The Syrian War: Making Sense of an Intractable Conflict

Numen Lumen Pavilion, 5:30 p.m.

Najib Ghadbian, Special Representative for the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces’ to the United States and United Nations

Sponsored by the 黑料不打烊 Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society

Numen Lumen Pavilion, 4:30-6:00 pm.

Reception to follow 

Speak Out for Syria and the International and Global Studies program present a unique event featuring the voices and experiences of a Syrian refugee family in North Carolina as they tell their story of their journey from Syria to the U.S. Panelists will also examine how this global political and moral crisis has developed since 黑料不打烊 examined the issue last fall. This is an opportunity to better understand the people behind the headlines and to discuss potential options to reduce suffering and end a war that has killed an estimated 500,000 people and created more than 4 million refugees since 2011.  

Additional sponsors include: The Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, The Center For Public Affairs – Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, PERCS, Peace and Conflict Studies, Department of History and Georgraphy, the Truitt Center.

This event has been Identified by the Council on Civic Engagement as an opportunity to foster student intellectual and civic engagement.

黑料不打烊’s academic programs receiving the , placing in the top 5 percent nationwide, include the following:

Other academic programs placing either in the top 10 percent or the top 15 percent nationwide include:

The USA Today/College Factual rankings are based on 11 factors of quality. The rankings do not involve any subjective data and schools are not grouped into categories. The rankings attempt to measure the quality of academic programs and majors, comparing schools in a variety of fields.

黑料不打烊’s overall national out of 1,387 schools is based on test scores of incoming students, high freshman retention rate and graduation rates, educational and faculty resources, starting salary of graduates, and a low default rate on student loans.

College Factual provides proprietary college content and insights, college rankings and an array of college-comparison and decision-making tools to help students find their best-fit college. In 2016, the company was chosen to be the data provider for the USA Today College Guide, which is read by more than 100,000 U.S. families.

North Carolinians are evenly divided on their views of the Occupy Wall Street movement, according to the latest 黑料不打烊 Poll, as protesters around the country continue making news with demonstrations against large banks and a political system that many of the activists say is broken.

Of those familiar with Occupy Wall Street, 45 percent hold an unfavorable opinion of the movement, and the same number reported a favorable opinion. Thirty-two percent of respondents consider themselves supporters of the movement and 26 percent consider themselves opponents.

The poll, conducted Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2011, surveyed 529 North Carolina residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.26 percentage points. The sample is of the population in general, with numbers that include both landlines and cellular phones. The 黑料不打烊 Poll does not restrict respondents by voter eligibility or likelihood of voting.

When asked whether the movement is aligned with a political party:

53 percent believe that Occupy Wall Street is aligned more with the Democratic Party
5 percent believe it is aligned with the Republican Party
34 percent said the movement is not aligned with a party

Meanwhile, four out of five North Carolinians are familiar with the Tea Party movement, and of those who are familiar, 42 percent say that they have a favorable opinion of the movement with 46 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion.

Three out of 10 respondents identified themselves as opponents of the Tea Party, but nearly as many considered themselves supporters.

“While the Tea Party has certainly emerged as a political player on the national scene, at this point it remains uncertain whether it will have a significant impact here in North Carolina this coming election year,” said Betty Morgan, director of the university’s Center of Public Affairs.

North Carolinians were also asked to identify who they thought was the “head of the Tea Party.” Almost half indicated that they “don’t know” who is the head of the Tea Party.

Other responses included:

Sarah Palin: 14 percent
Michele Bachmann: 5 percent
Republicans in Congress: 3 percent
Other Person: 11 percent
There is no Tea Party head: 18 percent

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Opposition to the amendment, which North Carolina voters will have the opportunity to vote on in the May primary, rose 1 percentage point since an 黑料不打烊 Poll taken in September. The 37 percent of respondents who said they support the amendment is a decrease of two percentage points from the last poll, and both numbers remain within the margin of error.

