1. Thematic Annotated Bibliography of Relevant Articles on the Web*

*Some web sites charge a small fee to download articles, or require you to register before you can view the article. Also, specific addresses for articles often change, so in most cases we have included only the main Web site link; you may need to do a quick search by author, title, or subject once you get to the site.

Conflict Resolution Education

Lampman, Jane. "Islam on campus: In the limelight, Muslim students embrace pro-active role," in The Christian Science Monitor, November 8, 2001.

The national Muslim Student Association (MSA), and its chapters at colleges and universities around the US, has risen to meet the post-9/11 surge in public interest in Islam. The MSA, which was founded in 1963, has publicly condemned the actions and tactics of the 9/11 attackers, and has also opposed the US/UK bombings in Afghanistan. This past month has been a busy one for campus MSA groups, because of Ramadan and the annual Islamic Awareness Week most groups hold in November. Originally made up of mostly international students studying in the US, MSA members now are predominantly US-born or immigrants who were raised largely in the US. In addition to hosting weekly halaqas (Islamic study circles), religious services, and social and educational gatherings for Muslim students, MSAs now are putting time and energy into building relationships with other campus groups, both faith-based and issue-oriented, as well as training members to go into the communities and public schools to teach about Islam and address misconceptions.

Moreno, Sylvia. "Sacred Hoops," a five-part series in The Washington Post, Metro Section, Sunday, November 25, 2001 ? Thursday, November 29, 2001.

This series of articles reports on the experiences of a group of African American young people from Washington, DC, during a 3-week trip to Guatemala this summer. The young people, who ranged in age from 13 to 23, traveled to a remote Mayan village in Guatemala to run a basketball clinic and repair the village's basketball courts. The trip was organized by Hoops Sagrado (Sacred Hoops), a small DC-based nonprofit founded in 1996 by Bryan Weaver, after a trip to Guatemala in which he observed the integral social role basketball courts played in impoverished Mayan villages. Weaver's hope was that African American young people from DC and Guatemalan youth would be able, through basketball, to appreciate their racial and cultural differences as well as their common struggles against bigotry, racism, poverty, substance abuse, societal violence and marginalization. In this series, Moreno reports on various cultural bridge-building successes and challenges experienced by the DC young people, as well as the impact of the trip once they returned to their home situations.

Curriculum Infusion/Integration

Newcomb, Amelia. "Thinking through patriotism: Patriotic sentiment is everywhere. But what does the explosion of expression since September 11 mean?" in The Christian Science Monitor, November 20, 2001.

Newcomb moderated a conversation between two college professors, a high school teacher, and a college senior about patriotism post-9/11: flags, solidarity, and how these issues are present on campus and in the classroom. This wide-ranging discussion encompasses students' desire to talk through reactions to 9/11 and the war on terrorism, how/by whom patriotism is defined, how/whether to teach patriotism, and how to model democracy in the classroom.

Social and Emotional Learning

Clayton, Mark. "A 'gender effect' in college learning?" in The Christian Science Monitor, November 27, 2001.

A recently released study of 19,000 students at 56 four-year colleges and universities in 13 states suggests that, over the four years of a college degree program, there is a 'gender effect' in learning. The study, published in the Journal of Higher Education, used the College Basic Academic Subjects Examination to track how students improved in English, math, science, and social studies. Researchers found that gender was a factor in how much or whether scores improved over time: women's scores were considerably lower than men's. While some find the study's results cause for concern, others are skeptical. The test itself could be gender-biased, and lower scores in math and science may be explained by the reality that many women still are not encouraged to pursue undergraduate math and science majors. In addition, some scholars point out that US higher education is often gender-biased in favor of men. Marcia Baxter-Magolda, an education professor at Miami University (Ohio), has published research that documents this bias. She distinguishes between "separate knowers," students ? more men than women -- who are comfortable voicing disagreements and challenges in the classroom, and "connected knowers," those who work best in collaborative learning situations, and points out that most college classroom pedagogical approaches favor "separate knowers."

School Safety/School Violence

Blish, Tipton. "Man Sues Over Anti-Gay Taunts Discrimination: Lawsuit against school district alleging daily torment could test new state law intended to protect homosexual students," in Los Angeles Times, November 27, 2001 B-5.

A former student has filed a lawsuit against Chaffey Joint Union High School District (California) because, he says, school officials failed to stop other students from using anti-gay language to taunt and harass him. The student, who is not gay but is seeking to force the district to protect students who face the kind of harassment he experienced, filed the lawsuit in US District Court on November 15. The case will be a test of the California law (effective 1/1/2000) that holds school officials responsible for protecting students from anti-gay harassment and violence. The lawsuit seeks to require the school district to implement diversity and tolerance training for staff and teachers, hold student assemblies on homophobia and harassment, support gay-straight alliances, keep accurate records of students' anti-gay harassment complaints.

