2019-2020 Annual Report
The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies www.juniata.edu/pacs
From the Director
Editorial content for the 2019-20 Annual Report of The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies was written and produced by Stacia Fleegal (Baker Institute staff) and Kaitlyn Granger (PACS ’21, Baker Institute 2020-21 Juniata Associate). Layout and design by Juniata’s Marketing team.
ON THE COVER: Top: Thunberg’s Fridays for the Future march in Brussels, Belgium, March 6, 2020, provided by Kaitlyn Granger. Middle: Peace Chapel, provided by Baker Institute staff. Bottom: Peace is Everybody’s Business, by Marta Daniels, provided by Baker Institute staff.
For more information on The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Peace and Conflict Studies program at Juniata College: www.juniata.edu/pacs Email and sign-up for our newsletter: bakerins@juniata.edu Follow us: Facebook Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Twitter @JuniataPAX Instagram /JuniataPAX
POLLY O. WALKER, PH.D. Director, Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
T
he work of The Baker Institute, including that of the director and faculty, the Advisory Board and the affiliated students, is ever more important as we face rising polarization within our own country and abroad, a global pandemic, and climate change induced conflicts and disparities. This year has been one of complex challenges, both limiting and expanding the work of The Baker Institute yet highlighting the crucial impact of our work. In March, responses to the global pandemic forced the Peace and Conflict Studies courses to move to online instruction. Nevertheless, I was moved and deeply impressed with the resilience, passion and commitment of students in these courses to grapple rigorously with preventing and transforming violent conflict, as well as to building peace in ways that sustainably address direct, structural and cultural violence.
As well as a pivot in pedagogy, we were required to postpone a number of the programs that we had planned in the second semester. We are hoping to present these opportunities in the next academic year, in person if possible, or virtually if the pandemic continues. Although pandemic restrictions closed down face-to-face workshops and collaborations on campus, the disruption also opened opportunities for international collaborations made possible by time released through these restrictions. See our Faculty and Professional Development section for more about ongoing projects. In this most challenging time, we continue to work in support of the goals of The Baker Institute in disciplined, rigorous, and meaningful ways. I would like to express my deep gratitude for the commitment and support of the generous donors, faculty and staff that support The Baker Institute and to the inspiring students who make the work of The Baker Institute an exercise in envisioning and embodying a peaceful future.
peace is everybody’s business
The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies: Goals, Sponsorships, and Reach Our mission is to apply the resources of the academic community to the study of warfare and deep-rooted conflict as human problems and to the study of peace as a human potential.
We provide an excellent undergraduate education in Peace and Conflict Studies to students of Juniata College including emphasis on both practical and theoretical knowledge and on preparation for graduate education and useful careers. We offer continuing adult education and community outreach in conflict management and war/peace studies through seminars, conferences, public lectures, and workshops.
We provide leadership in the development of Peace and Conflict Studies as an academic program through research, curriculum development, consultation, and education. We initiate and support cooperation among existing programs and institutions to strengthen Peace and Conflict Studies in content and methodology, enhance its legitimacy, and develop its constituency both in and out of the academic community.
“We acknowledge that we are living and working on homelands of the Onyata’a:ka, the People of the Standing Stone, the Oneida Nation, who had a village here at the time of colonization.” —The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies Staff | THE BAKER INSTITUTE
PHOTOS: (LEFT) MEGAN BRENNEMAN, (RIGHT) MARIAH DORSEY ’20
On campus, The Baker Institute supports a vibrant and engaged community of learners, and a curricular and co-curricular academic program that asks students and faculty to stretch and challenge themselves as they address war, peace, and justice.
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Advisory Board 2019-2020
Strategic Plan 2016-2019:
Daniel Welliver, Ph.D.
Institute will demonstrate excellence in the Undergraduate Program.
Chair, The Baker Institute Advisory Board Chair, Social Work Criminal Justice, and Sociology
Anne C. Baker
Trustee Emerita, Juniata College
Jack Barlow, Ph.D.
Charles A. Dana Professor of Politics
Jim Borgardt, Ph.D.
William W. Woolford Professor of Physics Chair, Physics Department
JoAnn Bowman ’75
Retired International development management, Chemonics International
Lynn Cockett, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Randall Deike, Ph.D. Trustee, Juniata College
Alison Fletcher, Ph.D.
W. Newton & Hazel A. Long Professor of History Chair, History Department
Lily Kruglak ’11
Reporting and Outreach Coordinator, Resolve Network
Henry Thurston-Griswold, Ph.D.
Professor of Spanish Chair, World Languages and Cultures Department
PRIORITY 1: The Baker
Excellence in the undergraduate program will be established through a number of activities and will be identifiable in a variety of outcomes. The Baker Institute staff seeks to create a vibrant, fully enrolled, academically rigorous Program of Emphasis (POE) in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) that is visible on campus and in the surrounding community. We expect students to be part of a community of engaged learners that is sustained by a clearly-structured POE. Students are supported in becoming critical thinkers with a high level of expertise in their field. In addition to supporting the needs of PACS students, the curriculum will support a number of other programs and departments and build partnerships for innovative programming within the campus community and beyond.
