Undergraduate Life

College is an opportunity to prepare our students for knowledgeable, engaged, and ethical citizenship in a polarized public square. Our goal is for our college students to better understand and address conflict at individual, community, and global scales. This work is happening in our classrooms, in internships and experiences, in student life, and beyond.

Students: Ways to Get involved

We have lots of options for students interested in conflict transformation.

• In Fall 2024, we are launching a new CT Academic Cluster for undergraduates. This is a flexible program of study for integrating different opportunities to learn about conflict and practice new skills.
• If you are seeking a hands-on experience, check out our experiential learning page.
• In 2024-25, we will continue to offer several courses focused on conflict analysis and skill building:
  • INTD 232 (fall) and INTD 1259 (winter) - Conflict Transformation Skills 
  • INTD 1018 - Restorative Justice Theory and Practice
  • SOCI/INTD 228 - Theories and Practice of Conflict Transformation
  • EDST/INTD 132 - CT: Mindfulness Skills as Educational Practice
• Join trainings for Residential Life staff and orientation leaders in restorative practices (email blind@middlebury.edu).
• Join a structured, small group conversation about the 2024 election in our Good Talks 2024 series.

If you know of a space or project that would benefit from a conflict transformation approach, please be in touch! You can email us at conflicttransformation@middlebury.edu 

Opportunities for Faculty and Staff

There are many constructive approaches to conflict, informed by practices in dialogue, intercultural competence, restorative practices, and mediation. We are supporting efforts to build critical self-awareness, including mindfulness practices.

• Get training in structured dialogue and constructive conflict skills in the Engaged Listening Project, organized around semester-long cohorts of faculty and staff (new cohorts every semester)
• With Beyond the Page, integrate creative practices into your classroom or project
• Learn from the Vermont Restorative Approaches Collaborative (VTRAC), a new Middlebury partner
• Event Co-Sponsorship: we have been receiving an increasing number of requests for co-sponsorship from college faculty. Our existing departmental budgets support rich programming around conflict analysis, so we are focusing the small pool of CT resources for outside speakers on conflict transformation – critical self-awareness, skills, and dispositions for inviting constructive conflict. Please apply for funding using this form.
• At our Resources page, you can learn more about the CT approach in our one-page overview, our biannual report, and at our Canvas page, Conflict Transformation Curriculum

Contact

Lida Winfield, Head of CT Undergraduate Pillar, Assistant Professor of Dance
Brian Lind, Associate Dean for Community Standards