University for Peace

Hola! Policy Sara here once again....
Since this is our last chance to blog before disappearing deep in to the jungle, I have been given the assignment to inform you all about our University of Peace experience this past week. We were given a unique opportunity to attend 4 guest lectures at U Peace on a variety of topics on environmental and social justice issues. Robert Fletcher, a freshman professor at U Peace provided an interesting and critical look at ecotourism and its effects on local communities, culture, and economies. He introduced the idea of a nature/culture dichotomy that is present in the consciousness of most westerners-the idea that there are human spaces and natural spaces- and ecotourism gives a chance to "cross over". He argued that ecotourism is a the extention of our colonial legacy, as the heros of American narratives ventured into the unknown. Jan Breitling gave a lecture on environmental values, valutation, and services of forests where he talked about the economic use and non use values of environmental services. Our second day at U Peace we received lectures from Rolain Borel and Victoria Fontan. The first examined environmental stress as a cause of both intrastate and international conflicts. He described different forms of land degredation such as top soil erosion, nutrient mining, deforestaiton, etc., and how they contribute directly to conflicts over land and resources, often leading to political struggles within and between countries. The final lecture was on peace studies with a focus on post-saddam Iraq. Professor Fontan starting her second doctorate, researching how quantam theory-- very simply put, the holistic interconnectedness of everything--is key to peace studies. She emphasized the complexity, uncertainty, and creativity that is and will be necessary to achieve peace in post-Saddam Iraq.

And here I was, worried that I wouldnt be getting any Political Science curriculum out of this...

Anyway, I am off to surf. Be jealous Chris...haha! Love and miss you all.

Sara Hall