Dr. Illana Lancaster is a senior program officer in the Center for Applied Conflict Transformation where she works in the Academy. Her areas of work include managing the initiatives on Conflict Management Training for Peacekeepers (CMTP), Capacity Development for Educational Institutions (CDEI), and Participatory Action Research (PAR). 

Since 2008, USIP has partnered with the State Department’s ACOTA Program Office to deliver 5-day CMTP pre-deployment trainings and training-of-trainers to over 4900 peacekeepers in 20 African troop contributing countries; those peacekeepers have deployed to 8 AU and U.N. missions. The goal of CMTP is to strengthen peacekeepers’ capacities to protect civilians through the non-violent resolution of conflicts. The training focuses on skill-building in the areas of conflict analysis, communication, negotiation, and mediation, with a culminating capstone exercise in which all the skills are put into practice. Special emphasis is placed on the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse.  

Dr. Lancaster came to the Institute from the field of international training and education with over 20 years of experience. Her areas of specialization include curriculum and training design, professional development of educators and trainers, and international education policy. Her work is informed by the analytical lens of intersectionality (race, class and gender) and social spatiality. She integrates theories, pedagogies and methodologies from a variety of disciplines within the social sciences and humanities including urban studies, critical geography, critical race theory and legal studies.

Dr. Lancaster also has had a long-standing focus on Africa. She’s been studying, teaching, training, and researching issues of equity, access, and gender, with a regional focus on southern and eastern Africa and a contextual focus on the urban.  

Dr. Lancaster is a returned Peace Corps volunteer. She served as a secondary education volunteer in Serowe, Botswana. 

Dr. Lancaster earned a bachelor's in African and African American studies and English literature from the University of Virginia, a master's in secondary education from George Washington University and a doctorate in international education policy from the University of Maryland at College Park.  

Publications By Illana

Participatory Action Research for Advancing Youth-Led Peacebuilding in Kenya

Participatory Action Research for Advancing Youth-Led Peacebuilding in Kenya

Thursday, October 11, 2018

By: Illana M. Lancaster, Ph.D.;  Sahlim Charles Amambia, Felix Bivens, Munira Hamisi, Olivia Ogada, Gregory Ochieng Okumu, Nicholas Songora, Rehema Zaid

One-third of today’s generation of youth—those ages ten to twenty-four—live in fragile or conflicted countries and are susceptible to the sway of ideological narratives of violent extremism. Evidence suggests, however, that they also play active and valuable roles as agents of positive and constructive change.

Type: Peaceworks

YouthEducation & TrainingDemocracy & GovernanceViolent Extremism

Conflict Management Training for Peacekeepers (French)

Conflict Management Training for Peacekeepers (French)

Friday, February 23, 2018

By: Alison Milofsky, Ph.D.;  Joseph Sany;  Illana M. Lancaster, Ph.D.

Ce rapport examine le rôle de la Formation à la gestion des conflits dans la préparation des soldats de la paix aux missions des Nations Unies/de l’Union africaine, à travers une évaluation du programme de Formation à la gestion des conflits pour les soldats de la paix proposée par l’USIP. L’évaluation s’appuie sur des données collectées au travers de 137 entretiens semi-structurés avec des soldats de la paix formés par l’USIP et rentrés au pays, des membres de la communauté dans les zones où des soldats de la paix ont été déployés en mission, et des formateurs de pré-déploiement. Le rapport étudie les résultats de l’évaluation et propose des recommandations non seulement pour la formation de l’USIP à l’intention des soldats de la paix mais aussi pour élargir la portée des politiques et des pratiques en matière de maintien de la paix.

Type: Special Report

Conflict Analysis & PreventionEducation & Training

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