Barbara J. Wien's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

the terrible waste and suffering of so many people from war.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

Barbara J. Wien is a public speaker, peace scholar, educator, trainer, women’s rights advocate, and mother of two young children. She is the author of 12 articles and editor of two books, including PEACE AND WORLD ORDER STUDIES, a pioneering curriculum guide for professors, which sold over 10,000 copies and is now in its 7th edition. She has catalyzed 280 university Peace Studies programs in Africa, the U.S., Australia, NZ, and Canada. She has extensive knowledge of international grassroots peace movements, cross-cultural issues, and gender equity. She has protected the lives of human rights activists in war zones, and trained hundreds of UN officials, humanitarian workers, and police officers to de-escalate violence and manage conflicts. Barbara has led eight nonprofit organizations, taught alternatives to war and violence at four universities, worked for three grant-making agencies, and delivered countless training workshops and presentations in 58 countries.
For five years, Barbara served as Director of Peace Brigades International-USA, a highly-respected human rights organization with offices in 15 countries which protects the lives of civilians and activists threatened with political violence using a pioneering method known as “nonviolent protective accompaniment”. From 2001 to 2003, she worked with the award-winning playwright Eve Ensler to grant royalties from "The Vagina Monologues" to end violence against girls and women. Barbara was also a Program Officer and Conflict Resolution Trainer for the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), Executive Director of the Consortium on Peace Research, Education and Development (COPRED), chief fundraiser for the National Whistleblower Center, and Director of the Real Security Education Project at the Institute for Policy Studies.

When she was 27, Barbara led an international delegation of 300 labor union presidents to El Salvador to stop the killing of priests, school teachers and trade union activists by the army's death squads. She organized with religious leaders in Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan to negotiate the release of child soldiers kidnapped by the Lord Resistance Army. She worked with Hindu and Muslim women in India to stop communal rioting and violence in Gujarat and armed conflict in Asam (on the Bangladesh border). She has traveled to the Middle East to oppose Israel's illegal military occupation of Palestinian lands. She is on the board of Interfaith Peace-builders which organizes delegations to the Middle East, the Juniata College Peace Institute, and National Peace Action, the largest anti-war group in the U.S.

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

Israel-Palestine, Egypt, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, Korea

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

The United States

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

teaching "Education for Global Peace" at the University of Maryland

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://www.ElectronicIntifida.org

What is one of your favorite websites in the field? (please provide one answer per box)

http://www.nationalpriorities.org

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Civil Society, Culture, Environment, Facilitation, Gender, Health, Information and Communication Technology, Media

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Advocacy, Communication, Evaluation, Fundraising, Information Technology, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

1. The origins of social courage and resistance to war
2. Can positive global and cross-border civil society movements outweigh destructive government foreign policies and military aid

If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications

The New Humanitarians: Blueprints for Visionaries (2009)
Peace, Justice & Security Studies: A Curriculum Guide (2009)
intra-group Conflict & Peacebuilding, on-line for Walden U.
Organizing for Peace in your Community, a training module for the Peace Support Network