The Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education hosted the 12th Annual National Community College Peacebuilding Seminar November 1, 15, and 22, 2024. The seminar has been offered virtually since 2020, allowing the program to be accessible for  global attendees. The 2024 seminar had over 80 attendees, including students, faculty, and a group of young women and girls from Afghanistan facing educational barriers. There were 17 talks given by 19 presenters covering topics such as weaving peace into college classrooms, bridging theory and practice in conflict resolution education, education as an act of peace and resistance, and overcoming conflict through transformational leadership. Attendees and presenters tuned in from multiple countries and 25 colleges and universities. 

Community colleges are essential in academia as they are a pathway for underrepresented groups to pursue higher education. Approximately one-third of community college students are first-generation, and whether attending a community college or four-year institution, face dropout rates of more than twice that of their continuing-generation student counterparts. The talk "Empowering First-Gen Students as Peacebuilders: Fostering Leadership and Social Justice in Community College" presented by Phebe Dowels, offered invaluable advice for first-generation college students to thrive. As a first-generation student herself, Phebe emphasized that the journey can often feel isolating because we don't have the same support systems as continuing-generation students. However, she highlighted the importance of connecting with peers and faculty who can mentor you, which is an outstanding way to ensure your success in college. 

Stephanie Knox offered a look into the United Nations accelerated master’s program in peacebuilding at the University for Peace located in San Jose, Costa Rica, with her talk, "Pedagogies for Peace: Weaving Peace into Community College Classrooms." She discussed how making space for students to bring up local and global issues in the classroom and connecting them to everyday life is essential to connect classroom education to real-world problems; however, one of the challenges from this is that you can't talk about peace without bringing up the violence that communities are experiencing. This excellent example of offering a flexible curriculum centers student learning because it allows them to add subjects that they are interested in throughout the term. This activity was only one of the example activities of community building and conflict resolution exercises for the classroom.

"Bridging Theory and Practice: Real-World Applications of Conflict Resolution Education" was presented by Chanel M. Bradden, MBA, a doctoral student in Organizational Leadership & Conflict Resolution at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Chanel brought up the importance of theory and application when it comes to conflict resolution practices. She argued that "Without application, theory can be disconnected from reality, or even abstract;" on the other hand, "Without theory, the practical efforts can lack direction." In short, both the knowledge of theory and the practicality of application need to work harmoniously together to be efficient, or in other words, "Application helps us put the knowledge into practice to help us solve real-world problems." Furthermore, Chanel goes into detail about the different types of theories. For example, the traditional or human needs theory operates under the assumption that there are four basic human needs. Basic human needs cover security, identity, and recognition; non-negotiable needs are fundamental to survival; universal needs are cross-cultural and human nature; and conflict resolution refers to the unmet needs at the root of conflict. Thus, if conflict is a symptom of an unmet need, then true resolution lies at the issue's root. 

These are just a few examples of the incredible talks presented this year. All three days of the seminar were recorded and available to watch on the Forage Center's YouTube channel. Planning for the 13th Annual Community College Peacebuilding Seminar will begin soon, so if you are interested in presenting, please send a short pitch of your topic to admin@foragecenter.org or contact Heather Payne at heather@foragecenter.org with any questions. For more updates on the Forage Center and upcoming events, subscribe to the quarterly newsletter. 

The Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education is a non-profit organization that has offered peacebuilding and humanitarian education since 2015. The focus of our work is to  prepare the next generation of peacebuilders to tackle crisis, conflict, and disaster.