Since its inception in 1999, the UCI Center for Citizen Peacebuilding has sponsored faculty and student research, advanced education on the topic, and organized partnership initiatives to improve and expand citizen peacebuilding in the United States and around the world.  In acknowledgement and celebration of its 20-year history, the Center has organized a two-day conference, “Building Sustainable Peace Movements in a Divided World,” to discuss with other scholars and practitioners what we have learned from our sponsored research and long-term engagement in several case studies. These consist of identity-based violent conflicts in divided societies where citizen peacebuilding is still underway decades after large-scale violence has occurred. In a series of learning sessions on peace and sustainability, our cross-generational dialogue will focus on the research of former students in various conflict zones, the critical role women play in building peace, the impact peacebuilders can have on climate change, the lessons learned from ongoing citizen peacebuilding partnerships, and how we might do that work better. The examination of citizen peacebuilding is all the more urgent today given the increasingly rancorous political divisiveness in the U.S. and elsewhere.  Thus, the conference will discuss methods for reducing conflict, preventing violence, and building sustainable peace in our increasingly divided world. 

 

DAY 1: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7

9:00-9:30 a.m.
Business School Foyer
A 20-YEAR REFLECTION ON CITIZEN PEACEBUILDING: ACTION FOR A SAFER WORLD
Posters illustrating the work of the center will be available for viewing throughout the event

9:30-10:00 a.m.
Business School Auditorium (SB1)
WELCOMING INTRODUCTION

• David Snow, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Co-Director, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, UC Irvine
• William Maurer, Dean, School of Social Sciences, UC Irvine
• Paula Garb, Co-Founder, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, UC Irvine

10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Business School Auditorium (SB1)
RESEARCHING PEACE MOVEMENTS IN CONFLICT ZONES AROUND THE WORLD: REPORTS FROM FORMER KUGELMAN FELLOWS
(Moderator: Dave Snow, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Co-Director, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, UC Irvine)

• Nevin Aiken, University of Wyoming, (transitional justice and Northern Ireland)
• Bruce Hemmer, U.S. Department of State, (democratization and peacebuilding)
• Arturo Jimenez, University of South Florida, (international relations, tension between security and human rights)
• Dana Moss, University of Pittsburgh, (Yemen, Middle Eastern diasporic social movements, authoritarianism)
• Johanna Solomon, Kent State University, (Israeli-Palestinian conflict, race and religious relations in the U.S.)
• Daniel Wehrenfennig, UC Irvine, (Middle East and Northern Ireland)

12:00-1:30 p.m.
Business School Foyer
Lunch | Posters

1:30-3:30 p.m.
Business School Auditorium (SB1)
THERE IS NO PLANET B: COMING TOGETHER TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
(Moderators: Amber Jenkins, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and Board Member, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding and Laila Delgado, Students for Global Peacebuilding, UC Irvine)

• JT Reager, Research Scientist, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology (science of climate change)
• Bahram Fazeli, Director of Research and Policy, Communities For A Better Environment (environmental justice and community empowerment)
• Melanie Harwood, Educator and Disruptor, eduCCate Global (creating an army of Greta Thunbergs)
• Richard Matthew, Professor of International and Environmental Politics, Urban Planning and Public Policy, UC Irvine (climate change, conflict and peacebuilding)
• Marlo Baines, Co-Youth Director, Earth Guardians

3:30-5:00 p.m.
Business School Foyer
NETWORKING RECEPTION for students, participants and guests

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DAY 2: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8

9:00-10:45 a.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Center (Rm 2070 & 2080)
SHARING LESSONS LEARNED IN EFFECTIVE PEACEBUILDING: WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE?
Discussion leaders:

• Paula Garb, Co-Founder, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, UC Irvine
• Susan Allen, Director, Center for Peacemaking Practice, George Mason University
• Tato Khundadze, Scholar-Practitioner, Georgia
• Katelyn Finley, Lecturer, Global and International Studies, UC Irvine
• Blanca Castro, Co-Founder, Students for Global Peacebuilding (SGP), UC Irvine
• Daniel Wehrenfennig, Executive Director, Olive Tree Initiative, UC Irvine

10:45-11:00 a.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Room
Break | Posters

11:00 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Center (Rm 2070 & 2080)
ILLUMINATING THE CRUCIAL ROLE OF WOMEN IN PEACEBUILDING
(Moderator: Fran Faraz, Peace Studies Program Director, Golden West College and Board Member, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding

• Katie Zanoni, Program Officer, Women PeaceMakers program, Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego
• Whitney McIntyre Miller, Associate Professor, Leadership Studies, Chapman University
• Jennifer Dempsey, Director/Founder, Salida Circus Outreach Foundation (circus workshops and performances in Northern Ireland, Palestine and Jordan)
• Emine Colak, former Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (women's peacebuilding movement in Cyprus and internationally)
• Katie Economidou, Conflict Resolution Practitioner (women’s peacebuilding movement in Cyprus)

12:45-2:00 p.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Room
Lunch Session: BUILDING SUSTAINABLE PEACE: SOME THOUGHTS FROM A DIFFICULT ROAD
Christopher Mitchell, Emeritus Professor of Conflict Research, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University

2:00-3:30 p.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Center (Rm 2070 & 2080)
SHARING LESSONS LEARNED IN EFFECTIVE PEACEBUILDING: THE CHALLENGES
Discussion Leaders:

• Rustam Anshba, Scholar-Practitioner, Abkhazia
• Emine Colak, former Foreign Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (women's peacebuilding movement in Cyprus and internationally)
• Angelina Dayfallah, Co-founder, Students for Global Peacebuilding, UC Irvine
• Philip Gamaghelyan, Scholar-Practitioner, Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, University of San Diego
• Steven Kim, Co-founder, Project Kinship (serving individuals impacted by gangs and incarceration)

3:30-3:45 p.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Room
Break | Posters

3:45-5:00 p.m.
Continuing Education Building, Yosemite Conference Center (Rm 2070 & 2080)
LOOKING FORWARD: WHAT CAN WE DO?
Discussion leaders:

• Christopher Mitchell, Emeritus Professor of Conflict Research, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University
• Cris Toffolo, Professor of Justice Studies, Northeastern Illinois University
• Katie Economidou, Conflict Resolution Practitioner (women’s peacebuilding movement in Cyprus)
• Marlett Phillips, Co-Founder, Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, UC Irvine
• Susan Seely, Director, Olive Tree Initiative at UC Irvine