A limited number of scholarships are available.

For more information about this conference, scholarships, other MSPP/CE programs, or, to be added to our mailing list, please email Linda Rose at linda_rose@mspp.edu

Conference Brochure (PDF)

This conference plans to bring together academic and organizational leaders and grass-roots workers who are searching for psychological contributions to peaceful solutions for complex problems. We will have formal presentations by individuals in the forefront of peace activities, interactive and experiential events involving all of the attendees and the opportunity to attend workshops on special topics.

Some of the specific topics include:

• Ethnic conflicts around the world;
• Intervening in neighborhoods hurt by gang-related violence;
• Achieving goals of peace in the world’s most conflict ravaged areas;
• Nurturing dialogues between groups in conflict.

Conference Agenda:
Friday, September 19, 2008

• 8:30 am Welcome—Nicholas Covino, PsyD,
  President, MSPP
• 8:35 am Intro to Program—Stanley Berman, PhD, Dean of Advanced Graduate Studies, MSPP
• 8:40 am Intro of Ira Magaziner—Stanley Rosenzweig, PhD, Special Assistant to the President, MSPP
• 8:45 am Our Common Humanity—Ira Magaziner, Chairman, Clinton Foundation Policy Board; former Senior White House Advisor for Policy Development
• 10:15 am Break
• 10:30 am Reconciliation and Forgiveness in Divided Societies: A Psychologist’s Reflections from the Field—Paula Green, EdD, Founder and Director, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding
• 12:00 pm Lunch (on your own)
• 1:30 pm Workshops (choose one):
  • A) Nurturing a Dialogue Between Groups in Conflict—Yousef AlAjarma, MA and Keren Barzilay-Shechter, MA,; Lesley University doctoral students
  • B) Reconciliation and Forgiveness in Divided Societies (continued)—Paula Green, EdD, Director, Karuna Center for Peacebuilding, Amherst, MA
  • C) Voices of Immersion and Renewal: A Grassroots Community Organization’s Efforts to Decrease Youth Violence in Southeast Asian Communities—Catherine Vuky, PhD, Clinical Supervisor, South Cove Community Health Center
  • D) Working with Political and Family Violence—Hugo Kamya, MSW, PhD, Associate Professor, Simmons School of Social Work
  • E) Facing Ecological Catastrophe: Building Sustainable Communities—Sarah Conn, PhD, Founder, Ecopsychology Institute and Janet Surrey, PhD, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy
  • F) Moving Beyond Others’ Stereotypes (and Our Own)—Dave Joseph, LICSW, Program Director, Public Conversations Project
• 3:00 pm Break
• 3:15 pm Interest Groups:
  • Intervening in Urban Violence—Catherine Vuky, PhD
  • Children and Terror—Steven Zeitlin, PhD, Faculty Member, Psychoanalytic Couple and Family Institute of New England
  • Building Sustainable Communities—
    Sarah Conn, PhD and Janet Surrey, PhD
  • Psycho-Spiritual Dimensions of Violence and Peace—Michael Basseches, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Suffolk University; Staff Psychologist, Bureau of Study Counsel, Harvard University; Julie Oxenberg, PhD, Director, Tikkun Institute; Co-Founder, Spiritual Psychology Associates
• 4:15 pm Closing Mindfulness Exercise—Rev. Chonyi Richard Allen, MA, Sunray Meditation Society
• 4:30 pm Break
• 5:00 pm Light Evening Meal
  (No charge. Pre-registration required.)
• 6:00 pm Peace Circle: A Non-Sectarian Celebration Dedicated to personal and planetary peace, rooted in Native American (Cherokee) tradition, for the benefit of all Creation. Open to conference attendees and the entire MSPP Community—Rev. Chonyi Richard Allen, MA
• 8:00 pm Conclusion for the day

Saturday, September 20, 2008

• 8:30 am Introduction of Today’s Program & Mindfulness Exercise—Jodie Kliman, PhD, MSPP Core Faculty
• 8:45 am Hope in a Time of Global Despair—Kaethe Weingarten, PhD, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School; Director, the Witnessing Project; Director, Program in Family, Trauma and Resilience, The Family Institute of Cambridge
• 10:15 am Break
• 10:30 am Panel Discussion: Community Violence: A Historical & Political Context—Linda Daniels, PhD, Co-Director, Forensic Psychology Program, MSPP; Charles Poncho Brown, Community Activist; Honorable Kenneth V. Desmond, Jr., Associate Justice, Boston Municipal Court; Honorable Leslie E. Harris, Boston-Dorchester Juvenile Court; Pastor Turhan Shepherd, 21st Century Church, Mattapan
• 12:00 pm Lunch (provided)
• 1:15 pm Taking Back Our Streets: An Empowerment Model for Working with Inner-City Youth—Martin LaRoche, PhD, Director of Psychology Training, Martha Eliot Health Center, Children’s Hospital and John Tawa, UMass Boston doctoral student
• 2:45 pm Break
• 3:00 pm Small Group Reflections
• 4:00 pm Closing Session: Final Overview—
  Stan Berman, PhD, Jodie Kliman, PhD and
  Kaethe Weingarten, PhD
• 4:30 pm Program adjourns