Conflict in Cosmopolitan Communities

Peace, Conflict & Justice through a comparative Urban lens

Although there are many complications that arise in cities as a direct consequence of the unique features of an urban centre, the field of Peace and Conflict Studies often neglects to include an urban perspective in its analysis of conflict, peace, and justice. One such feature of an urban environment is the high concentration of population contained within a given geographical area. Because ubiquitous conflicts and problems manifest themselves differently in urban centres, their resolution requires a different approach.

This conference explores complications inherent in the management of a city and looks at solutions that have been developed for and an urban setting. It will also look at the handling of conflicts in urban areas as a microcosm for issues of a more global scale. It will do so by
analysing key urban issues, like health, environmentalism, crime, immigration, urban growth and violent divisions using a comparative perspective. Each panel will focus on an issue and two cities where the it is present.
The conference will look at is the role of municipal authorities in resolving the conflicts within their cities. Because municipalities in most countries have powers that are limited by those of higher levels of government, the solutions that they can unilaterally provide are also limited. With this in mind, how can municipal authorities work within the confines of their country’s political structure to address issues in their cities? Through this approach, the conference will seek to draw conclusions about the role of municipalities in their respective nations.
Naturally, so many diverse topics examined through a comparative lens make this conference interdisciplinary, allowing it to analyse issues in a fashion true to the interdisciplinary nature of Peace and Conflict Studies. It will use integrated perspectives from the disciplines and fields of Political Science, Environmental Studies, Criminology, Civil Engineering, Diaspora Studies, Geography, Global Health, Anthropology, Economics, Development and, of course, Urban Studies to address the aforementioned questions.

Presidents: Olivia Dooley and Nessa Kenny
Academic Director: Alex Dyzenhaus
Social Director: Simmon Li
Treasurer: Kay Dyson Tam
Internal Communications: Julia Wilton

Thanks for a great year! Looking forward to the next. Keep an eye out for details about Frosh events as the new academic year approaches.

The 2011-2012 PACS Executive, in collaboration with your 2012 PACS Conference Directors, are calling for 2013 PACS Conference proposals.

After the incredible success of this year’s conference, the Society would like to ensure that  conference directors and potential coordinating committees have the time to meet, create and  propose an engaging conference topic that is both unique, but in-step with the interdisciplinary  nature of our Peace and Conflict Studies program and student community.

This is an opportunity to define your PACS experience more directly. Honing skills as a leader, project manager, fundraising expert and witty interlocutor with notable academics and practitioners (local and international), all that is needed to succeed is a great idea, the thoughtful development of the theme, the careful selection of conference team, and a short, catchy, and original proposal. These proposals are due FRIDAY, MARCH 16th by 11:59pm. Please email them to the current PACS President.

All completed proposals should include the following elements:

• I. The conference topic
• II. The relevance/link to PCS
• III. List of Proposed speakers/panelists (You don’t have to get them all, but include those you
• believe best suited to speak on the topic)
  IV. The basic format of the conference – e.g. A draft schedule including details on how best to communicate your vision of the conference. Will you incorporate lectures, student presentations, roundtable discussion etc? Will there be banquets, dances or pub nights?
• V. Draft Budget and fundraising strategy. Assume that the conference’s various parent organizations (Trudeau Centre, Munk School, and PACS) can provide a seed of no more than $7000.)
• VI. Conference team. This should include a maximum of three individuals designated as ‘Directors’ and a list of PACS students who have agreed to be part of the organizing committee.
• VII. Any other details about your conference that you think would be valuable for students to know.
• VIII. A one-page executive summary/handout for distribution in classes. After proposals are submitted, all eligible entries will be emailed the PACS student body for review. The ‘Directors’ noted on these proposals will then be asked to present their submissions to each of the PCS classes. These presentations will be held on March 21, 22, 23, 2012. The short presentations will be held at the end of class, followed by a class vote. The tallied votes, noted and recorded by a member of the PACS executive, will determine the winning selection. (Please note, an alternative voting event will be arranged for those in PCS but not currently enrolled in a PCS course. This event will likely take place in the afternoon of Friday, March 23.)

N.B. Students graduating this spring will not be allowed to serve as conference directors or serve on an organizing committee. In addition, ‘Directors’ of the selected proposal will not be eligible to serve as the 2012-2013 Peace and Conflict Society (PACS) President(s).