PRIORITY 2: The Baker
Institute will implement effective Adult Education and Community Outreach Programs. The Institute will support programs that reach beyond the borders of the campus to engage faculty and staff in community development opportunities and projects that develop community-college relations. Of specific interest will be efforts in the nexus between theory and practice and projects that expand the community of people engaged in initiating and sustaining peace processes.
Law: Advocacy and Solidarity Dealing with Transnational and Global Threats
Mark McKellop, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology Chair, Psychology Department
Uma Ramakrishnan, Ph.D.
Chair, Environmental Science and Studies
Development
Structural and Institutional Change
Student Representatives Olivia Charles-Pike Dec. ’19 Peace and Conflict Studies
Mariah Dorsey ’20
Peace and Conflict Studies
Kaitlyn Granger ’21
Strategic Peacebuilding Paths
Education
Conflict Intervention and Analysis
Perry Willig ’21
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Peace and Conflict Studies
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Violence P Conflict R and Trans
A degree in PACS can lead to careers on a diverse spectrum of peacebuilding paths, as shown in this diagram.
Adapted from Strategic Peacebuilding Paths by John Paul Lederach and Katie Mansfield, available for download from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
Dialogue/ Conflict Resolution Strategies
Non-V Social
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Fellows PRIORITY 3: The Baker
PRIORITY 4: The Baker
Institute will further develop and sustain Peace and Conflict Studies in the Academy.
Institute will enhance the legitimacy and impact of Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Baker Institute will provide leadership in the ongoing development of peace studies by making contributions to the field in the areas of research, pedagogy, curricular assessment and development, and program assessment and development.
The Baker Institute will support the institutionalization of Peace Studies in conjunction with other Peace Studies programs and organizations by working to foster cooperation among those programs and institutions, which will raise the profile and credibility of Peace Studies as an academic endeavor.
Transitional Justice
Violent Change
Jerry McCann is a licensed civil and structural engineer in the State of California and senior advisor to Build Up, which works with civic activists to find and apply innovative peacebuilding practices.
Baker Institute Fellows offer the campus community a range of opportunities, including: intensive, non-credit bearing seminars; mentoring; public lecturing; guest lecturing in classes; informal small-group dialogue; and networking.
Trauma Healing
Humanitarian Action
Government and Multi-Lateral Efforts
Kitche Magak is vice chancellor and professor of literature with Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya.
What is Peace and Conflict Studies?
Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) is an interdisciplinary field that begins with the perspective that war and violence are not inevitable aspects of the human condition and that there are more productive and lasting means for addressing human conflicts. PACS draws from political science, sociology, history, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy, among other disiplines.
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Prevention, Response sformation
Daniel Bryan is an artist, activist, educator, and executive director of the Pachaysana Institute in Quito, Ecuador, and resident director of BCA Study Abroad.
Caecilia van Peski is a Dutch diplomat, a licensed psychologist, and an authority in the field of peace and security, democratization, elections and human rights, whose achievements have received national and international recognition.
Restorative Justice
Justice and Healing
The following peacebuilders served as Fellows of The Baker Institute:
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2019-2020 Sponsorships The Baker Institute supported the following projects and institutions through sponsorship:
HUMAN RIGHTS FORUM Human Rights Forum at Augsburg University brings students, global changemakers, and local activists together to explore innovative ways to take constructive action in our ongoing pursuit of human rights, both globally and domestically. The event seeks to educate, inspire, and empower young leaders by weaving together multiple themes and perspectives that are reflective of our team of partner institutions and community. The Forum draws on, and seeks to strengthen, the rich history and innovative educational work being done in the Upper Midwest as a center of progressive internationalism and the promotion of human rights.
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The event spanned two days, the first of which explored global issues and perspectives and was hosted by and developed in partnership with the Human Rights Foundation (HRF). HRF produces the Oslo Freedom Forum, which brings together human rights speakers and activists from all over the world, and has an impressive roster of speakers that focus on human rights abuses within authoritarian regimes.
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Separately, the programming on the second day featured speakers and sessions exploring human rights issues such as racial justice, indigenous rights and environmental sustainability, with programming developed in partnership with Augsburg’s academic departments and centers, partner institutions, and sponsors.
Our programming is informed by the principles of nonviolence, dialogue, civic agency, and creative action. Nonviolence constitutes an active form of politics in opposition to the dynamics of injustice and violence. Dialogue provides the foundation for communication across lines of difference, an increasingly difficult task in the current polarized political landscape. Drawing on our thirty-year history of work with the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, and in keeping with the general mandate of higher education to foster healthy and vigorous debate and discussion, we see respectful dialogue across lines of difference as means for making meaningful and lasting social change.” PEACE & JUSTICE STUDIES ASSOCIATION The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) serves as a professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of peace and conflict studies. PJSA is dedicated to bringing together academics, educators, and activists to explore alternatives to violence and share
visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change. Walker is an elected board member of PJSA, and presented at and accompanied PACS students to the 2019 conference, the theme of which was “Local Alignments, Global Upheavals. WAGING NONVIOLENCE Waging Nonviolence is an independent, non-profit media platform dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements around the world. IMPACT PROJECT A collaboration between the Peacebuilding and the Arts Program at Brandeis University, The Baker Institute, and Maseno University in Kenya, IMPACT designed an infrastructure to strengthen the ecosystem of arts, culture, and conflict transformation (ACCT).
peace is everybody’s business
The Reach of The Baker Institute St. Claire DetrickJules hosted a Juniata screening of DACAmented, featuring the stories of nine young DACA recipients struggling to navigate school, work, and family as their future in the country they call home hangs in limbo.
