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Training Seminar

Instructors and Staff Biographies

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Dr. Tatsushi Arai (Japan)
International Advisory Board member, Global Majority
Assistant Professor, School for International Training

Tatsushi (Tats) Arai, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Conflict Transformation at the School for International Training (SIT) in Vermont, USA. Before joining SIT, he taught conflict resolution and public policy at George Mason University in Virginia.

His commitment in conflict work evolved from his first encounter with victims of radiation sickness in Hiroshima in 1984. His journey in conflict transformation took him to post-genocide Rwanda as a university lecturer of international relations and as a humanitarian NGO representative, to the Japanese branch of an American company as a personnel specialist responsible for managing cross-cultural industrial disputes, and to diverse settings of public peacemaking in the United States, Bosnia, Lesotho, the Taiwan Strait, and elsewhere.

Tats' recent publications include: book chapters titled "A Journey Toward Cultural Fluency" and "When the Waters of Culture and Conflict Meet," both in Conflict Across Cultures: A Unique Experience of Briding Differences, edited by M. LeBaron and V. Pillay (2006, Intercultural Press) and an experimental study titled "E-Mediation: Evaluating the Impact of an Electronic Mediator on Negotiating Behavior" with D. Druckman and J. Druckman in Group Decision and Negotiation (2004). His current projects focus on such subjects as creativity and paradigm shifts, symbolism, an East Asia community (including the Yasukuni shrine and Japanese history textbooks) conflict history, and post-conflict reconciliation and development, especially in sub-Sahara Africa.  Tats earned a Bachelor's degree in law at Waseda University in Tokyo, a Master's degree in international policy studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, and a Ph.D. in conflict analysis and resolution at George Mason University. He is a Japanese citizen and married to Yuchun Chen from Taiwan.

 

Dr. Paul Arthur (North Ireland)
International Advisory Board member, Global Majority
Course Director and Professor, Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Ulster, UK

Dr. Paul Arthur is Course Director of the Graduate Program in Peace and Conflict Studies and Professor of Politics at the School of History and International Affairs, University of Ulster. He holds a D.Litt degrees from the National University of Ireland, in addition to degrees from Queens University Belfast and National University of Ireland. He has authored five books - the latest being "Special Relationships: Britain, Ireland and the Northern Ireland problem' (2001) - and over seventy academic articles. He has been a Senior Fellow at the US Institute of Peace and a Fulbright scholar at Stanford University. He has been involved in Track Two initiatives with British and Irish politicians and with civil society since 1990; and has participated in conflict resolution workshops in Colombia, Guatemala, Sri Lanka, Palestine and South Africa. Besides Global Majority he is on the International Advisory Board of the Project on Justice in Transitional Societies. He lectures widely in Europe and the United States.

 

Dr. Ibtesam Al-Atiyat (Jordan)
Programme Officer, UNU-ILI

Women and Youth Programme Officer at the UNU/ILI, holds a PhD in political Sociology from the Freie Universitaet in Berlin German, has served as Programme Officer at the Jordanian Commission for Women and was awarded a Fulbright Scholar in Residence scholarship, where she spent an academic year teaching at the University Wisconsin/ Green Bay. Was a consultant on gender and women’s issues for several international organizations among which: the World Bank and International IDEA. Published a book on “The Women’s Movement in Jordan” and several articles among which “Women and Political Participation” and “Women in the Judicial System” in Jordan and Women’s Networks in the MENA Region.

 

Dr. Hassan Barari (Jordan)
Senior Researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies, University of Jordan

Hassan A. Barari is a senior researcher who is in charge of the Israeli Studies Unit at the CSS at the University of Jordan. He received his PhD from Durham University in September 2001. He received his MA from Leeds University in 1995 and his BA from the University of Jordan in 1992. He obtained a diploma in Hebrew language and literature from the Hebrew University in 1998. Dr. Barari masters three languages (Hebrew, Arabic, and English).

He was a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) based in Washington, D.C for the year 2006/07. He also served as Academic Director for The School for International Training/ World Learning- Vermont University in 2005. He lectured American students with CIEE while at the University of Jordan on a study abroad program. Dr. Barari taught at the University of Durham in the year 2000/2001. As a member to the Board of Directors of the Institute of Diplomacy in Amman, he has been involved in training diplomats for the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Barari has served as a columnist for the English Jordan Times (2001-2004) and for the Arabic Jordanian Daily, al-Ghad (2004-present). He also writes for numerous newspapers such as al-Hayat and the Daily Star on occasional basis. He is also a frequent commentator for key Arab and international TV stations.

