Overview
You are acting as a delegate or actor in a region of conflict of your choosing. You may be a UN representative, a USAID or other development agency representative, an IGO actor, an NGO actor, a nonprofit actor, a documentarian, a CEO, an expert or otherwise capable and resourced individual. Think of yourself as an actor of the interventionists along the three layers we’ve talked about (interpersonal, intergroup or global): you may be a development agent/actor or international agency/actor, a governmental agency/actor, or an NGO/nonprofit agency/actor. Or, you may be involved in corporate responsible spaces or media spaces.
Who Are You?
You will first outline who you are and what resources you have access to. Don’t think you have absolute unlimited funds (like millions upon millions of dollars or resources). But, you have what you need. Seek to explain what level you are intervening from, what experiences and resources qualify you to meet the needs of the conflict and to innovate resolution and restoration. You will also explain (or “imagine” or “invent”) why you are intervening in the conflict. Do you have ties to the conflict? Do you have a dream or passion that makes your involvement unique or necessary?
What is the Nature of the Conflict?
Then, you will describe the nature of the conflict, seeking to explain how it started, how it has escalated and why it is still ongoing. Here, you may draw in theories and explanations from the first few weeks of class - the lifecycle of conflict, structural and systemic violences that perpetuate conflict and other theories that address and expose individual, intergroup conflict and national or global conflict. Your analysis should also explore and explain why groups are responding the way that they are - what are the groups interests and grievances?
What Will You Create/ How Will You Intervene?
Finally, with your resources, you will devise a strategy or innovation to address the conflict and resolve it. This is where you will create change and act in peacemaking/ building/ keeping. This is the innovation of your creation, your work. What will you create? What will you enact? What will you direct and how will that impact and transform the conflict?
Questions to consider:
How will you use your resources to dismantle systemic and structural violence?
What systems and structures will you raise up?
What policies will you create?
What campaigns will you create and disseminate?
What organization(s) will you start and grow?
Paper Guidelines and Format:
- Your paper must present introduction and conclusions paragraphs. Your introduction will explain the importance and significance of the topic and will introduce each section in 1-2 sentences each (this is your map — where your paper is going). I should be able to understand your argument (your thesis) in your intro paragraph.
- Your paper must follow a proper and formal format (MLA, APA or Chicago), including proper headings, citations, in-text references and page layout.
- Must be a total of 6 Pages in length.
- Your paper will be typed double-spaced, using Times New Roman, 12-point font. Please refer to Owl Purdue MLA Format online for other formatting and style guidelines.
- Works Cited and Sources: You will need minimum five sources including sources that give credibility to your analysis of the structures and systems embedded in the conflict. Other sources can include news articles conveying your chosen conflict.