The Baker Institute supported the travel, accommodations, and registration of six PACS students and one faculty member to the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Forum, “The Paradox of Peace,” Sept. 13-15, 2018.
Jon McCourt has been a community Peace Activist and for over 30 years was a member, for six years Chairperson, of the Peace and Reconciliation Group in the City of Derry, Northern Ireland. McCourt’s lecture at Juniata was titled “The Force of Argument is Stronger than the Argument of Force” and addressed issues of struggle, loss, division, polarisation, hope and healing.
Perry Willig ’21 (Peace and Conflict Studies) studied at Pachaysana, which has an ongoing collaboration with The Baker Institute and Juniata, and its director is a Baker Institute Fellow.
Eight scholars from two Kenyan universities, Maseno U and Maasai Mara U, attended a workshop on research in Africa in the arts, culture, and conflict transformation (ACCT) field, January 15-20, 2020, at Juniata College.
The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College hosts peace scholars, artists, activists, and practitioners for speaking engagements and residencies, and sends students out into the world through conference, study abroad, and internship opportunities. Here is ‘where we’ve been,’ and some places where we had collaborations, during the 2019-2020 academic year.
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To view an interactive version of this map, visit www.juniata.edu/pacs and click on Baker Institute.
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Research and Professional Development POLLY O. WALKER, PH.D. Director, The Baker Institute Elizabeth Evans Baker Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Polly O. Walker, Ph.D., served on the boards of several international organizations focused on building peace, addressing justice initiatives and transforming conflict. These roles supporting The Baker Institute goals of A.) providing leadership in the field of peace and conflict studies as an academic program through research, curriculum development, consultation and education. B.) Initiating and supporting cooperation among existing programs and institutions that will strengthen peace and conflict studies in content and methodology and will enhance its legitimacy and develop its constituency both in and out of the academic community. • Member of the Executive Committee for the IMPACT project (Imagining a Program for Arts, Culture, and Conflict Transformation). The committee met weekly to develop and implement plans to develop and support a global infrastructure for this field. The program includes building advocacy, capacity and communication across a global network of policy makers, funders, artists and peacebuilders. A recent report on the project is available at: www.brandeis.edu/impact
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• Elected member of the board of the Peace and Justice Studies Association (a USA/Canada organization) and board member of the International Peace Research Association (IPRA). Dr. Walker also serves on the IPRA 2021 conference committee.
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Polly Walker delivers a lecture as part of TedX at Juniata College.
• A Director of PaCSIA: Peace and Conflict Studies Institute of Australia, with current projects focused on collaborative peacebuilding projects in Bougainville. • Chair of the Indigenous Education Institute whose work focuses on reducing epistemic violence toward Indigenous peoples. Walker was involved in a number of peacebuilding projects: • Hosting, in January 15–22, 2020 an intensive workshop on research in Kenya within the arts, culture and conflict transformation field. Prof. Kitche Magak, Vice-Chancellor of Maasai Mara University and Dr. Susan Magak of Maseno University were co-facilitators of the research intensive. • Planning an intensive training in decolonizing the academy, in collaboration with Daniel Bryan and Chelsea Viterri, of the Pachaysana Institute in Quito, Ecuador. The focus of the project was reducing epistemic violence within the academy. Unfortunately, this project was disrupted by the pressures of the global pandemic.
Walker was invited to participate in a series of conflict transformation events including: • The opening conference of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft in Washington, D.C. focused on ending the United States’ involvement in war and increasing a national focus on diplomacy and peacebuilding. Walker presented two conference papers: • “Designing a Global Infrastructure for Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation: Results of the IMPACT Project,” Local Alignments, Global Upheavals: Re-imagining Peace, Legitimacy, Jurisdiction and Authority. Annual Conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association & Peace and Conflict Studies Canadian Association. Menno Simons College, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Oct. 4–6, 2019. • “Indigenous Approaches to Peace,” Local Alignments, Global Upheavals: Re-imagining Peace, Legitimacy, Jurisdiction and Authority. Annual Conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association & Peace and Conflict Studies Canadian Association.
peace is everybody’s business
Additional projects include: • Serving as a team leader on a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Art Lab research project designed to support the human rights of populations made vulnerable through violent conflict and displacement. The project will have an international screening in the fall of 2021, as well as an ongoing research/practice team working to land the project on the ground the project in international settings.
• Collaborating with the Buffer Fringe Festival in Cyprus, co-creating a ‘thinking partners’ program for the arts-based institution on the theme of displacement in transforming conflict in divided societies. The program provided support for collaboration between scholars and artists well versed in the field of arts, culture and conflict transformation with artists creating performances for the festival.
Affiliated Faculty JIM BORGARDT, PH.D.
