intern Joe Hanlon. They discuss the importance of transformation and growth and the role of the arts in facilitating communication, relationship-building, and social change. Lida Winfield plays several important roles in the CT Collaborative. She is a …

Strategic empathy is the sincere effort to identify and assess patterns of behavior and the underlying drivers and constraints that shape those patterns. In a CT Collaborative-funded research project, a team from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at MIIS explored the utility of this concept for understanding the acquisition, thre…

In this episode, we talk with Beyond the Page (BtP), a Middlebury program of professional teaching artists who use theater techniques in college classrooms to foster creativity and storytelling. Conflict Transformation Collaborative and BtP have been exploring ways to shift conflict dynamics through community building, playful exploration, and seei…

Dylan Moglen and Alex Christodolou are two recent MIIS graduates. In 2022, they participated in a research project that fundamentally reexamined the definition of conflict, resolution, and transformation, focusing on communities that occupy a unique yet powerful space in the global imaginary: Indigenous communities living in the Amazon basin. In to…

Welcome to the Opening Up podcast series, a new effort from the Conflict Transformation (CT) Collaborative at Middlebury! The Conflict Transformation (CT) Collaborative at Middlebury is a major new initiative that seeks to expand our work on critical self-awareness, conflict analysis, intercultural communication, dialogue, restorative justice, and …

Welcome to the Opening Up podcast series, a new effort from the Conflict Transformation (CT) Collaborative at Middlebury! Many people hear the word conflict and pull away, because they think of the harm that can come from destructive conflict. Yet conflict is part of the human experience, and constructive conflict can enrich our relationships and c…