Opening Up: A Conflict Transformation Podcast

In this episode, we feature a conversation with international mediator Julian Portilla . For the past three years, Julian has been one of the instructors of our successful Winter Term class at the college, "Conflict Transformation Skills." A graduate of Vassar College and George Mason University, Julian works with international organizations and local communities on environmental and social issues...

In this episode, we talk international post-conflict reconstruction, foreign aid, and domestic public policy dialogue with Dr. Naazneen Barma, a member of the External Advisory Board of the CT Collaborative. Barma is the founding Director of the Doug and Mary Scrivner Institute of Public Policy  at the University of Denver (DU) and is a professor in political science at the Korbel School of Intern...

In this episode, we bring you a panel discussion with two practiced negotiators. In January, the CT Collaborative and MiddCORE each planned to bring an expert in to help build student skills - and so we decided to put our two visitors in conversation with one another. Morgan Gaskin Thomas is Managing Director and Americas Lead for Accenture's Resolution Excellence Center. She has previously served...

  Today's podcast features historian Connor Williams, Middlebury Class of 2008.5. We explore the role of history and memory around the US Civil War and the way in which historical narratives inform our ability to tackle contemporary conflicts. Connor shares his experiences in community dialogues across the United States and lessons for engaging in discussions about controversial issues. Connor Wil...

In this episode, we bring you a talk from Ava Homa, the first Kurdish woman writer to publish a novel in English. In September 2024, Homa spoke at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey. Professor Sharad Joshi provides an introduction.  Homa is an acclaimed author, speaker, activist, and faculty member at California State University, Monterey Bay. Her debut novel, Daughters...

In this episode, Teyonce Allison '25 talks with Professor Jonathan Miller-Lane. Professor Miller-Lane, known affectionately as "JML," teaches education studies at Middlebury and is a facilitator in the Engaged Listening Project, a professional development program for faculty and staff. Prof. Miller-Lane discusses his upbringing in various countries as son of a foreign service officer and how that...

At the end of 2024, we mark the end of Laurie Patton's tenure as president of Middlebury by sharing her reflections on conflict transformation, protest, and higher education. In September, President Patton sat down with Eboo Patel, president of Interfaith America, as part of their programing on Teaching Interfaith Understanding.  Their conversation was posted to Interfaith America's podcast and we...

In this episode, Sarah Stroup talks with Meg Griffiths, director of programs at Essential Partners (formerly the Public Conversations Project). Founded in 1989, Essential Partners (EP) uses a reflective structured dialogue approach to help people communicate across deep differences in identities and values in order "to address communities' most pressing challenges." Meg Griffiths and her colleague...

Today, we bring you a conversation with Susan Sgorbati , Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College. In conversation with Lida Winfield, the undergraduate pillar head of the CT Collaborative and dance professor, Susan shares insights from her journey as a dance artist and educator, and how the principles of dance improvisation inform her work in conflict medi...

What does peace look like for ordinary people, and how we can create metrics of peace that reflect those things that people value? In this conversation, we bring you audio from a May 2023 talk by Peter Dixon, a member of the CT Collaborative's External Advisory Board and a Middlebury alum.  Peter Dixon is an Associate Professor of Practice in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at the School of Pr...

What is safety? What is comfort? How does learning happen in an immersive, international setting? How do we foster meaningful relationships with host communities? In this episode, we talk about those questions and more with Dr. David Wick. Wick is Associate Professor and Program Chair in International Education Management at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and a 2023...

In this episode, Caroline Harding '24 interviews Professor Jennifer Ortegren, associate professor of religion at Middlebury and a 2022 CT faculty grant recipient. Ortegren is author of Middle-Class Dharma: Women, Aspiration, and the Making of Contemporary Hinduism (2023, Oxford University Press), which examines the intersections of gender, religion, and class among upwardly mobile Hindu women in U...

At the beginning of the fall semester, we invite you to join a conversation about conflicts on college and university campuses. This episode was recorded late in Spring 2024 and features some of our Conflict Transformation (CT) interns - Mandy Berghela, Teyonce Allison, Agnes Roches, and Caroline Harding - and Sarah Stroup, the CT director and college faculty. The launching point of this discussio...

At a time when campus conflict and protest is in the national spotlight, we revisit an important moment for Middlebury College - the March 2017 visit of Charles Murray - through the voices of ten Middlebury students. This episode was created in 2019 and hosted by Sarah Stroup. She interviewed a group of students with different experiences and perspectives. Each student agreed to be recorded and to...

In this episode, we talk with longtime Middlebury partner, the Shepherd  Higher Education Consortium on Poverty (SHECP). SHECP assistant director Jen Handy invited CT leaders Kailee Brickner-McDonald and Sarah Stroup to join the "SHECP Talks" podcast to discuss how the CT lens can enhance experiential learning opportunities for students concerned about privilege and poverty. We are cross-posting t...

Democratic institutions can serve as a powerful mechanism for channeling constructive conflict, which makes a recent wave of democratic decline particularly concerning. In this episode, we hear from Sebnem Gumuscu, associate professor of political science and head of the undergraduate "pillar" of the CT Collaborative at Middlebury. Gumuscu is an expert on Turkey and teaches classes on threats to d...

On today's episode, we are excited to share a story of an experiential learning opportunity for exploring peacebuilding and intercultural competence (ICC). The CT interns lead a conversation with professor Thor Sawin. At the time of recording, Sawin was associate professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, and has since taken on the role of Associate Dean of Languag...

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 advice on conflict prevention and preventive diplomacy...

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 at Middlebury. The conversation, held at the Middle...

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 emeritus of international peacebuilding at the Univers...

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 lea dership development, purpose coaching, data science skills, and cultural immersions. diiVe has brought conflict transformation approaches into their curriculum, with interes...

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 Kalla of Yale University. Kalla's research explor...

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 we collect and distribute water resources. Dr....

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, grants up to $50,000 in support of the ongoing...