Thu Jul 02, 2009
Dispute Finder - A tool from the Confrontational Computing Project at Intel
The Confrontational Computing Project is a collaboration between Intel Research and the University of California at Berkeley. The project grows from the assumption that much of the web is built around opinions, arguments and beliefs presented in blogs, wikis, discussion forums, news articles and other forums.
The project is interested in the following kinds of questions:
How do people use the web to help them form beliefs about the world? How do people promote their own opinions to others online? Can we build tools that make it easier for people to understand when and why other people hold opinions different to those that they read? Can we make it easier for people to assemble and promote arguments? Can we create a personalized web that understands what you know or believe already, and tailors the way information is presented accordingly?
The project has produced two tools, first Think Link and now its simpler-to-use but somewhat less powerful successor Dispute Finder. The Dispute Finder provides a browser-based tool (a Firefox Extension) that shows you when information you read is disputed, and helps you find and mark evidence for alternative points of view. Arguments, pro and con, may be voted on to help move certain saved snippets toward the top of the found items list.
Perhaps the easiest way to understand what it does is to watch the demonstration video.
Both tools are constructed with two general users in mind:
• Activists who care strongly about a particular issue and combine the tools with a search engine to find and mark snippets that make claims that they disagree with
• Sceptical Readers who install the tools as a browser extension to see when statements they read are disputed and find other sources that present alternative viewpoints.
It is interesting to consider the potential impact of these kind of tools on conflict processes. Will it encourage further polarization or will it enable more considered and reasoned arguments built around strong evidence instead of bluster or misdirection?
The code for the project is open source and an API is available so that the tools can be integrated with other applications in the future. More on the working details of the initiative can be found in this academic paper.
Sun Jun 28, 2009
Nonviolence in Action: Leymah Gbowee and the Women of Liberia
The June 19 episode of Bill Moyer's Journal features a wonderful video interview with Leymah Gbowee, a woman who led her fellow countrywomen to fight for and win peace in war-torn Liberia, and Abigail Disney, who produced the documentary of their struggle and triumph in the award-winning film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. The interview video (in two parts) is available for download via the video podcast (vodcast). A related slideshow on the role of women in peace movements is also available. The whole film Pray the Devil Back to Hell will be airing in 2010 on PBS as the first part of a groundbreaking four-part Wide Angle series on Women, War and Peace.
Here's the interview description from the vodcast:
Instructed by a dream and organized in prayer, Leymah Gbowee and thousands of everyday women in Liberia --both Christians and Muslims alike --confronted warlords and a corrupt president to successfully fight for peace and dignity in their war-torn nation. "I realized that every problem we encounter on this journey, I'm going to rise above it and lead these women because they trusted me with their lives and their future," says Gbowee. Journal guest host Lynn Sherr interviews Leymah Gbowee and Abigail Disney, who documented their inspiring tale in the award-winning film Pray the Devil Back to Hell. Lynn Sherr is a long-time broadcast journalist who most recently covered events in Liberia for PBS' news program, WorldFocus.
Sat Jun 27, 2009
Using Computer Models to Predict Conflict Outcomes
A recent article in Computerworld magazine provides a nice plain english interview with political scientist Bruce Bueno de Mesquita explaining his work using computers to predict conflict outcomes. In the interview Bueno de Mesquita describes the model he has developed for examining international conflicts based on two key dimensions. He is a proponent of a version of rational choice theory. As he explains,
The model starts by assuming that everyone cares about two dimensions on any policy issue: getting an outcome as close to what they want as possible, and getting credit for being essential in putting a deal together -- or preventing a deal.
A reprint of a more academic article by the author entitled Game Theory, Political Economy, and the Evolving Study of War and Peace is available online for folks who want to dig deeper.
Mon Jun 08, 2009
Coaching Boys Into Men - Family Violence Prevention Fund Coaches Kit
The Family Violence Prevention Fund has produced a great new resource for coaches interested in raising healthy young men while promoting respect and the prevention of violence against women. The new Coaches Corner website provides a range of materials and advice, including a downloadable kit with a "Playbook" and discussion cards for addressing inappropriate behaviors. A series of tangible scenarios are presented, with suggested approaches a coach might take.
Here's part of the description from the website:
Every coach is in a position that allows him to directly influence the attitudes of his athletes and to help eliminate the disrespectful perceptions of women and girls that are at the heart of this tragic problem. The purpose of this Playbook is to provide you with coaching tips, advice and useful anecdotes from great coaches and players to help you take this issue head on.
As a related aside, another nice resource available from the FVPF for Father's Day is the GiveRespect.org website providing lots of good ideas and support for building respectful relationships at home and in the community. An e-card with words of respect can be sent to Dads from the site. I particularly liked the Dinner Table Talk handout on the families page.
Wed Jun 03, 2009
How to Choose a Dance Partner: Insight on Peace Building
Peace Direct has been focused on identifying and supporting local peace builders working in conflict zones, with more than 250 initiatives from 8 conflict areas now in their network. They want to see local organisations treated as equal partners with 'outsiders' such as international NGOs, or multilateral agencies such as the UN, but have come to understand that external groups have a hard time identifying who to work with. As one response to this question, Peace Direct has just published a new guide called How to Choose a Dance Partner (4.3 MB pdf). It is a collection of interviews with people who’ve gone through the process, or observed others doing so and is intended to show how people have found the right partners and the way that working with these partners enables a wholly different kind of peacebuilding to develop. More information here.
