Representatives from the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution (IIMCR) visited the University on Thursday for the first time since the early 1990s to recruit applicants for their yearly international symposiums.
A number of international students were among the small crowd that gathered to listen to Cody Shearer and Vytenis Didziulis, both well-traveled members of the organization, as they discussed their various experiences working on programs in locations from Cyprus to The Hague.
The IIMCR offers programs next year in South Africa, Cyprus, Singapore and the Czech Republic. During the symposiums, students train in negotiation and mediation tactics in order to confront various crises that are prevalent in different regions. The programs last from two weeks to a month.
Ex-diplomats and political leaders are invited to the symposiums to discuss their personal experiences handling issues like the Palestinian/Israeli peace accords or the AIDS epidemic in South Africa.
“I don’t know why colleges haven’t made study in a third-world country a requirement,” Shearer said
Shearer is also the co-founder of IIMCR.
“My interest in the social justice field came late, but I want a chance to explore and see what’s out there,” said Isabella Tirtowalujo ’05, who attended Thursdays recruit meeting.
Didziulis was a student in the symposium at Cyprus. Originally from Bogotá, Columbia, Didziulis wanted to travel and learn how people were handling crises in other parts of the world. He also volunteered at an event in The Hague where one of his friends from Kenya was able to form a plan to help two tribes near his home who constantly fought over a sparse water supply.
“It is difficult to keep one’s idealism after learning about the desperation people face in some world conflicts, and hearing from experienced speakers who have lost too much to still be idealistic,” Didziulis said. “But, you can take pride in the small successes you have, and that’s what Kenya was.”
Selina Tirtajana ’08 said her idealism is what drives her interest to possibly apply for the program.
Shearer started the institute in 1995. After working as a Washington D.C.-based journalist covering wars around the world, when Shearer heard some of his colleagues complaining that much of International Relation studies was too theoretical, he took action.
“The world after the Cold War is not getting less dangerous, but more dangerous,” Shearer said.
He added that students need hands-on experience and connections they can use after graduating in order to get jobs.
“Since 1996, we’ve had nine alumni elected into public office,” Shearer said.
Programs offered by the IIMCR are encouraged by many University faculty members, but are not valid for University credit. Costs, however, are not cheap, ranging from $2,000 to over $4,000. Each session is held either over summer or winter break and about 90 percent of participants are graduate or undergraduate students.
According to Shearer, students hear stories and strategies about international negotiations they never would hear otherwise because the atmosphere at each symposium is so informal. He then relayed a story about how members at the Oslo Accords were treated to a Sauna and vodka to loosen everyone up.
Each symposium can have a maximum of 100 students, and the organization receives over 1,000 applications per year. Usually about half of the participants are from the United States.
Students take part in simulated negotiations through role-plays and by learning the historical context of each conflict.
“I was living with Egyptians and Palestinians who taught me more about the conflict in the Middle East than what I learned from any newspaper,” Didziulis said of his time in Cyprus.
At the end of the session, students introduced themselves to each other. In a group of only about twenty people, there were students from the U.S., Indonesia, Singapore, India and South Africa.
“I’m most interested in the amazing technological change that’s happening all over Asia,” said Robert Kunkle ’06.
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