Fulbrighters Examine Causes and Seek Remedies for Civil and
International Conflicts
Thirty top scholars from around the world will work collaboratively
over the next year to better understand how and why conflicts
occur within and between nations, and how these conflicts might
be prevented.
The 30 are the second wave of grantees from the Fulbright New
Century Scholars Program, a new international research
effort sponsored by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational
and Cultural Affairs. Last year, a group of 30 different international
scholars examined the social context of global health challenges
and disparities and recommended innovative approaches to strengthening
public health around the globe. This year's scholars will focus
on the topic, "Addressing Sectarian, Ethnic and Cultural
Conflict Within and Across National Borders."
Led by Edward Tiryakian, professor of sociology at Duke University
and the New Century Scholars Distinguished Leader, the 2003
group of New Century Fellows are drawn from the U.S. and 20
other nations (see attached scholar list). The Fellows will,
says Tiryakian, examine religious, cultural and ethnic dimensions
of civil conflict and assess how these components interact with
each other to generate or to reduce conflicts within or between
regions or nations.
"Amidst processes of globalization drawing humankind increasingly
onto the same plane, old and new ethnic, religious and cultural
conflicts have arisen around the world, notes Tiryakian. "In
some areas, the conflicts have been contained, while elsewhere
the differences have broken out in collective acts of violence
- from riots to civil wars and secessionist movements."
The NCS Fellows will attempt to identify why in some regions
people enjoy the absence of conflict, in spite of the presence
of factors that incite conflict elsewhere, even within the same
country.
They will look at a variety of issues, including
Along the lines of the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program,
the New Century Scholars Program will offer NCS Fellows the
opportunity to do research abroad for three to six months. American
scholars will go to one of 140 countries and foreign scholars
will come to the United States.
The NCS Fellows will work both individually and collaboratively,
and will keep in touch via a variety of electronic media, as
well as face-to-face meetings. In November, a plenary seminar
will bring the Fellows together in Washington, D.C. in order
to present their findings to the public.
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