So. Hart House is THIS WEEKEND. Needless to say it will be life changing. Here are the bullet points:

WHO: PACSers. You and all your friends.

WHAT: Forging friendships, being pretentious PACSers, enjoying the weather, eating more food than we thought was anatomically possible, having the time of our lives.

WHEN: 11 am October 15th (meet outside the real Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle) – 3 pm October 16th (back to the real Hart House)

WHERE: Hart House Farms, Caledon (about an hour away via a big old school bus)

WHY: Because you love fun

HOW: By paying an exec member $20 BEFORE THURSDAY AT NOON (Ian will be in the PACS lounge on Thursday from 10-12, find him and save your $5), after that $25 until the day of, $30 on Saturday (seriously, you’ve had forever)

BRING: Snacks if you want (might get hungry on the bus), a change of clothing essentials (but not much, you’re not there long), tooth brush, a bathing suit (there is a sauna!), sleeping essentials (sleeping bag/blanket, pillow) and beverages you may wish to indulge in (your choice, no pressure).

So there you have it. Read on for more details if you can afford too (we know you’re busy)!

We’re meeting at 11 am in from of Hart House (7 Hart House Circle) this Saturday, October 15th. It’ll take roughly an hour to get us to our destination in Caledon. A magical day of exploring, learning, and bonding will ensue, culminating in a vegan dinner prepared by yours truly, the exec (plus anyone willing to help!). In case you haven’t been paying attention, this dinner will involve perogies, garlic toast, coleslaw, and more. The real fun happens after dinner, though. We won’t give away all the details, but we will tell you that it involves a sauna. And, importantly, smores. So you won’t want to miss it. Breakfast will consist of vegan pancakes and eggs with potato hash browns. Then we will be on our merry way back to Toronto by the afternoon. We’ll be back before 3.

This trip, one of the more exciting things we do as a society all year, is only $20 if you pay soon. For the amount of food, fun, and transportation you’re getting, we can’t emphasize how much of a steal this is. You can give any one of the exec (including your class rep!) $20 at any time this week up until Thursday. On Thursday, if you drop by the lounge between 10 am – noon, Ian will be waiting patiently to accept your money. After noon on Thursday, the price goes up by $5 -so don’t delay! Someone will be waiting in the lounge until noon on Friday to accept your $25, or you can pay the morning of for $30- though this is discouraged. Pay early and save your cash!

Last, but not least, bring a bathing suit if you’re interested in hitting up the sauna at night. Also bring any beverages that you see fit to bring. Have a good week, we’ll see you at the farm!

Cheers,
Your PACS Exec

• One president and the treasurer must attend all ASSU meetings to ensure funding
• We get $1500 for both Academic and Social events (correct me if I’m wrong, maybe it’s $750 exclusively for each)
• However, we may be able to get an extra $1500 from a human rights for academic events related to human rights
• If we get this additional funding, we could divert some of the ASSU funding towards other academic events

Hart House Farms

• October 16th
• Was the price of $20/25 too high last year?

Frosh Ideas

• WE NEED AN EMAIL LIST OF THE PACS FROSH (Alex)

• Snakes and Lattes
• Provisional date: Sunday, September 11th
• Someone needs to call to see what days/times are least busy (Olivia)
• Outdoor PACSy Movie Night
• Thursday, September 15th
• Someone needs to ask Megan whether we can do this, and if so, whether we have the equipment (Alex)
• Put suggestions down here:

• Pub Night
• Friday, September 16th

• Sports/outdoor activities day
• Saturday, September 17th
• Soccer, ice-breaker games (Think wizards, giants, elves)

Other ideas

• PACS sports teams
• Maybe co-ed indoor soccer (if it exists)
• More social justice oriented events
• Soup-kitchen, group volunteering at local organisations

Hope you’re all enjoying the final dregs of summer. This is just a reminder that you have a reason to look forward to the first week of school ? PACS Frosh! The time of year is nigh, and your exec has quite the week lined up for you:

Sunday, September 11th @ 4 pm: PACS at Snakes & Lattes! (600 Bloor St. W), Come enjoy a latte (or a beer), board games, and spend some time with your fellow PACSers. If you’re new to PACS, this is a great way to get to meet your peers. And if you?re a PACS veteran, then you know how much fun Snakes & Lattes is already.

