(Washington) – Eighteen community college faculty members from around the U.S. have just returned from a five-day seminar in Washington, D.C. at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) called, "Global Peace and Security in Community Colleges and the Communities They Serve." During the workshop, they collaborated on ways to integrate teaching about conflict resolution into their already-existing curricula. The participants are chosen from a pool of applicants for this all-expense paid training experience.

This is the fourth year USIP has brought community college faculty members together. USIP's goal is to support innovative instructors by helping them create curricula, identify new resources for teaching and build a network of like-minded faculty members who can support one another's efforts to bring global education to the community college classroom.

During the seminar, instructors work in groups on a curriculum-building project; participate in a conflict resolution seminar that they can use in their own classrooms; learn about resources available to them at USIP and elsewhere in Washington, D.C.; discuss current global conflicts; meet with experts in the field and faculty members who have experience and lessons learned to share; and deal with issues such as gender and diversity in the classroom.

David Smith, senior program officer at USIP who leads the conference each year, said, "This opportunity for community colleges is vital as we continue to face the challenges of instability and conflict. Community colleges are experts at traditional liberal arts education, as well as vocational training. In most post-conflict environments, it is the occupational skills that community colleges teach that are necessary to promote global peacebuilding. Increasingly students who graduate from these institutions can play roles in building stable societies around the world. In addition, students coming to community colleges are increasingly international and as such can learn about approaches to conflict resolution and peace that they can export back to their homelands."

USIP is an independent organization founded by Congress to prevent and resolve violent international conflict, teach the American public about issues of war and peace and build the capacity of peacebuilding professionals around the world. More information about the community college seminar including the agenda and photos, is available online.

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan institution established and funded by Congress. Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and development, and increase conflict management capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by directly engaging in peacebuilding efforts around the globe.