Mediation On-Line A Newsletter from ADR Resources http://adrr.com/adr9/038.htm Volume 4, No. 2. From: Ethesis@AOL.Com (Ethesis) To: SMarsh@adrr.com Subscribe

SUPPLEMENT:

FIVE PATHS TO TEACHING DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

(Useful links are in the body of the essay)

There are five paths to teaching dispute resolution and conflict management. These paths are discussed with some detail (or links to the right details) below or at other places on this site.

1. You can teach ADR in a law school setting.  I've previously provided an essay on how to do that.
   • The most direct, as of December 2000, is to get an L.L.M. at either Temple or Columbia, Missouri (with the Columbia ADR oriented L.L.M. the current L.L.M. of choice).  You can also try George Washington's L.L.M. program, but it is aimed at people who intend to practice law while Temple and Columbia have a more academic focus. Temple is purely aimed at prospective law professors in any area, Columbia is very cross disciplinary and has a wider focus, but is directly focused on ADR.
   • You can develop yourself as per Mediation On-Line. A Mediation Newsletter. Volume 2 #3 -- Supplement which pretty much goes over the things you need to do and provides links to materials that cover everything you need to know to enter the meat market (which is what it is called).
2. You can develop a program yourself, starting with the continuing education program at a local university.
   • I have an outline on how to do that at Supplement: Setting up your own Dispute Resolution Program -- many, many, many people have succeeded in doing exactly this.
   • This is probably the fastest way to get into the teaching field, and the one with the least restrictions.  Any background qualifies you to teach in these programs and all you need is a college -- from community college to graduate focused university -- that doesn't currently have a program on the continuing education catalog.
3. You can obtain a graduate degree that applies to dispute resolution.
   • The historic method is to go to a true dispute resolution doctoral program.  There are four important ones that I know of: George Mason, Syracuse, Cornell and Nova Southeastern.  (Yes, I am willing to be updated on other doctoral programs).
   • That generally means ICAR, PERC, PARC, or Nova, though there are other programs being built.  Most of the graduates of these programs do not go on to teach (according to statements of recent graduates) but rather practice at an advanced level.
   • There is an excellent checklist for how to rate the various programs.  "Choosing a Conflict Resolution Program" at http://conflictresolver.com/choosegrad.html.  You will learn things there that you did not even suspect about graduate programs in dispute resolution.
   • All of the programs have large websites and significant material on-line.  They all answer inquiries and some have listserves you can join in order to get a feel for the institution.  ICAR's listserve is a must join and, of course, disputeres is provided by Cornell (though it does not contain any internal traffic).
4. You can obtain a PhD in Business Management Science with a focus in Conflict Resolution.
   • B Schools with Conflict Management scholars include Stanford (Margaret Neale, Michael Morris), University of Illinois (Peter Carnevale), Texas A&M (Scott Poole), University of Utah (Harris Sondak), Michigan State (Don Conlon), University of North Carolina (Debra Shapiro), UPenn (Etty Jehn), and Carnegie Mellon University (Laurie Weingart).
   • http://www.aom.pace.edu/cmd/ is a good link to get started (the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management). I am looking forward to that site showing more growth.
5. You can branch out from whatever you are teaching in an undergraduate program in a university -- basically adding a class on the psychology of conflict, negotiation in the dispute resolution area, etc. -- depending on what your department is.  
   • The possibilities are endless -- and beyond the scope of these notes.  If you are teaching undergraduates, all you need to know is that almost any department has an excuse to have a dispute resolution class or two (Consider:  The literature of dispute resolution -- a critical deconstructionist review).  Once you look at it that way, you can take it from there.
   • For more, visit http://trinstitute.org/ojpcr/2_2warters.htm and http://www.mtds.wayne.edu/TT2.html.

A useful book or two to get through interlibrary loan and then to buy (if you found the book worth keeping) might include the following five books on how to teach and how to adjust as a new faculty member.  Visit the web pages for the books before ordering them through your library and get them through the library to look at them before buying to keep.

More Books and Links Related to Teaching

Go to the bulletin board at Bulletin Board (this page will forward you).

This Website is by Stephen R. Marsh
Contact Information at:
http://adrr.com/smarsh/