His core area of research is the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Middle East peace process, Israeli domestic and foreign policy, Israel-Jordan relations, regional security and Middle Eastern politics. He has written extensively on the Arab-Israeli conflict and the peace process in Arabic, English, and Hebrew.  His most recent books include Israelism, Arab Scholarship on Israel: A Critical Assessment (London: Ithaca, 2009), Israeli Politics and the Middle East Peace (New York and London: Routledge, 2004), Israel Jordan ten years later (Amman: CSS, 2004). He has also contributed numerous scholarly articles to different international journals and participated in scores of international conferences throughout Europe, the United States, and the Middle East

 

Dr. Michael Buckley (USA)
Board of Directors Member, Global Majority
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Lehman College, City University of New York

Dr. Buckley is an Assistant Professor at Lehman College, City University of New York. His areas of research include political philosophy and ethics with an emphasis on applied issues in the areas of business ethics and global justice. He is also the Treasurer and Board member of Global Majority, which he joined in 2005. Dr. Buckley received his Ph.D. in philosophy from Emory University in 2006.

 

Dr. Rita Cameron Wedding (USA)
International Advisory Board member, Global Majority
Department Chair and Professor, Women’s and Ethnic Studies Department, California State University Sacramento

Rita Cameron Wedding, Ph.D. is the Chair of the department of Women’s Studies and a professor of Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies at California State University, Sacramento. Dr. Cameron Wedding’s scholarship focuses on race and gender disproportionality in institutions like child welfare, and its implications to the education and the criminal justice system. Dr. Cameron Wedding’s work on diversity and social justice is international in scope. Her work in Africa, China and Mexico has focused on the economic status of women, domestic violence, environmental racism and immigration. As a Fulbright Scholar she conducted research in Tanzania and South Africa on women’s informal economy. She is currently working on a collaboration with faculty from California State University, Sacramento, UNISA (University of South Africa) and the Human Rights Foundation of Johannesburg to develop an institute in 2008 to address issues of the African Diaspora. In 2005 and 2007 she was a guest on a national South African talk radio show in Johannesburg and Cape Town South Africa.

In 2003 Dr. Cameron Wedding co-edited a text-book, Ethnic America: Reading in Race, Class and Gender. In 2004 she co-authored Institutions, Ideologies and Individuals: Feminist Perspectives on Gender, Race and Class. Also in 2004 Dr. Cameron Wedding received the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award for the College of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Studies at CSUS. Dr. Cameron Wedding served two terms as a Governor’s appointee to the California Commission on the Status of Women and was appointed in 2007 to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.

 

Ms. Raja Hiyari (Jordan)
Director, Partners – Jordan, Center for Civic Collaboration

Ms. Raja Hiyari graduated from Ohio State University with a major in Linguistics. She currently operates as director of Partners – Jordan, establishing it as a Jordanian nonprofit organization committed to advance civil society, promoting mediation, conflict management and culture of change, and encouraging citizen participation in Jordan’s social and political development. Raja joined Partners – Jordan as a Training Manager to oversee trainings and work on building the capacity of a team of local trainers in the field of conflict management and change management, collaborative planning, mediation, consensus building, advocacy and good governance, as well as to build training materials and trainers’ guide manuals on mentioned topics.

Prior to this, Raja worked as a trainer in the Queen Zein Al-Sharaf Institute for Development (ZENID) delivering training courses on the national and regional level, serving as a translator/interpreter for non-Arabic speaking counterparts, and managing project implementation on the community level. Before ZENID, Raja was a national consultant at the United Nations Development Program on micro finance funded projects.

 

Ms. Cameron Hunter (USA)
Executive Director and Board of Directors member, Global Majority

Cameron Hunter has an MBA and an MA in International Policy Studies with a specialization in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution. She joined Global Majority in 2005 working for the local education and training program. Originally from Santa Ynez, CA, she received her BA from UC Berkeley in English Literature. Prior to her position with Global Majority, Cameron worked as a researcher for the Center for Nonproliferation Studies and editor of the GLOBE Management Review in Monterey; intern at the Palestine Israel Journal in East Jerusalem; horse trainer in southern Portugal; and with Mother Teresa's Home for Abandoned Children in Delhi.  She has studied, worked and traveled in Japan, Russia, Africa, India, Europe and the Middle East. Her recent publications involve issues facing Iraqi scientists and academics during the reconstruction of the state published by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, as well as articles advocating negotiation between Israel and Palestine for the Ma'an News Agency.

