Kent State University’s Center for Applied Conflict Management was pleased to host Katy Gray Brown, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy and peace studies at Manchester College, during a visit to Kent State on April 13-14. Manchester College is home to the oldest peace studies major in the U.S. The program was founded on the heels of World War II in 1948.

For her sabbatical project, Brown is analyzing the evolution of the peace studies curriculum at Manchester over the decades and doing research on other curriculum at other leading programs. She visited Kent State because its Center for Applied Conflict Management’s degree program in applied conflict management is widely known and respected as a premier program in the field of peace and conflict studies. The Center for Applied Conflict Management was established in 1971 as the university’s original “living memorial” to the Kent State students who were killed by the Ohio National Guard on May 4, 1970, while protesting the U.S. war in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Brown was at Kent State for two days, observed several Kent State professors teaching applied conflict management classes, held discussions with students and interviewed faculty in the program. One outcome of her sabbatical project is to recommend revisions to their curriculum at Manchester by understanding its evolution and by comparing it to other programs.

“We were honored by Dr. Brown’s visit and enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the state of the field of peace and conflict studies with the director of Manchester’s storied program,” says Patrick Coy, Ph.D., Kent State professor and director of the university’s Center for Applied Conflict Management. “We look forward to an ongoing collegial relationship with the peace studies program at Manchester College.”

For more information about Kent State’s Center for Applied Conflict Management, visit www.kent.edu/cacm.