ICAR Increases Enrollment in Aftermath of Sept. 11 -- Mason Gazette

October 2002

ICAR Increases Enrollment in Aftermath of Sept. 11

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks last year, many people are trying to understand the motivations behind the attacks and what they can do to help groups seek peaceful resolutions to conflict. As a result of this heightened interest in understanding and resolving conflict, the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution received significantly more applications for this school year.

The number of applications went up 35 percent this year to 280, says Sara Cobb, ICAR director. Seventy-two students were accepted into the program - an increase of 25 percent over last year.

"Several of our incoming students referenced Sept. 11 in their applications - some noted their sense of urgency to participate in designing alternatives to war and terrorism. Several noted their interest in participating in policy formation as well as diplomatic processes post 9/11," says Cobb. "There was overall in these applications an interest in helping nations, groups, regions reflect on the problems and issues that breed terrorism, as well as an interest in addressing important topics like religion and conflict, and media and conflict."

The institute, which is squeezed into several townhouses on Route 123 about half a mile north of the Fairfax Campus, offers an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution. The programs teach conflict resolution on both a theoretical and a practical level and provide an analytic framework that supports both analysis of conflict and intervention evaluation, says Cobb.

To address the interest in terrorism, ICAR has created a new course, which was detailed in the August/September Mason Gazette. The goal is to develop analytic frames for understanding terrorism from interdisciplinary perspectives, says Cobb. "The faculty wanted to provide a forum for collective learning - faculty learning from and with each other - so most of the ICAR faculty will teach a segment on an area of their interest."

Even before Sept. 11, 2001, ICAR had been reorganizing its program to take a deeper look at the relationship between globalization and violence. One faculty member in particular - Agnieszka Paczynska - is contributing to this effort. A political economist, Paczynska brings "rich intellectual resources to ICAR to support our exploration of the complex relationships between global markets, global capital, cultural formation, and conflict processes," says Cobb.

But ICAR is not only available to help students understand terrorism and find ways to prevent future acts. The institute is also working with the Fairfax County Department of Human Services to help reduce fear of immigrants and help de-stigmatize immigrant groups. These efforts are part of the Community Resilience Project, which is funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The institute is involved in making videos of immigrant families to show the issues immigrants faced before they came to the United States and the issues they face after they arrive. The county will use the videos for training purposes. The institute also will be hosting a set of community cross-cultural dialogues around the county this fall and next spring on topics related to Sept. 11, such as patriotism, belonging, preparedness, and resilience.