Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding

Final call for delegates – reply asap!

Witness for Peace, a politically independent, nationwide grassroots organization working to support peace, justice and sustainable economies in the Americas, is looking for delegates to join Mexico: The Drug War and Social Control: Militarization, Displacement, and Migration from January 13th-22nd, 2017. Witness for Peace delegations are based in popular education and are powerful, transformative experiences. As an organization they have an excellent record working with Communication Studies departments to build international study abroad courses emphasizing social justice.

The January delegation to Mexico (which includes Mexico City and Oaxaca) will look at the intersection between economic policy, community, and culture. These experiences are paradigm changing for anyone with an interest in teaching intercultural and critical communication.

The application deadline has been extended but interested applicants should contact as soon as possible for more information and registration details:

James Dimock
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Minnesota State University, Mankato

Elise Roberts
Regional Organizer
Witness for Peace Upper Midwest

Mexico: The Drug War and Social Control: Militarization, Displacement, and Migration

The transnational corporate presence in Mexico has been increasing since NAFTA went into effect in 1994, and even more since constitutional reforms were passed in 2014. Today, the government prioritizes corporate rights and land concessions for energy extraction, while the human rights record for the U.S.-funded military and police has continued to worsen. Increased military funding for the Drug war has fueled the corruption and violence, and forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detentions, and kidnappings have continued to increase. Find out how this state repression relates to the implementation of a neoliberal agenda and learn how U.S. Drug War policy has encouraged militarization and fueled migration north. Strengthen your analysis of the links between transnational corporate interests, military aid, state repression of social movements, and forced displacement and migration.

Participants on this delegation will:

-Investigate the Mérida Initiative (the $2.4 billion U.S. military aid package to Mexico) and learn how it has led to an increase in human rights abuses

-Hear about the organizing struggles and successes of communities in resistance

-Meet with Mexican human rights and land rights activists from different eras (1960’s through today)

-Strengthen a global movement against militarization and corporate control

The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding is offering a practical one-week course for peacebuilding practitioners and educators. Building Bridges through Intergroup Dialogue will be held Feb 25-March 1, 2013 in Washington, D.C.

Many peacebuilders will find themselves engaging with groups who have strained relationships. Intergroup Dialogue is a creative tool practitioners can use to engage alienated groups in safe conversation about their identities with the goal of improving understanding, dismantling perceptions of the “other,” and creating alliances that can help pave the way to greater intergroup cooperation, peaceful coexistence, and equality.

In this course, participants will learn the principles and practice of Intergroup Dialogue through participation in a multiple-session, identity-based dialogue facilitated by the instructors. In addition, participants will learn the fundamentals of facilitating Intergroup Dialogue through presentations by expert dialogue practitioners, course readings, and exercises designed to build facilitation skills.

Course Requirements: Participants are expected to attend the full five days of the course and should be prepared to actively participate in six to seven two-hour dialogue sessions over the length of the course. The topic of the dialogue will depend on the make-up of the participants but will center on experiences of identity (race, ethnicity, nationality, profession, gender, political affiliation, etc.). Participants will be expected to share and reflect on their own experiences of identity in personal and/or professional life.

The Academy for International Conflict Management and Peacebuilding is the education and training arm of the United States Institute of Peace.

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