School Reform/High-Stakes Testing/Standards

Hoff, David J. "Progress Lacking on U.S. Students' Grasp of Science," in Education Week, November 28, 2001.

The results of the 2000 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Science, in which 240,000 4th, 8th, and 12th grade students answered multiple-choice, short answer, essay, and lab questions, show that while 4th and 8th grade national scores remained even with 1996 scores, 12th grade scores were lower than those in 1996. 2000 marked the end of a decade of effort to improve science understanding, so educators greeted the release of the 2000 test scores with dismay. One way to improve NAEP test scores, and science learning in general, is to ensure teachers of science have a better understanding of their material. A comparison of NAEP teacher surveys and student test scores showed that students whose teachers had undergraduate degrees in science scored higher on the test than students whose teachers had undergraduate degrees in education.

Teicher, Stacy A. "Thinking Small," in The Christian Science Monitor, November 27, 2001.

In early 2000, Oakland (California) parents, fed up with the public schools - many of which were built to accommodate 600 students and housed 1000 - confronted the superintendent, Dennis Chaconas. A short time later, the district approved a plan to build 10 more schools, with a cap of 500 students each, to address the complaints of parents in a low-income area of predominantly Latino, African-American and Asian-American communities. A $300 million bond was passed to cover the cost. Six of the ten schools are now open, and while it is too early to ascertain the impact of smaller schools on student test scores, one thing is obvious right now: the smaller schools foster a strong sense of community. Teams of students, parents, teachers and staff helped design each school, and parents volunteer in the classrooms and free after-school programs. Public and private funding in recent years has gone to support building smaller schools in several states, and many researchers support smaller schools as a way to create the conditions for more effective learning and fewer discipline problems.

2. Announcements & Opportunities!

A. Courses, Workshops and Conferences

Colorado School Mediation Project Course Offerings

"How to Train Peer Mediators," program design, implementation, evaluation. December 6-8, 2001. Cost: $325, includes 2 lunches, 1 coordinator manual, 1 role-play packet.

"Healing Wounds with Words," using stories to prevent violence. December 3, 2001. Cost: $115, includes lunch and materials.

Graduate credit available. For more information, contact Colorado School Mediation Project at info@csmp.org, visit: www.csmp.org, or call (303) 444-7671.

B. Call for Submissions

New quarterly column on Best Practices in Diversity and Conflict Resolution in ACResolution.

Starting with the April 2002 issue of ACResolution, a new quarterly column on diversity will highlight practical strategies for training conflict resolution professionals in specific cross-cultural and diversity skills, describe model approaches to resolving complex disputes in various U.S. subcultures and abroad, and present case studies of programs and interventions in the field of diversity and conflict resolution. Each "best practice" chosen for publication will be introduced by Dr. Benjamin D. Reese, Jr., who has worked in the field of race-relations, cross-cultural communication, and diversity training for more than 30 years.

To contribute to this new column, please send 500- to 600-word descriptions of innovative and successful strategies/programs/models/case studies that further the practice of conflict resolution and diversity, or the training of conflict resolution professionals who work with diverse populations. Submissions should be sent to Dr. Reese at reesources1@aol.com

National Conflict Resolution Conference, Connections 2002, "Building a Culture of Peace"

This conference is jointly sponsored by Conflict Resolution Network Canada and Family Mediation Canada, and will be held June 12-14, 2002 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada.

Academics and researchers are invited to submit paper proposals for the Academic Program at Connections 2002, an in-depth, challenging conference. Paper proposals that address ways in which conflict resolution theorists and practitioners can work together to define and understand the topical issues in the field are encouraged. Paper proposals are invited from scholars in any conflict resolution related discipline. Proposals based on original research and reflecting the theme of the conference, "Building a Culture of Peace," will be preferred.

Invited presenters will have 30-45 minutes to present their papers on June 13, 2002. Paper proposals should be maximum 200 words, include a title, and contact information for the presenter. Scholars should submit electronic proposals to both of the following e-mail addresses: jschulz@uwindsor.ca AND lcn@unb.ca (Professor Jennifer Schulz and Professor Linda Nelson)

The deadline for receipt of proposals is Wednesday, December 12, 2001. Decisions will be communicated to presenters by January 11, 2002. For further Connections 2002 details, please visit www.crnetwork.ca and www.fmc.ca

