George Lakey has served as the college’s Lang Visiting Professor of Issues for Social Change within the Peace and Conflict Studies Program for the past three years. Faculty, students, and staff gathered on Friday, May 1, 2009 to show their appreciation and sing Broadway show tunes in Parrish Parlor. We have been privileged to have such a dedicated and experienced colleague in Peace and Conflict Studies. George has brought much energy, expertise, and humanity to our lives, and we look forward to working with him in the future. We have learned so much! Thank you, George.

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George Lakey leads students, faculty, and staff in, appropriately, “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught.”

Students for a Democratic Society held an Anti-War Conference from April 23-25 that addressed the ways in which the anti-war movement can extend beyond pacifism. According to Maurice Weeks ??09, a member of SDS, this semester the group took on a stronger anti-war focus. “Anti-war issues were sort of moving further and further off of people’s radar, especially with the economic crisis,” Weeks said. — Read the full story by AMELIA POSSANZA at The Phoenix.

Craig Zelizer, founder of the Peace and Human Development Network, suggests ten top sites for news about conflict and peace. See his blog post.

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Dear Colleagues

In today’s increasingly connected world there are thousands of resources available to obtain news and analysis about conflict and peace related issues. However, there are not that many sites that provide true in-depth analysis, reflection from a deep conflict or peace perspective. Within the field of conflict resolution there has also been a rapid growth in the field of peace journalism or peace media. The basic concept is that instead of media reporting passively on conflict related issues or doing a superficial analysis, or possibly serving as a tool to inflame and escalate conflict, media practitioners can play a critical role in getting at the roots of conflict, looking at underlying issues, reporting in peace initiatives, etc.

This short posting will highlight some of the key peace media and related sites that you may find useful in obtaining information. Please also feel free to share additional resources. Obviously, not all sites listed below are impartial, but they do provide useful information and perspectives.

1) International Crisis Group – The International Crisis Group is now generally recognised as the world??s leading independent, non-partisan, source of analysis and advice to governments, and intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations, European Union and World Bank, on the prevention and resolution of deadly conflict.

2) Search for Common Ground – Founded in 1982, Search for Common Ground works to transform the way the world deals with conflict – away from adversarial approaches and towards collaborative problem solving. Search is one of the pioneering organizations in developing and producing peace media around the world through their Common Ground Productions Unit which their media arm. Using television, radio and Internet programming, CGP transforms the way individuals and societies deal with conflict: away from adversarial approaches, towards cooperative solutions. Whether countering “hate radio” in Africa or hate crime in the United States, Common Ground Productions is dedicated to harnessing the power of the media for peace.

3) Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, TFF News Network – Provides a list diverse sources related to peace and conflict issues around the world. Instead of focusing on one source, the network encourages users to question the opinion or coverage of a few media. As they explain, search for your own understanding. The tools are here. Globalization – and the Internet – are rapidly revolutionizing the way we understand the world. Become an eclectic news collector and fight the trend toward standardization and monopolization of our right to be well informed.

4) Global Voices – is a leading participatory media news room for voices from the developing world. Since its founding in 2005, Global Voices has grown into a vibrant global community of more than 150 active volunteer authors and translators and more than 20 freelance part- time regional and language editors. Today, Global Voices is thriving, vital component of the global media environment, helping individuals and media professionals around the world gain access to the diverse voices coming from citizen media. We base our coverage on the words, images, and videos of ordinary people across the globe who use the internet to communicate and broadcast their thoughts, analysis, and observations.

5) Peace Media Clearinghouse – A New Multimedia Resource for Peacemakers developed by the United States Institute of Peace and Georgetown University. The clearinghouse provides a central site where individuals and organizations working in the conflict management field can access materials that support conflict analysis and prevention, conflict resolution, and post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation. At the same time, the site will encourage development of the field itself by distilling best practices for creating and using multimedia in support of conflict management activities.

6) Youtube – is the leader in online video, and the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to easily upload and share video clips on www.YouTube.com and across the Internet through websites, mobile devices, blogs, and email.

7) Alertnet – is a humanitarian news network based around a popular website. It aims to keep relief professionals and the wider public up-to-date on humanitarian crises around the globe. AlertNet attracts upwards of ten million users a year, has a network of 400 contributing humanitarian organizations and its weekly email digest is received by more than 26,000 readers.

8 ) Transcend Media Service – Part of the Transcend Network. The site provides original reporting that seeks to go beyond the usual questions, ??How many were killed today??? and ??Who is winning??? to ask two additional ones: ??What is this conflict about??? and ??What are possible solutions???

9) Institute for War and Peace Reporting – builds democracy at the frontlines of conflict and change through the power of professional journalism. IWPR programs provide intensive hands-on training, extensive reporting and publishing, and ambitious initiatives to build the capacity of local media. Supporting peace-building, development and the rule of law, IWPR gives responsible local media a voice.

10) BBC News – Premier site of UK’s leading news agency.

11) Al Jazeera English – the 24-hour English-language news and current affairs channel, is headquartered in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The organisation is the world’s first global English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East. From this unique position, Al Jazeera English is destined to be the English-language channel of reference for Middle Eastern events, balancing the current typical information flow by reporting from the developing world back to the West and from the southern to the northern hemisphere.The channel aims to give voice to untold stories, promote debate, and challenge established perceptions.

12) Ode Magazine -s a print and online publication about positive news–the people and ideas that are changing our world for the better. Ode’s aim is to bring a new reality into view, to explore opportunities for positive change (including peacemakers) in our daily lives and our daily minds. You can sign up for a free daily newsletter of positive news. If you would like to subscribe to the magazine, there is a special rate for members of the Peace and Collaborative Development Network (currently only for people in the US), see http://www.odemagazine.com/pcdn