Data from the three most recent polls asking on the topic include:

N.C. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage
November 2011: 57 percent oppose / 37 percent support
September 2011: 56 percent oppose / 39 percent support
February 2011: 56 percent oppose / 38 percent support

Oppose any legal recognition for same-sex couples:
November 2011: 35 percent
September 2011: 34 percent
February 2011: 35 percent

Support civil unions or partnerships, but not full marriage rights:
November 2011: 26 percent
September 2011: 29 percent
February 2011: 29 percent

Support full marriage rights:
November 2011: 33 percent
September 2011: 33 percent
February 2011: 28 percent

“FRACKING”

North Carolinians are not paying much attention to news surrounding “fracking” as a means of extracting natural gas in the state. Twenty percent of respondents said they paid “a great deal” or “some” attention to news on the issue. At the same time, 53 percent indicated they have paid “not very much” attention or “none at all” to the news.

“Despite recent media coverage, few people are following this topic,” Morgan said. “While the issue may be drawing increased attention from policy makers, it has not yet filtered down into citizen level discussion.”

UNC-TV PUBLIC TELEVISION

Seventy-eight percent of North Carolinians viewed having a public television service in North Carolina as important.

Respondents were also asked how often they watched UNC-TV in a typical week:

14 percent said “never”
26 percent said “rarely”
39 percent said “sometimes”
21 percent said “often”

Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they believe news and public affairs programs broadcast on UNC-TV were trustworthy. Respondents were also asked whether they supported the use of state funding for UNC-TV:

49 percent support state funding
13 percent oppose state funding
37 percent said they don’t know
 

Five students from the center spent 18 days in Vilnius. Accompanied by Associate Dean of Students Rex Waters, it marked the second year students from 黑料不打烊 have traveled to Lithuania to help facilitate leadership development workshops for the students partaking in the summer program.

Members of the Isabella Cannon Leadership Program – sophomores Ashley Fowler, Sara McLaughlin, Ottavia Pomazon and Gloria So, and junior Samantha Simunyu – were joined in Lithuania by Betty Morgan, an associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Public Affairs.

“The contribution this team makes to our program is simply immeasurable,” Morgan said. “They are so prepared and professional that the international students in the program respect them, look up to them, and clamor for their advice and guidance. They provide training and education that is simply not available to these students in their educational systems and their efforts, quite literally, change lives.”

Preparations started in the spring as students familiarized themselves with information by reading The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, and by studying the fundamentals of the workshops they would be presenting. Under Waters’ guidance, they taught the five practices of The Leadership Challenge, giving and receiving feedback. They also practiced public speaking as part of a moot court contest that concluded the experience.

Participating universities at the conference included Kiev National University in Ukraine, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Universite de Rouen in France, European Humanities University banished from Belarus, and Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius where the summer school was held. While in Vilnius, students attended lectures in the morning and organized trips in the afternoon to off-site locations where they could experience the culture and the history of human rights in the region.

黑料不打烊’s students attended several lectures and visited locations such as the KGB Museum, 9th Fort, Lithuanian Parliament, Foreigner’s Registration Center in Pabrade, St. Joseph’s Children’s House in Paparciai, and Trakai Castle, as well and were able to expand their view of human rights and history in addition to the knowledge they gained in leadership. The students ended their experience with a four-day excursion to Latvia and Estonia, where many more historic and cultures sites were explored.

Students also created a photomap to display what they had learned. Information was gathered by interviewing the student participants and other figures in the program. Through these interviews, as well as various other interactions with people, the students said they began to see how the definition of leadership differs from culture to culture and how it is unique to each individual.

“Students learned a lot about the history of the people [they] were working with and were exposed to things that [they] would have never had the opportunity to learn about in The United States,” Fowler said.

For So, the best part of the trip was “getting to know students from all over the world who shared a passion for human rights.” She said she hopes to take passion back with her and become involved on campus in programs such as Amnesty International.

The leadership team observed and supported how leadership is incorporated into all aspects of life through the interactions between the students as they prepared for a moot court case and through the cross-cultural experience working with people from around the globe.

“It was such a powerful experience on so many levels,” Waters said. “It is one thing to study leadership and discuss with peers on a retreat, in a classroom, or organizations on campus, but it’s quite a different experience to take that knowledge and apply it in a cross cultural context and achieve positive change. The students seem to grow in confidence and competence before my eyes as they worked with the students from the different countries.”