C. Fellowship Opportunities

Ethnic Identities and Transformations Research Opportunity

Ethnic Identities and Transformations: The Meaning and Experience of Ethnicity in the 21st Century Center for the Study of Ethnicities, Communities and Social Policy Bryn Mawr College. "Ethnic Identities and Transformations" is a project of the Center for Ethnicities, Communities and Social Policy, one of four interdisciplinary centers at Bryn Mawr College. We intend to investigate specific contexts and means by which new migrant groups in the United States maintain or transform their sense of ethnicity, build communities and engage in cultural performance. Philadelphia, a major but rarely acknowledged area of settlement for recent migrants to the United States, will provide research opportunities for a number of Bryn Mawr faculty and a comparative perspective for scholars whose work focuses on other urban contexts. Each of the three years of the project will examine a central phenomenon of new ethnic experience in the United States. In 2002-2003, we will focus on Immigration and Global Links: The Formation of National/Transnational Identities; in 2003- 2004, Cultural Resiliency and Transformation: Construction of New Communities/Coalitions; and in 2004-2005, Cultural Production, Cultural Memory and Ethnic Conflict.

The Center's faculty affiliates bring diverse backgrounds in humanities and social science fields to this research. The design of our project is premised upon the belief that understanding the transformation of ethnicity requires a research practice that confronts the continuing gaps between cultural studies and social sciences, theory and fieldwork, and scholarly research and social policy. We thus seek applications from scholars trained in varied humanities or social science fields who are interested in interdisciplinary work that confronts one (or more) of these divides. We anticipate offering two fellowships each year to midcareer scholars or assistant professors beyond dissertation projects that will bring different scholarly backgrounds to our work. Applicants should propose research projects appropriate to the year's theme that will result in a significant publication. Fellows will be in residence for nine months, and will contribute to the intellectual life of the College by participation in the faculty seminar supported by the project and presentation of their work at a Center colloquium once during their residency. At the conclusion of the project in spring 2005, the Center will host a symposium featuring the work of fellows, faculty and outside speakers. We expect to publish a volume based on the symposium proceedings.

Fellows will enjoy rich resources for research at Bryn Mawr and in the greater Philadelphia community. Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Swarthmore Colleges operate a tricollege library system with a shared catalog of well over 1 million volumes. Visiting fellows will also have library privileges at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, with holdings of over 4.5 million volumes. Other local archival resources include the Balch Institute of Ethnic Studies, the Library Company of Philadelphia and the Charles Blockson Afro-American Collection at Temple University. Fellows will receive a stipend of $40,000, offices equipped with computers and Internet access, secretarial support and supplies, and $1,000 for travel expenses.

Application Deadline: January 15, 2002. Contact: Professors Richard Davis and Mary Osirim, Center for the Study of Ethnicities, Communities and Social Policy, Bryn Mawr College, 101 N. Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010-2899, (610) 526-5029 or (610) 562-5393, fax (610) 526-7476, e-mail rdavis@brynmawr.edu or mosirim@brynmawr.edu, Web site: http://www.brynmawr.edu/academics/centers_ecsp.shtml

Brown University Advanced Studies Program - Postdoctoral Fellowships

Brown University has recently secured funding for a $1 million project that will allow 10 scholars to participate in a nonresidential postdoctoral fellowship program. The Advanced Studies Fellowship Program at Brown will center on the theme, "The Nation and Its Schools: Federal and National Strategies for School Reform." Ten fellows will receive funding for nine-month research sabbaticals at locations of their choice. To be eligible for the program, applicants must have received their doctoral degrees in May 1994 or later. Applicants who will earn degrees in spring 2002 are also eligible. For logistical and financial reasons, the program cannot accept applications from scholars residing outside the United States. Application deadline: February 15, 2002, and the 10 scholars will be selected in early April. [more info]

D. Grants/Contests

The Gates Millennium Scholars

The Gates Millennium Scholars award program is aimed at increasing the number of low-income African Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, American Indian/Alaska Natives, and Hispanic Americans enrolling in and completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Application deadline: early February. [more info]

Toyota International Teach Program

The Toyota International Teacher Program is offering a fully funded study visit to Japan in June 2002. Full-time secondary school teachers in Alabama, California, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and West Virginia are eligible to apply. Application deadline: January 14, 2002. [more info]

NATIONAL PEACE ESSAY CONTEST

The National Peace Essay Contest is a scholarship competition and curriculum resource at the high school level that awards thousands of dollars to talented high school students, and provides topics for integration into existing curricula.

For more information, see www.usip.org. The deadline for the 2001-2002 contest is January 23, 2002.

National Ad Slam Contest

Commercial Alert has announced its National Ad Slam Contest, which is a nationwide contest to throw advertisers out of schools during the 2001-2002 school year. Commercial Alert will award a $5,000 prize to the school that makes the best and most creative effort to remove advertising and commercialism from school premises. Other prizes will be given for creativity, media coverage, and teamwork. [more info]

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