Hirsch

SHEPHERDSTOWN — The third lecture in the Shepherd University President’s Lecture Series this semester, focusing on the subject of “Engaged Learning in the Midst of Conflict: Who’s Up For the Challenge?” was held in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education on March 25.

The lecture was given by Susan Hirsch, who is a professor of conflict resolution and anthropology in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

“I’m really excited to be here and to speak with you tonight!” Hirsch said. “It’s really an honor to speak at Shepherd University — an institution that I have long admired and benefited from, as a neighbor.”

Hirsch noted that she is an ethnographer — someone who studies and describes the culture of a particular society or group.

“I’m always interested in how ordinary people think about and use law, and how they think about the relationship between law and culture. I moved from teaching cultural anthropology early in my career at Wesleyan University to the peace and conflict field at George Mason University,” Hirsch said, mentioning she refers to it as the “PAX field.”

“What I have most appreciated about the PAX field, is that it offers social science tools to analyze conflict and it focuses on the roots of intractable conflicts — think about conflicts in Northern Ireland and the Middle East.

As well, the field is always looking for ways to address those conflicts, through conflict resolution; ideally, conflict prevention; and also post-conflict justice after significant conflict. We’re really working to build equitable, sustainable, peaceful societies,” Hirsch said. “We also think a lot about the relationship between the conflict theories we teach in class and the great practice of implementation.”

Hirsch drew from her experiences in teaching at all levels of higher education and from her recently published book, “Teaching Peace and Conflict Studies: Engaged Learning and Inclusive Theory,” to develop her lecture.

“Tonight, I’m going to share with you some of the lessons learned from teaching budding conflict resolvers and peace builders. My contention is that engaged learning is an invaluable educational tool for this task, especially in a time of significant conflict,” Hirsch said. “Engaged learning, as I practice it, I think connects to the aim of this lecture series — expanding civility.”

According to Hirsch, educators must intentionally work to achieve engaged learning, as it cannot happen without effort.

“Successful engaged learning should: take participants out of their comfort zone, cause participants to think before they speak, encourage participants to reflect critically and motivate participants to act,” Hirsch said. “As our students gain experience with civility, empathy and authenticity and other peace-building skills, we challenge them to figure out how they want to engage constructively, given the current conflicts that are demanding our attention.”

She acknowledged, however, that successfully engaging students in learning can be challenging for educators, who have to juggle many different demands on their and their students’ time and resources.