USD Magazine, Fall 2001

neously relay the information in various languages to par– ticipants both in the institute and around the world via live, two-way video links. To facilitate negotiations among parties in a specific con– flict, the Conflict Resolution Center - created for media– tions ranging from local zon ing disputes to international human rights issues - has two conference rooms joined by a larger room in rhe center. Parties can huddle in the smaller rooms, using a special phone ro speak to their leaders, rhen pass through a door ro join the other side at rhe negotiating table. And ro cool off when negotiations get heated, the insti– tute includes a reflection room chat looks out over the cen– ter's peace garden. The center also is a research and learning faci liry. One– way glass and a small viewing gallery allow students ro watch a mediation rake place, and built-in video cameras can record the event for future classes. To enhance the synthesis of disciplines involved in peace and justice, professors from hisrory, law, political science, education and business are housed in the institute. Blending advocacy and academia allows negotiations for a peace creary to rake place in one area of the institute, while researchers in another area develop and test theories related ro justice - such as examining the effectiveness of an international criminal court where terrorists such as Osama bin Laden might stand trial. Currently, students are taking classes in the institute char relate ro USD's existing curriculum in international rela– tions and justice. Next fall, the institute will launch a grad-

The ocean, olive branches and points of the compass help signify the global peacemaking aspects that will take place in San Diego. A 300-seat auditorium, with simultaneous translation booths and live two-way video links, allows partici– pants from throughout the world to come together at Alcala Park for peace and justice efforts.

uare program in peace and justice studies, fo llowed by an undergraduate curriculum in the same discipline. Classes will include conflict analysis and resolution, American for– eign policy and international negociarion. Neu says che curriculum is designed ro prepare students for careers in humanitarian organizations, as Foreign Service or govern– ment diplomats, or even as professional mediators. "The institute creates opportunities for people from many disciplines ro come rogecher and educate a generation ro not just understand peace and justice in che abstract, but to

To facilitate negotiations among parties in a specific conflict, the Conflict Resolution Center - created for 1nediations ranging from

local zoning disputes to internal-ional l-mman rigl1ts issues - has two

conference rooms joined l1y a larger roo1n in the center.

make chem real," says USO President Alice B. Hayes. "Joyce Neu has impressive academic credentials, but she also has first-person peacemaking experience, doing many of the same things we want ro prepare our students to do." A native ofTorrance, Calif., Neu was a double major in English and French at the Universiry of Colorado at Boulder before she volunteered for a stint in rhe Peace Corps, where she taught English to young people in the West African nation of Senegal from 1972 to 1974. Neu returned to rhe United Scates and worked in various fields before earning a master's degree in linguistics from che Universiry of Southern California, the same institution where she earned her doctorate in 1985. Her dissertation

A free-standing institute not based in a specific college or school, the facility houses 35 faculty from various academic areas on campus - law, political science, international rela– tions, religion, history and business.

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FA LL 2001