William W. Woolford Professor of Physics
Jim Borgardt helped The Baker Institute coordinate a robust residency schedule for Fellow and Scholar in Residence Jerry McCann, peace engineer, early in the spring 2020 semester. Borgardt also developed a Certificate in Peace Engineering opportunity for engineering students interested in peacebuilding within their field. HENRY THURSTON-GRISWOLD, PH.D.
CELIA COOK-HUFFMAN, PH.D. W. Clay & Kathryn H. Burkholder Professor of Conflict Resolution Assistant Provost
Celia Cook-Huffman continued to serve as Assistant Provost during the 2019-20 academic year. She also led the Middle PA District Church of the Brethren’s Shalom Team Conflict Resolution Training. Cook-Huffman gave two presentations at the 2019 Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference in Winnipeg, Canada. The first was titled “Identity Matters: Social Identity and Social Change,” delivered at Menno Simmons College, and the second was titled “Identity, Social Conflict, and Social Movements,”
Celia Cook-Huffman addresses an audience in Alumni Hall to introduce PACS guest lecturer Jon McCourt.
Henry ThurstonGriswold continues to collaborate with Baker Institute Fellow and fall ’19 Scholar in Residence Daniel Bryan and his Pachaysana Institute in Ecuador. He assisted in the coordination of events during Bryan’s residency, including meetings with World Languages faculty and students. ALISON FLETCHER, PH.D. Chair, History
delivered at the Arthur V. Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at St. Paul’s College, University of Manitoba. Cook-Huffman published a chapter in the Routledge Companion to Peace and Conflict Studies (2020) titled) “Identity matters: Social identity and social change.” Cook-Huffman accompanied six PACS students to the 2019 Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference in Winnipeg, and three students to the 2019 Human Rights Forum in Minneapolis, Minn.
Alison Fletcher served as faculty advisor for Genocide Awareness and Action Week and taught the Inside Out course, where students engage with inmates at the local prison to learn about issues of structural violence. See the Students section for more information on these programs and their impact on Juniata students.
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PHOTOS: (LEFT) VERONICA COSMOPOLIS ’20, (RIGHT) HAI NGUYEN ’22 (FAR RIGHT) MEGAN BRENNEMAN
Professor of Spanish
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Guests of The Baker Institute: 2019-2020 Speakers JON MCCOURT October 25, 2019 Peace Activist
PHOTO: HAI NGUYEN ’22
Jon McCourt has been a community Peace Activist and for over 30 years was a member, for six years Chairperson, of the Peace and Reconciliation Group in the City of Derry, Northern Ireland. As a young man he went on the first Civil Rights March in Derry in October 1968. He was actively engaged in almost every aspect of the conflict that arose as the result of that march. He took part in the Battle of the Bogside, when the police laid siege to the Catholic/Nationalist of Derry for three days. He saw the first soldiers arrive on the streets of Derry in August 1969, and witnessed the murder of friends and neighbors on Bloody Sunday when 14 people died at the hands of the notorious 1st Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. For over 25 years, he has facilitated the study visits from The United States and elsewhere, giving students an insight into the impact of the Northern Ireland Conflict. He has also traveled to and worked with those involved in conflicts in other areas of the world, including Bosnia, the Middle East, Ukraine, Colombia and conflict-torn countries in Africa.
For the last 10 years, he has been engaged with The Executive Office of the Northern Ireland Assembly, where he sought an Inquiry into Historical Institutional Abuse. This was driven from the memory of his own experience of abuse and brutality, having spent 10 years in a Catholic-run Children’s Home in Derry City. The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry was the largest Inquiry of its kind held in the United Kingdom. The Report, released in January 2017 was a damning indictment of the failures of a system of care that was supposed to protect some of the most vulnerable children in our society. He continues to work to see the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report which were stalled as a result of the collapse of the Northern Ireland Executive two days after the report was passed to the First and Deputy First Minister. McCourt’s lecture at Juniata was titled “The Force of Argument is Stronger than the Argument of Force” and addressed issues of struggle, loss, division, polarisation, hope and healing.
Law: Advocacy and Solidarity Dealing with Transnational and Global Threats
Development
Justice and Healing
Violence Prevention, Conflict Response and Transformation Dialogue/ Conflict Resolution Strategies
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Transitional Justice
Structural and Institutional Change
Education
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Restorative Justice
Non-Violent Social Change
Trauma Healing
Humanitarian Action
Government and Multi-Lateral Efforts
CLAIRE DETRICK-JULES November 16, 2019 Filmmaker
PHOTO: COURTESY DETRICK-JULES
Filmmaker St. Claire Detrick-Jules is the daughter of a first-generation Afro-Caribbean immigrant father and an American mother. She studied French and Francophone Studies (with a focus in post-colonial studies) at Brown University, and is a former student of Daniel Bryan, a fellow of The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. Detrick-Jules hosted a Juniata screening of DACAmented, featuring the stories of nine young DACA recipients struggling to navigate school, work, and family as their future in the country they call home hangs in limbo. DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, was an executive order signed by President Obama in 2012 which temporarily granted work permits and protection from deportation to undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. In 2017, President Trump, calling the executive order unconstitutional, ended the program suddenly, giving Congress just six months to come up with a permanent solution for undocumented youth currently protected under DACA. In this film, DACA recipients narrate their wrenching stories about navigating life under Trump, and in doing so they help give voice to all 800,000 DACA recipients—and to the rest of the 11 million undocumented immigrants— in the United States.