Tue Jun 02, 2009
Peace One Day Educational Resources Pack
Peace One Day is a global effort to support an annual day of peace and cessation of violence worldwide. The non-profit project was launched in 1999 by British filmmaker Jeremy Gilley who developed a film documenting his efforts to establish the first ever annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date. The day was unanimously adopted by UN member states in 2001 as 21st September annually.
The effort to promote the September 21 2009 celebration includes an extensive educational resources pack, the 3rd edition, that includes 19 student-centered lesson plans aimed at Grades 6-12. The kit includes accompanying multimedia and cross-curricular links and information on educational standards met by the activities. Registration is required, but the resource is free.
The stated objectives of the project:
"Peace One Day Education aims to advance active learning in the areas of conflict resolution, global citizenship, human rights and the link between sustainability and peace, using Peace Day 21st September as a focus. Our goal is to provide resource materials to every school in the world, inspiring a generation to become the driving force behind the vision of a united and sustainable world."
Thu May 28, 2009
Topical Video Archives from Conversations with History
I've mentioned the Conversations with History video series from the University of California at Berkeley before, but I wanted to note that the curators have been busy developing topical archives, many of which now point to YouTube videos of the interviews which could be used as supplemental materials in courses. The full collection includes more than 450 interviews with a diverse group of "diplomats, statesmen, and soldiers; economists and political analysts; scientists and historians; writers and foreign correspondents; activists and artists."
Three topic areas that may be of particular interest include:
The Peace Movement and the Nuclear Arms Race
and
Peacekeeping, Humanitarian Intervention, and Nation Building
and
The Search for Peace in the Middle East
Tue May 26, 2009
Conflict Resolution-related docs from UNESCO Documents and Publications
I had reason to search the UNESCO Documents and Publications site last week and I discovered a number of interesting full-text documents relating to conflict resolution (including a mediation training manual) that I hadn't seen before. The items I'll share here are from work on handling water conflicts and work on women's issues and promotion of a culture of peace.
From the Series - Technical documents in hydrology: PC-CP
(PC-CP = From Potential Conflict to Cooperation Potential Project)
Alternative dispute resolution approaches and their application (2003, 51 pages)
Author: Shamir, Yona; Kutner, Ran
Participation, consensus building, and conflict management training course: tools for achieving PCCP (2003, 189 pages)
Author: Delli Priscoli, Jerome
Advanced mediation skills, course C: course book (2003, 78 pages)
Corporate author: WaterNet; Centre for Conflict Resolution (South Africa); Higher Institute of International Relations (Mozambique); Catalic; UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education (Netherlands); University of Zimbabwe
From Materials on Women and a Culture of Peace
Women and peace in Africa: case studies on traditional conflict resolution practices (2003, 127 pages)
(Includes examples from Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Namibia; Somalia; Tanzania UR)
Gender, conflict and journalism: a handbook for South Asia (2005, 103 pages)
Author: Lloyd, Fiona; Howard, Ross
Mon May 25, 2009
PowerPoint Game Templates
Educators interested in adding some interactivity to their presentations will appreciate the work already done for you in these PowerPoint Game Templates provided courtesy of the Jefferson County Schools in Dandridge, TN.
Available templates include:
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader
Password
Wheel of Fortune
Jeopardy
Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Twenty Questions
Guess the Covered Word
Holiday Squares
Weakest Link
Concentration
Sun May 24, 2009
Article on Core Competencies for Graduate Programs in Conflict Studies
The just released special issue of the International Review of Education journal focusing on Education for Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution includes an interesting article by John Windmueller, Jannie Botes and Ellen Kabcenell Wayne from the University of Baltimore’s Program in Negotiations and Conflict Management. It explores a topic that I have addressed in years past, namely core competencies for graduate programs in conflict studies, both in my own research and as Editor of the Conflict Management in Higher Education Report.
Here's the details and the abstract:
Special Issue: Education for Reconciliation and Conflict Resolution
International Review of Education
Volume 55, Numbers 2-3 / May, 2009 (pages 285–301)
Core Competencies: The Challenge For Graduate Peace and Conflict Studies Education
John Windmueller, Ellen Kabcenell Wayne and Johannes (Jannie) Botes
Abstract – This article uses a case study of the assessment of a graduate program in negotiations and conflict management as a springboard for discussing several critical, but unanswered questions in our field. It raises questions regarding the lack of clear core competencies and expectations regarding curricula at the graduate-level of peace and conflict studies programs, as well as concerns over how educators in this field can or should assess their own work and train students for practice. It also addresses, via a comparative case analysis in Tajikistan, the degree to which the competencies and pedagogical approaches in this field are culturally bound. The picture that emerges from these case studies suggests that there have been important omissions in the way that the varied educational programs and the larger peace and conflict studies field itself have developed thus far.
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