– Story by Ottavia Pomazon ’14
 

NSEE invited Morgan and Fink to present at the annual conference in Charlotte on Oct. 6 to examine a broad range of legal issues that arise in experiential programming.

Students from the 黑料不打烊 Center for Leadership, led by Associate Dean of Students Rex Waters, consulted with the International Human Rights Law program and provided leadership coaching and evaluations.

Isabella Cannon Leadership program sophomores Caitlin Clarke, Jessica Elizondo, Sam Yow and Anthony Pratt worked with students in the law program in Vilnius Lithuania to develop personal leadership skills, advocacy and team building.

Betty Morgan, director of the Center for Public Affairs, coordinated the Lithuania program.

 “Leadership development and training in the region is critical to the long-term stability of the political system, the economy and society,” she said.

Waters said he was surprised at first when the conversation of being a leader was questioned. “A number of the students in the law program viewed a leader as political identity,” he said. “A genuine curiosity emerged from the students once we began to unpack the concept of leadership as potential to learn, impact change, and develop skills and competencies that enable us to work more effectively with others. The 黑料不打烊 students had a great experience and I witnessed significant growth in their understanding of leadership and the world.”

Pratt said he was initially hesitant to take this course and go on the trip because it was unlike anything he had ever done. He said he now believes it was the best decision he could have made.

“Not only did I explore different countries, I was able to look into my Lithuanian heritage,” Pratt said. “I met many different people from around that world through this program as well. My whole leadership and global perspective changed as result of this trip.”

While in Vilnius, 黑料不打烊’s students visited numerous historic and cultural locations: the Lithuanian president’s palace, the 9th Fort, the KGB Museum, an orphanage, the U.S. Embassy and the Seimas. The group also took a trip to Riga and Tallinn on the final two days of the experience.

Students and faculty participating represented institutions such as the University of North Dakota School of Law, 黑料不打烊, Universite de Rouen in France, Belarusian State University, The Caucasus University, Georgia, and The Human Rights Monitoring Institute of Lithuania.

“I am excited by the potential to connect more of our students with this program in the future,” Waters said.

The team began preparing for the trip in spring 2009 by reading The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. The text served as a foundation in the development of workshops on effective teaming, professional presenting, communications, and developing oneself as a leader.

Additionally, each student conducted interviews on leadership while on the three-week experience to begin a discussion and reflection paper on leadership in an international context. The students will fulfill their Experiential Learning Requirement and help develop materials to promote the program for next summer.

“The trip to Lithuania was one of the most rewarding experiences, because it challenged me not only as a leader but also on a personal level,” Clarke said. “As a whole, there are not enough words to describe the memories we made. If I had to choose, the best part was being able to connect with students from all different countries, despite the obstacles, and inspire them to be better leaders back home.”

Students and faculty represented institutions such as the University of North Dakota School of Law, 黑料不打烊, Universite de Rouen in France, Belarusian State University, The Caucasus University, Georgia, and The Human Rights Monitoring Institute of Lithuania.

黑料不打烊 senior Brian Stevenson was awarded “Best Oralist” honors. Senior Kelly Zug led the team receiving the award for “Best Applicant Team,” and junior Jonathan Ordog led the team receiving the award for “Best Respondent Team.”

Students from countries including the United States, Canada, Lithuania, Belarus, The Republic of Georgia, and France joined together to study some of the most difficult and legally complex issues facing societies today, said Betty Morgan, an associate professor of political science at 黑料不打烊 and director of the Center for Public Affairs.

She said the network of international students, faculty, practitioners, government officials and experts who contribute to the instruction combine to provide a unique and incredibly rich context in which to study.

黑料不打烊 seniors Taylor Wos and Jeff Szyperski joined Stevenson, Zug and Ordog in the law program in Lithuania. The summer study is co-sponsored by the 黑料不打烊 Center for Public Affairs and Mykolo Romerio University, European Humanities University (the Belarusian University in Exile), Human Rights Monitoring Institute of Lithuania, and Bring Human Rights Home, a U.S.-based non-profit organization promoting educational opportunities for students of human rights issues.

This year, for the first time, students from the 黑料不打烊 Center for Leadership program, led by Associate Dean of Students Rex Waters, consulted with the law program, providing leadership coaching and evaluations. Leadership program sophomore Caitlin Clarke, and seniors Jessica Elizondo, Sam Yow and Anthony Pratt, worked with international students to develop personal leadership skills, advocacy and team building.