peace is everybody’s business
The Baker Institute hosted a seven-day workshop entitled “Research, Monitoring & Evaluation (RME) of arts, culture, and conflict transformation (ACCT) work in Kenya. PHOTOS: CANDICE HERSH
January 15-20, 2020
WORKSHOP FACILITATORS: • Kitche Magak, Ag. Vice-Chancellor, Maasai Mara University • Susan Kilonzo, Department of Religion, Theology and Philosophy, Maseno University • Polly O. Walker, Director, The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Juniata College • Emily Forsyth-Queen, consultant, Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation
OUTCOMES: • Maasai Mara and Maseno Universities developed a project concept titled “Towards a conflict free and conserved Mau ecosystem for Sustainable Livelihoods: Mitigation strategies” • Ongoing curriculum development efforts at Maasai-Mara University: • Incorporation of conflict management and resolution in the curriculum, as a compulsory course in the institution • Integration of fieldwork for the course to enable students to visit relevant sites in the region.
In addition to the workshop sessions at The Baker Institute, Professors Magak and Kilonzo also gave guest lectures in PACS courses at Juniata College, including in Nonviolence: Theory & Change and Conflict Intervention. Both scholars shared their research within Kenya on nonviolent conflict transformation and assessment of conflict intervention through a lens of epistemological pluralism. The January workshop built on a previous training in 2017: Mainstreaming the Arts and Culture in Conflict Transformation. A report on outcomes from the training is available upon request by emailing bakerins@juniata.edu.
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WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS: • Bryson Omwalo, Department of Literature, Maseno University • David Ongarora, Dean, School of Arts and Social Sciences, Maseno University • Fredrick Otieno, Registrar, Academics Maasai Mara University • Mercyllene Njoroge, Senior Legal Officer, Maasai Mara University • Juliet Oduor, Department of Media, Film and Communications, Maasai Mara University • Nancy Ayodi Dean, School of Arts and Social Science, Maasai Mara University • Kail Penner, (PACS ’20), Intern
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Scholars in Residence DANIEL BRYAN
November 14-22, 2019 Artist, Activist, Educator, Director of Pachaysana Institute PHOTOS: HAI NGUYEN ’22, (TOP RIGHT) COURTESY DANIEL BRYAN
An educator, activist and artist, Daniel Bryan specializes in the use of participatory theatre as a means of education, empowerment, development and knowledge-creation. Originally from the United States, he has lived the last 19 years in Ecuador, where he directs the non-profit organization, the Pachaysana Institute (Fundación Pachaysana). With communities from the Amazon and Andes, Daniel is currently co-leading participatory action research on epistemological pluralism and developing the “Fair Trade—Decolonial Education Model.” In addition to his work in Ecuador, he lectures and leads workshops at universities across the United States, most recently with American, Brandeis, Brown, Clark, Rutgers, The Ohio State, Wesleyan, and Yale Universities and Carleton, Juniata, Macalester and Swarthmore Colleges. Previously, he co-founded the internationally renowned cultural educational organization, Fundación Quito Eterno, and lectured/researched under a Fulbright Scholar Grant in Quito. He is a lecturer at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and holds an MA in Education from the University of Tulsa and an MFA in Theatre from UCLA. EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES During his residency, Bryan’s activities included the following:
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Bryan has a long collaboration with Juniata College’s Center for International Education, World Languages department, and The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. His hands-on engagement and “participatory theatre” workshop approach engages students and faculty as they explore Andean ancestral wisdom and decolonization.
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November 16, 2019: Led a weekend intensive titled “An encounter with our ancestors: Exploring Andean ways of knowing and celebrating Day of the Dead.” This four-hour session exposed students to Andean ancestral wisdom as a way of knowing our world and decolonizing our perceptions of knowledge. Ten participants received certificates of completion from The Baker Institute. • Met with 24 faculty members and administrators in small groups to discuss decolonialism. • Dined with El Rincón Hispánico at the Global Village. • Conducted a promotional study abroad session with the Center for International. • Education and met informally with PACS and Spanish students for meals and mentoring.
peace is everybody’s business
JERRY MCCANN February 15-29, 2020 Peace Engineer
PHOTOS: HAI NGUYEN ’22, (TOP LEFT) COURTESY JERRY MCCANN
After a 15-year career in structural engineering and construction management, Jerry McCann has spent the last 20 years working in Africa and around the world to engage with and promote innovative local peacebuilders and peacebuilding institutions. Whether in Somalia, Mali, Palestine, Timor-Leste, or El Salvador, some of the over 20 countries Jerry has worked for, he recognizes that the most effective and impactful solutions to some of the most complex problems in the developing world come when those solutions are recognized and implemented from within. Jerry believes strongly that peace depends heavily on paying attention to and enabling the tremendous capacities that exist within every conflict and post-conflict dynamic. He further believes both national and international peacebuilders have a critical collaborative role to play in unlocking and supporting these solutions. Jerry currently serves as Senior Advisor and Peace Engineer at Build Up www.howtobuildup.org. Build Up works with civic activists and peacebuilders to find and apply innovative practices that help them achieve their peacebuilding missions, keeping pace with the increasing complexities of global interconnectivity, technological advancements, and ideological polarization. EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES During his residency, McCann’s activities included the following: February 19, 2020: Conducted a public lecture titled, “We can’t engineer peace, but we can engineer more peacefully,” which presented case studies and the metrics for assessing effective peace engineering and explored the important technical role that engineering can play in peacebuilding solutions, and the equally important role that peacebuilding sensitivities can bring to engineering. February 22: Conducted a weekend intensive called “The emergence of peace tech: Innovate peacebuilding in the digital age,” which explored the many emerging tech-driven, innovative peacebuilding interventions from idea to implementation in the digital era. The focus of the four-hour workshop was on contextually-grounded solutions using technology which elevates the use of data (collection, analysis and dissemination), strategic communications and dialogue. Students had a chance to explore their own innovation ideas. Twelve students and faculty members received certificates of completion from The Baker Institute.