Thursday, September 15th @ 2pm (until 4pm): PCS Welcome Back Reception (South House Lounge, Munk School of Global Affairs). Always a good time, the Welcome Back Reception is a place to mingle with professors, listen to Ron talk a whole lot (oh, how we love him), and hang out with your fellows. Also, there?s always free food.

Friday, September 16th @ 8 pm: PACS Pool/Pub Night! We’ll be going to the Annex Billiards Hall (on Bloor between Spadina and Bathurst). All ages are welcome there and we’ll order some food and play pool! But, if you have any other suggestions for places, feel free to let us know!

Saturday, September 17th @ 2 pm: PACSnic! A PACS picnic, cleverly enough. Come to the backfield (the one off of harbord) to enjoy an afternoon of outdoor food, fun, and sports – on what will probably be one of the last days of nice weather. Take advantage of it!

Anyhow, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for info on class-representative elections that will be happening in a few weeks time!

If you?re an avid facebook user, you can stay posted on all the PACS news here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peace-and-Conflict-Society-2011-2012/213837892006508. We also have all this information up on our website: peaceandconflict.ca

We are looking forward to seeing all of your lovely faces at our frosh events! Enjoy the rest of the week!

Cheers,

Olivia, Sima, Hillary, Alex, Ian and Nessa

We hope you’ve all had an amazing summer! Your Peace and Conflict Studies exec has already been working hard and we’re excited to meet all the new 260s and hear about everyone’s summer adventures!

So, we have some really exciting things planned for this year – from socials, to human rights events, free breakfasts to pacs volunteering, but you’ll hear more about all of this in a few weeks. We also have a really fun PACS froshweek starting with a night at Snakes and Lattes on September 11th, a welcome back reception at the Munk Center and movie night on September 15th, and a pub-night September 16th.

But we’ll send out an exciting email about all of this soon and update the events page. For now, we just wanted to introduce you to this website. We’ll be using it a lot more this year to keep everyone updated with PACS, U of T, and Toronto events, internship opportunities, information about the program, class discussions, and just other cool stories.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in less than two weeks!
- PACS Exec

ps – some highlights from last year’s events

I still remember being contacted by our esteemed conference directors – Zannah Matson, Aaron Kates Rose and Peter Wills – almost 10 months ago. At that time, the message was clear: “We have a great idea.” What is most impressive, is that the ensuing days, weeks, and months of preparation, have paid off in the most spectacular of ways.

Overheard conversations, animated discussions and the sense of participant satisfaction made it clear that participants were impressed, intrigued and inspired by this weekend’s events; the lack of complaints owed surely to the tireless efforts of volunteers and the ever-capable trifecta of triumph (ZAP – I’m talking about you).

Most importantly, this year has lived up to – and arguably exceeded – the calibre, professionalism and preparation witnessed in conferences past, and a most deserved congratulations goes out to the directors, staff and the carriers of boundless energy that made this event such a phenomenal success.

So, it is my pleasure, on behalf of the 2010-2011 PACS Executive – and myself in particular – to thank everyone for the incredible work done over the past 10 months. Your success will remain a testament to our program and creed. Indeed, great ideas, passionately pursued, motivate change.

Today, once again, I am proud to be a member of this ‘radically interdisciplinary’ community.

Get some sleep!

Adam McCauley

Meeting Location: PCS Society Lounge, UC

1. Regular Meeting Space
   • Keys for PCS Lounge
   • Alternative meeting spaces
2. Process of Agenda Setting
   • Email to Secretary by Saturday night
3. Process of Minutes Distribution
   • Class Representatives bring copies to class
4. Student Mailing Lists
   • From Class Representatives
   • Frequency of e-Announcements to students
   • Alternate mailing list received from Megan Ball
   • Executive Accounts
   • Training Session
   • Full Contact List
   • Executive Bios for Website
   • Level of interest by students
   • Fee Collection
   • Possibility of moving assignments back one week to accommodate Hart House Farm trip
   • Details and event information
5. Peace and Conflict.ca
6. Executive Information
7. Hart House Farm Trip
8. Assignments for 260 and 360
9. ASSU Budget
10. NGO Fair
11. Clothing Information

2. Academic Counselling Sessions
• October 29th Counselling session
• Should we continue?
• Special budget from ASSU?

3. Student Mailing Lists
• From Class Representatives

4. Clothing
• Design – need to have shirt design before cost estimate can be made
• Options to explore

5. Open Session for Executives

6. Open Session for Non-Executives