Immediately after classes end for the PIM degrees, the SIT campus welcomes a great number of participants for various summer programs. One of these programs is CONTACT, the Conflict Transformation Across Cultures Summer Peacebuilding Program.
Many students enrolled in SIT’s Masters degrees have added the CONTACT Summer Peacebuilding Program to their studies. Alternatively, some students starting their SIT studies in September choose to first be introduced to studies on the SIT campus through this short course.
a video on CONTACT’s SPP
Approximately 60-65 participants from as many as 25-30 countries will arrive on campus for the 13th annual three-week CONTACT Program June 1-19. About 20 of them will stay on for a fourth week to begin a distance learning certificate program in peace and conflict.
The program focuses on conflict analysis and intervention, intercommunal dialogue, negotiation and mediation, peacebuilding and development, healing and reconciliation, peace education, training skills, issues of global relations, and more.
CONTACT Summer Peacebuilding Program, continued
Participants in the Summer Peacebuilding Program include: Human rights workers, non-profit and NGO middle and senior level managers, government employees, mental health professionals, educators, graduate students, etc.
CONTACT is structured with a two-week core course followed by a choice of three electives:
Experiential Design for Social Action –Ryland White
Peacebuilding and Development –Tatsushi Arai
Men and Women as Partners in Peacebuilding: Elizabeth Powley, Steven Botkin and James Arana (of Men’s Resources International)
The faculty: A diverse team of international experts and active practitioners in the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation, including:
Paula Green, EdD Director of CONTACT; Faculty, School for International Training; and Director of Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, Amherst MA, USA
Tatsushi Arai, PhD Faculty, School for International Training, USA
Kevin Clements, PhD Director, Australian Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Queensland, Australia
Baht Latumbo, MA Director of Action Asia, Philippines
Joseph Sebarenzi MA, Adjunct Faculty, School for International Training. USA
See faculty profiles at: http://www.sit.edu/graduate/6647.htm
Persons considering studying Conflict Transformation may wonder how CONTACT is different from the Conflict Transformation degree at SIT. A note from a former PIM student on her experience at the Summer Peacebuilding Program should answer your question:
“The other participants’ experiences were my textbook at CONTACT. They came from all over the world working as peacebuilders at the grassroots and governmental levels in different fields including development, human rights as well as conflict transformation.
In one of the classroom activities, we discussed peacebuilding strategies through a case study of Burundi in a session on intervention. I had already studied the exact same case in the MA program with my classmates, most of whom had no field experience, including me. The discussion with the CONTACT participants was completely different from that with the classmates. It was full of insights based on people’s real experiences and creative ideas from different cultural perspectives.”
In addition, students are encouraged to take advantage of the strong networking opportunities available during the program and beyond. Those who have done so in the past have landed internships and full-time jobs both in the United States and abroad.
For more information, email contact@sit.edu or visit the program website http://www.sit.edu/graduate/6638.htm. Applications are due April 15, 2009.