Jerry McCann has traveled the world working as a civil engineer invested in building sustainable peace. Whether lecturing on peace tech, speaking with physics and PACS students, or engaging students and faculty in conversation about promoting peace through his work with Build Up, McCann has been instrumental in showing the Juniata community how PACS can be combined with other disciplines in unexpected ways.
February 24: Conducted an informal PACS salon with a small group of faculty.
Visited PACS, engineering, and sociology courses with five different faculty members. | THE BAKER INSTITUTE
Met with PACS and engineering student for meals and mentoring.
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The Impact of
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COVID–19
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STUDENT IMPACT STATEMENTS
CANCELED EVENTS
“I think it’s safe to say that 2020 has given new definition to the term ‘plot twist.’ It’s hard to complain when considering the intense circumstances of the times, because I still feel so lucky to have the opportunities I have. If anything, the current societal climate makes me even more eager to start my career after Juniata, to make an actual, positive impact.”
Dr. Peter Westoby, an internationally renowned Community Development scholar from Australia, was scheduled to facilitate a workshop, guest-lecture in classes, and explore research opportunities on community development approaches that minimize direct, structural and cultural violence.
—Alexis Jones, she/hers (PACS ’21)
“I was in the midst of my study abroad program in Edinburgh, Scotland when, due to the global pandemic, I was required to return to my home in Connecticut in March rather than May. I am extremely grateful for my time and experience in Scotland, but leaving an international location on such short notice during a global crisis was both a memorable and terrifying experience!” —Thomas Mulholland, he/him (History and Museum Studies ‘21)
“I took a nontraditional, scenic route to arrive at Juniata, a route that was riddled with hard work and uncertainty about my career path. Finding Juniata’s PACS program was like finding my place in the world, but while most students get a four-year experience, I arrived midway through my sophomore year. When Juniata classes went online-only in the second semester of my senior year, my already shortened time on campus was suddenly and unexpectedly at an end. I wasn’t able to have a college graduation experience, or even say a proper goodbye to my friends and mentors. However, as with most hardships, this experience opened a door for me: I’ve begun a new chapter as a graduate student in Germany— an opportunity I wouldn’t have dreamed possible only a few short years prior.”
Daniel Bryan and Chelsea Viteri, from Pachaysana Institute in Ecuador, had planned to bring Indigenous leaders to Juniata to explore ways of decolonizing the academy through a weekend intensive workshop and research collaborations.
David Smith, career consultant for Peace and Justice Studies and author of Peace Jobs, was slated to lead a workshop for interested Juniata faculty, students and staff on peacebuilding career trajectories.
We would like to take the time to acknowledge and grieve the loss of more than 350,000 American lives to COVID-19 in 2020, as well as to acknowledge the disproportionate loss of lives in Indigenous communities and communities of color, where the death rate is estimated to be as much as two times the losses in white communities.
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—Mariah Dorsey, she/her (PACS ’20)
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PACS
declared primary, secondary, or exploratory
Student Involvement with The Baker Institute
2019-2020
CLASS OF 2020 Kirwin Seger Brooklyn, N.Y. Organizational Communication and Conflict Resolution
Human Rights Forum (Formerly—The Nobel Peace Prize Forum) October 28-29, 2019 Augsburg University, Minneapolis, Minn.
Olivia Charles-Pike Harrisburg, Pa. Intercultural Conflict Resolution
The Human Rights Forum at Augsburg University, “brings students, global changemakers, and local activists together to explore innovative ways to take constructive action in our ongoing pursuit of Human Rights, both globally and domestically” (Augsburg University, 2019). The Human Rights Forum, attempted to highlight new voices in the field of human rights, as well as provide participants with hands-on training in civil rights advocacy.
Mariah Dorsey Mechanicsburg, Pa. Peace and Conflict Studies Isabella Bennett Baltimore, Md. Politics with Nonprofit Organization
Students in attendance: Kirwin Seger ’19, Elia Vasquez ’23, and Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua ’23
Kail Penner Moundridge, Kanas Arts, Culture & Conflict Transformation
Faculty in attendance: Celia Cook-Huffman Lemkin Summit to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities February 22-24, 2020 American University, Washington, D.C.
