Expertise in the Field: Middlebury College

On this episode of SHECP Talks, Kailee Brickner-McDonald, Director of Middlebury’s Center for Community Engagement, and Sarah Stroup, Professor of Political Science and the director of Middlebury’s Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation, join us to talk about the work happening at the Davis Collaborative and, more broadly, about their vision to embed principles and practices of conflict transformation in the liberal arts throughout a student’s education.

 

Director Brickner-McDonald discusses the role that conflict plays in the professional and personal lives of students every day. “I think some students think that conflict is a failure, or that it’s a stopping place… while it has the capacity to be destructive and harmful, it is not” says Brickner-McDonald. The Davis Collaborative offers courses to students to prepare them for high conflict internships in the community and equip them for life beyond.

 

They also discuss the Middlebury “Projects for Peace” program, which “supports over 90 different institutions to sponsor a project that improves the prospects for peace in the 21^st century” said Brickner-McDonald. The scope of these projects is left intentionally broad, to allow diverse approaches to what peace may look like.

 

Finally, Professor Stroup discusses some of the tools available for approaching conflict. One such tool pertains to collective goals. “Loretta Ross talks about the difference between a cult and a social movement. A social movement is where people across different values share a goal and collaborate. A cult is where everyone thinks the same thing” says Stroup.”