mary hope schwoebel's Page

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

Somalia!! I worked in Somalia before the war doing development and after the war doing humanitarian assistance. I became involved in the national reconciliation process, which led to my interest in peace and conflict. My theoretical interest in the field is due to its multi-disciplinary nature and the necessity and challenge of integrating all of the social sciences to understand peace and conflict.

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

I began my international career as a Latin Americanist. I lived in Paraguay for years starting as a Peace Corps volunteer. I did my Master thesis on training women in agriculture in Ecuador and planned to do my PhD on training women in agriculture in Brazil. Instead was offered a position training women in agriculture in Somalia. I spent the next six years living in the Horn of Africa and working for UN, NGOs, and USAID. I then moved to DC to pursue a PhD at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. For the past ten years I have worked as a consultant all over the world, in a wide variety of domains, and for numerous and international and national organizations. I have taught as an Adjunct Faculty at universities in the DC area. I have developed and conducted numerous training programs. I am currently working on turning my dissertation into a book. The tentative title is "Nation-building in the Lands of the Somalis".

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

South America, East Africa, West Africa, South Asia, SE Asia, Caribbean, Pacific

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

Washington, DC, USA

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

Program Officer, United States Institute of Peace

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

http://my favorites change too frequently

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

Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Conflict Mainstreaming, Democratization, Development, Humanitarian Relief, Gender, Youth, Education, Civil Society, Organizational Development, Psychosocial

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

Training, Evaluation, Program Design, Advocacy, Intervention

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

The intersection between natural disasters and peace and conflict.
The role of the performing arts in peacebuilding.

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

"Towards a Theory, Method, and Practice of Appreciative Inquiry: For use in Complex Peacebuilding and Development Contexts:. With Erin McCandless. In Positive Approaches to Peacebuilding: A Resource for Innovators. Abu Nimer, Mohamed, Sampson, Cynthia, Liebler, Claudia, Whitney, Diana. (Eds.) Washington, D.C.: PACT Publications. 2002.

"Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, Peacebuilding". With Erin McCandless. In World at Risk: A Global Issues Source Book. Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press. 2002.
(Book won Choice Magazine Best Academic Book Award 2002.)