“I was excited to attend the PJSA Conference and expected it to be complementary to my Peace and Conflict Studies concentration. It exceeded my expectations. Attending the discussion forums made me realize that the conference, like the world, is naturally interdisciplinary, which reaffirmed my intuition to combine Environmental Studies with a Peace and Conflict Studies focus. Every panel, like each of my college courses, was not compartmentalized but rather seamlessly intertwined.” —Melanie Thorn ’23, she/hers
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Manahawkin, N.J. Environmental Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies
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Conferences Attended with Support of The Baker Institute Student Peace Fund PEACE & JUSTICE STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE “Local Alignments, Global Upheavals: Re-imagining Peace, Legitimacy, Jurisdiction, and Peace” October 4-6, 2019 Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada The 2019 Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference is ‘inspired by the history of Winnipeg’s 1919 General Strike, current Indigenous land and water defense, and food and migrant justice activism’ (PJSA, 2019). The conference invited peace and justice scholars and students, community-based practitioners, to join conversations in re-imagining peace amidst global upheavals. Students in attendance: Kaitlyn Granger ’21, Jules Slater ’21, Sarah Borgardt ’22, Grace Cook-Huffman ’22, Lee Beary ’22, Melanie Thorn ’23 Faculty in attendance: Celia Cook-Huffman and Polly Walker
In the fifth anniversary of the Lemkin Summit to End Genocide and Mass Atrocities, “special focus was given to the use of policy instruments that target the illicit financial flows of war criminals as a means of providing real leverage to revitalized peace processes and strategic human rights advocacy in places such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo), South Sudan, and Sudan” (Lemkin Summit, 2020). Attendees were able to apply their theoretical knowledge when lobbying for policy change on Capitol Hill. Students in Attendance: Mariah Dorsey ’20, Rose (Anna) Vermette ’20, Shubhi Sharma ’20 PAX-O (Peace and social justice student organization) PAX-O gathered over 72 new sign-ups via Juniata’s annual Lobsterfest, hosted events for Indigenous People’s Day, participated in Juniata’s Empty Bowls Event, and created opportunities for the UN International Day of Peace. President: Mariah Dorsey ’20 Vice President: Kaitlyn Granger ’21 Treasurer: Jules Slater ’21 Secretary: Perry Willig ’21 Baker Institute Advisory Board Student Members Kaitlyn Granger ’21 Perry Willig ’21 Mariah Dorsey ’20 Olivia Charles-Pike ’19
peace is everybody’s business
—Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua ’23, them/he/him
PHOTOS: (LEFT) COURTESY OF MARIAH DORSEY, (RIGHT) HAI NGUYEN ’22
Wilmington Del. Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies
Experiential Learning In and Out of the Classroom Inside-Out Class: The Gender and History of Crime, the Prison System, and Reentry Fall 2029 The Inside-Out Classroom Experience is an opportunity for a group of students from Juniata College and an equal number of students currently incarcerated at SCI Smithfield Prison to learn together and to exchange ideas and perceptions about the gender and history of crime, prisons, and reentry. Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty Studies June – August (8 weeks of internship) This consortium promotes the study of poverty work, for college students in a range of disciplines, to foster lifelong civic efforts to diminish the impact and reach of poverty in the U.S.
“The Inside-Out Class experience was one of the most, if not THE most influential experience I’ve had during my three years at Juniata. As interested as I am in prison reform, there was nothing like learning about the reentry process while taking in the experiences and opinions of people that the United States prison system directly impacts. I developed more empathy for others through the Inside-Out Class than I have in any other classroom experience.” —Jules Slater ’21, they/them Pittsburgh Pa. Communication and Social Justice Advocacy
Kaitlyn Granger ’21 participated in The Shepherd Higher Education Consortium on Poverty, Kaitlyn worked in the Communication and Community Engagement department at an NGO in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.—Hudson River Housing.
PACS students Grace Cook-Huffman (’22) and Kirwin Seger (’20) gather with other students to deliver “soapbox speeches” in Beeghly Library during the fall 2019 semester. Even President Troha came out to hear their impassioned talks!
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“I highly enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to listen and share a space with changemakers from all around. To hear their stories, their experiences, and how they push change and challenge to corrupt systems like their governments, is impactful. Seeing speakers come together and discussing how making change looks different in their fields help me recognize the different aspects of contributing to change in any way, shape, or form. To get a better understanding of what was going on currently and applying theories to their projects benefited encouraged me to have a new lens of Peace and Conflict Studies.”
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peace is everybody’s business
Genocide Awareness and Action Week (GAAW) 2020: “Gender and Genocide” Faculty Advisor: Alison Fletcher, Ph.D. Co-chairs: Rose (Anna) Vermette ’20, Shubhi Sharma ’20 Sponsors: The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, Politics Department, Campus Ministry, Center for International Education, Beeghly Library, and PAX-O. Baker Institute advisory board member and affiliated faculty Alison Fletcher advised student co-chairs Rose Vermette and Shubhi Sharma for the 2020 Genocide Awareness and Action Week (GAAW). Genocide Awareness and Action Week is an event partially sponsored by the Baker Institute as it assists in accomplishing Baker Institute goals, such as the study of warfare and deep-rooted conflict. The theme of the 2020 Genocide Awareness and Action Week centered on Gender and Genocide, looking specifically at the experiences of women. The chairs of GAAW wanted to lift the voices of those who are missing from the story of genocide women. However, due to the pandemic, GAAW did not occur this year.
