Willie Nelson

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We’ve received a report from Madeline M. Maxwell, Professor of Communication Studies, Willie Nelson Center Students for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the UT Project on Conflict Resolution.

On Wednesday the Willie Nelson Center Students for Peace and Conflict Resolution had 114 people at their program on “Violence and Tragedy: How Communities Face the Future.”

They had 3 speakers. Sherri Stiles, mental-health officer and trainer for Doctors Without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization, shared details from her nine-month working experience in Uganda. She had fascinating affirming stories. Ugandan Refugees faced poor health conditions and threats of violence while spending more than 20 years in refugee camps.

Stiles said, since much of the outside world thinks refugees are only in need of physical treatment providing mental health care to them is a huge challenge. In spite of the absolutely horrible conditions and horrifying experiences of the people there, she had great stories showing people just going on with their lives making new lives. “The camp community leaders and religious leaders did quite well to connect people and try to bring them back to their life,” Stiles said.

The second speaker was Calvin Streeter, a UT social work professor who works with the UN High Commission on Refugees just back from visiting students who are interning in Tanzania and Montenegro. He had more stories of the bureaucracy and politics that sometimes help but often get in the way of helping. He said that during his research on how communities respond to trauma, he found some communities became stronger after a crisis while others could not recover.

“Community connection, such as a memorial ceremony, is an important process [in] responding to disaster,” Streeter said. “Communities should admit shortcomings during the tragedy and focus on how to incorporate them into future preparation.”

The third speaker was law professor Philip Bobbitt who has a new book coming out on terrorism and nation-state structure. He declared that “everything” we believe about terrorism is wrong. This sounds like a book we should all read.

“The goal of the panel discussion is to help people think about the long-term impact of terrorism and violence,” said communication studies professor Madeline Maxwell, director of the project. She said the panel focused on the skills and resources people have when facing conflict, the policies and structures needed in the aftermath and how to help people respond better to conflict and tragedy. “Community faces an immediate impact when the violence occurs, but community rebuilding is important, since it is a long-term issue after the violence,” Maxwell said.

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