TC's Coleman Offers "a Vision of Peace for America"
Writing in The Huffington Post, Peter Coleman, Professor of Psychology & Education and Director of TC's International Center for Cooperation & Conflict Resolution, describes an America that despite being "the most prosperous and promising of nations" finds itself "in a near-constant state of war, internally and abroad, against THEM (the outgroup, fill in the blank)...well armed, frightened, highly suspicious, increasingly factional, punitive, disparaging of our opponents, and drowning in violence." Yet Coleman argues that war is not a human inevitability and offers an approach to conversion to a peaceful society that calls for fostering more complex overarching social identities with our children; creating more robust interconnections among our subgroups; promoting cooperative interdependence in our most individualistic and competitive society; and Inculcating non-warring values early on.
Link: A Vision of Peace for America
The views expressed in the previous article are solely those of the speakers to whom they are attributed. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty, administration, or staff either of Teachers College or of Columbia University.
Published Monday, Dec. 14, 2015