“At Juniata, we strive for an interdisciplinary liberal arts education for all students and to create opportunities to learn and comprehend both inside and outside the classroom in thought-provoking ways. Eight years ago, students created and have since run the GAAW program because we feel that more needs to happen in bringing awareness to genocide and inspiring action in its prevention. The goal of the student chairs is to engage our greater community through speakers, workshops, and discussion that create a unique learning experience for not only the students at the college but also themselves. The theme we intended to center the week around was Gender and Genocide, looking specifically at the gendered experiences of women. Studying gender in the context of genocide is a relatively new approach to genocide studies and we wanted to take this opportunity to give voice and recognition to those people and traumas that have often been overlooked. Women are not the only group that experience gender specific traumas, however, we chose to focus on this group as they are disproportionately affected by traumas seen to be either “too specific to women to be seen as human or too generic to human beings to be seen as specific to women.” (Catherine MacKinnon. Rape, Genocide, and Women’s Human Rights.) Unfortunately, we were unable to see this week come to fruition due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it was upsetting that we could not see our hard work pay off as we hoped in bringing greater awareness and avenue of understanding to Gendered Genocide Studies it was extremely rewarding to us as co-chairs. Before the shutdown, we were incredibly fortunate to be able to attend the Lemkin Summit to End Mass Atrocities. Although the summit was not focused specifically on gender there was one speaker that stood to what we were trying to accomplish with GAAW and that was Emi Mahmoud. As a Darfur survivor and activist, she organized a peace march across Sudan, and through her poetry and other written works she shows the struggles and triumphs of women in conflict. Her powerful words exemplified our theme of Gender and Genocide in that women have a gendered experience uniquely their own that deserves its understanding. She shows that the voices of women are powerful and that to truly strive towards the prevention of mass atrocities all voices need to be brought to the table and acknowledged as being human enough to be heard.” —Rose (Anna) Vermette ’20, she/hers, GAAW Co-chair
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From Left: Pictured are PACS students 0Kaitlyn Granger ’21 and Mariah Dorsey ’20, as they present their photography and narrative work on gender discrimination as part of Lynn Cockett’s (Baker Institute Advisory Board, PACS Affiliated Faculty) Women Work and Identity class.
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peace is everybody’s business
Student Internship and Study Abroad Mariah Dorsey ’20 Mechanicsburg, Pa. Editorial Assistant and Research Intern for The Baker Institute Mariah accepted a summer internship with The Baker Institute that, coupled with her perspective as a current student, member of the Baker Institute Advisory Board, and position as President of PAX-O, aimed to increase The Institute’s visibility on campus.
“The goals of my summer internship revolved around finding new ways to showcase The Baker Institute’s unique PHOTO: COURTESY OF contributions to Juniata and the discipline of Peace and Conflict KAITLYN GRANGER Studies as a whole. Toward that goal, my largest project was the development and publication of the Institute’s first edition of our Annual Report, in partnership with Stacia Fleegal. Stacia and I had the opportunity to further cultivate the Institute’s relationship with Juniata’s Marketing department during the Annual Report’s design stages, not only to ensure that our publication was in alignment with Juniata standards, but also to help clarify The Baker Institute’s goals, current endeavors, and accomplishments for the marketing team to assist in more accurate, detailed coverage of the Institute in the future. I am so thankful to have completed an internship with The Baker Institute. The experience opened my eyes to the intricate, multifaceted role that the Institute plays both on and off campus. I am now a proud alumna of Juniata’s PACS program, and this internship helped me to see the depth of what The Baker Institute has to offer.” —Mariah Dorsey ’20, she/her
Perry Willig ’21 Redwood City, Calif. Peace and Conflict Studies Perry speaks about his study abroad experience in Ecuador.
First-year student Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua (Social Work/PACS ’23) serves food and their community during Empty Bowls to raise money for Huntingdon County’s four food banks and backpacks program. “This was my first experience truly interacting with the Huntingdon community. It felt different because it’s the most time I’ve ever spent in a rural and predominantly white community. However, it felt rewarding to participate in such a well-known Juniata tradition that supports a good cause.” —Contreras-Amezcua, they/he.
When refelecting on my experience Daniel Bryan’s quote comes to mind; “Trust the Process.” —Perry Willig ’21, he/him
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PHOTOS: HAI NGUYEN ’22
“Pachaysana altered my view on colonization, PHOTO: COURTESY OF education, art, as PERRY WILLIG well as what I want out of life. It made me realize that I need and want to participate in the decolonization process, as this process is everyone’s responsibility. Although different in many ways, one similarity that I noticed between my classes with Pachaysana and my classes at Juniata is they emphasized the importance of asking how and why to those tought open-ended questions.
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COURTESY OF LIZ WIDMAN
From left top: Stacia Fleegal, Baker Institute Assistant; Mariah Dorsey ’20, Baker Institute summer ’19 intern; From left bottom: Polly Walker, Baker Institute Director; Celia Cook-Huffman, Baker Institute Assistant Director
1700 Moore Street Huntingdon, PA 16652 www.juniata.edu/pacs 814-641-3464