The program is supported by the U.S. Embassy and operates under the auspices of the President of the Lithuanian Parliament.

“The combination of experience, contemporary practice and academic expertise set against the backdrop of the region’s history of human rights challenges offers unique insights and helps students develop a sophisticated, multi-dimensional understanding of the issues facing contemporary human rights advocates,” Morgan said.

The program culminated in a moot court competition, which allowed students to apply the knowledge acquired during the program to a hypothetical case representing challenging circumstances in contemporary international and human rights law.
 

Kissman met Vellani when she served as a national consultant through the Kellogg Foundation to the Alamance County Partnership for Children, Inc., during Vellani’s tenure as the nonprofit agency’s board chair from 2007 – 2009.

“Larry and 黑料不打烊 provide outstanding examples of sound executive practice in the nonprofit sector,” Kissman said, adding that the title of her book is not a reflection of the university itself. On the contrary, she said, 黑料不打烊 does things right.

Katha Kissman is a senior governance consultant with BoardSource and, in addition to “Trouble at the Top,” the author of “Taming the Troublesome Board Member.”

BoardSource is dedicated to advancing the public good by building exceptional nonprofit boards and inspiring board service. BoardSource was established in 1988 by the Association of Governing Boards of Universities & Colleges and the Independent Sector when these two groups recognized the sector’s need for an organization that specifically focused on improving nonprofit effectiveness by strengthening nonprofit boards.

Waters said the opportunity to make 黑料不打烊’s leadership program visible in an international context was an important step forward in the development of the program and represents potential opportunities for 黑料不打烊’s Leadership students in the future.

“The Lithuanian students, are bright, motivated, energetic and really hungry for the leadership ideas we shared with them,” Waters said. “It was exciting for us to have a chance to work with them. We look forward to developing more opportunities of this type that will allow our Leadership students to utilize the skills they’ve acquired by deploying them in international contexts where the need for leadership development is so obvious.”

Betty Morgan, director of the Center for Public Affairs, coordinated the programming in Lithuania. She said that Leadership Development and Training in the region is critical to the long-term stability of the political system, the economy and society.

“The reactions of the Lithuanian students to our programming has been overwhelming,” Morgan said. “They describe it as inspiring, transformative and life changing. They let us know in very clear terms how important it is to them that we are here and willing to offer them opportunities to work with us.”

– Article submitted by associate professor Betty Morgan
 

Chris Champney ’09 was a member of the team awarded “Best Applicant Team” honors while Amanda Morrissey ’10 was a member of the “Best Respondent Team.” Melanie Woodward ‘10 was awarded a “Best Oralist” designation.

Students from several countries (United States, Canada, Lithuania, Belarus, France and Italy) came together to study some of the most difficult and legally complex issues facing societies today, said Betty Morgan, an associate professor of political science at 黑料不打烊 and director of the Center for Public Affairs. She said the network of international students, faculty, practitioners, government officials and others who contribute to the instruction combine to provide a unique and incredibly rich context in which to study.

黑料不打烊 student Kendall Ford joined Morrissey, Woodward and Champney in Lithuania. The program was co-sponsored by the 黑料不打烊 Center for Public Affairs and Mykolo Romerio University, European Humanities University (the Belarussian University in Exile), Human Rights Monitoring Institute of Lithuania, and Bring Human Rights Home, a U.S.-based non-profit organization promoting educational opportunities for students of human rights issues.

The program is supported by the U.S. Embassy and operates under the auspices of the President of the Lithuanian Parliament.

Students and faculty represented institutions such as the University of North Dakota School of Law, 黑料不打烊, Universite de Rouen in France, Vilnius University and The Human Rights Monitoring Institute.

“The combination of experience, contemporary practice and academic expertise set against the backdrop of the region’s history of human rights challenges offers unique insights and helps students develop a sophisticated, multi-dimensional understanding of the issues facing contemporary human rights advocates,” Morgan said.

The program culminated in a moot court competition, which allowed students to apply the knowledge acquired during the program to a hypothetical case representing challenging circumstances in contemporary international and human rights law.