 

Ms. Lejla Mavris (Bosnia-Herzegovina / USA)
Programs Director and Vice-President, Global Majority

Lejla Mavris is a founding member of Global Majority. She was the executive director of Global Majority in 2006-2007 and currently is the Programs Director.  Lejla received a Master’s degree in International Policy Studies and a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, with further training in conflict analysis through United States Institute of Peace.  For over five years now, she teaches students and teachers of Monterey County and advocates for incorporating conflict resolution education to public school curriculums.  She is also a trainer of international negotiation and mediation skills and has conducted such trainings in various cultural and regional settings in Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Jordan, Nepal, and the US. Previously, Lejla worked at the United Nations Refugee Agency's Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit office in Geneva for the International Professional Service Semester, publishing her work on refugee smuggling and migration. During her studies, she served as an intern on environmental program development at the United Nations Development Programme office in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Lejla is from Sarajevo, BH, speaks several languages and is married to her husband Nico.

 

Dr. Boatamo Mosupyoe (South Africa)
International Advisory Board and Board of Directors member, Global Majority
Director and Professor, Pan African Studies, Ethnic Studies Department, California State University Sacramento

Dr. Boatamo "Ati" Mosupyoe is Professor and Director of Pan African Studies in the Ethnic Studies Department at California State University, Sacramento. She received some of her education in South Africa and her Masters and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She came to the United States after the loss of her three-year-old son, Thamsanqa, and husband, Simmy, on the same day and at the same time when she was expecting one of her daughters. She worked with the Anti-Apartheid Movement and was also the chair of the South African International Student Organization and a member of its national executive. In addition to being an activist, she is also a scholar who has authored three books, contributed chapters in books, and edited three others. Two of the latest books that she edited are called "SOWETO Explodes" and chronicles the role of the youth and civil society in the struggle against apartheid and Institutions, Ideologies, and Individuals. She has participated as a trainer in conflict resolution workshops in the USA, South Africa, Jordan, Nepal, and Costa Rica.  Her current research interests focus on immigration issues and recent African immigrants in the U.S. Dr. Mosupyoe has received numerous awards that honor her contribution as a teacher, a peace activist, and a community worker. To name but a few: she has been cited four times in Who's Who Among America's Teachers, received a 1999 Pierce College Outstanding Faculty of the Year award, and received the A Roland Weis Award for her contribution to promoting awareness against genocide. In addition to being on the Global Majority Board of Directors and the International Advisory Board, she promotes bead work of rural South African women in the USA and the world to help alleviate poverty.

 

Dr. Jairam Reddy (South Africa)
Director, UNU-ILI

Dr Reddy is a citizen of South Africa and holds the degrees of Master of Science of the University of Manitoba, Canada and Doctor of Philosophy of the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. He was Vice -Chancellor of the University of Durban Westville from 1990-94. In January 1995 he was appointed to chair the National Commission on Higher Education of South Africa. The University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Birmingham University and the Open University in England have conferred Honorary Doctorates on him.  He was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to serve on the Council of the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan for the period 1998-2004. He was elected to chair the Council for a two year term from 2000-2002. Dr Reddy was awarded a Senior Fulbright Scholarship to undertake studies in Higher Education at Michigan State University in 1999. He was a member of the Board of the Higher Education Quality Committee in South Africa (2002-05), is Auditor of the Australian Universities Quality Agency (2006) and is a member of the Board of the African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and Chair the Council of the Durban University of Technology, South Africa, 2007. Dr Reddy is currently Director of the United Nations University International Leadership Institute, Amman, Jordan – July 2008

Amb. Jacob Rosen
Ambassador, Embassy of Israel in Jordan

Jacob Rosen was born in Poland in 1948. His family immigrated to Israel in 1957, where from 1966 to 1969 he served in the Israeli Defense Forces. In 1972 he received a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Since 1973 he has worked in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with postings to The Hague, London, New York, Cairo and Delhi. In December 1994, he opened the Israeli Embassy in Amman, Jordan, and served there as Chargé d'Affaires until the arrival of the Ambassador. He remained in Amman as Deputy Chief of Mission until July 2000, when he was appointed Consul General of Israel in Atlanta, Georgia. Since November 2002, he has been Political Advisor for International Affairs to the Mayor of Jerusalem. He is fluent in Arabic, Polish, Dutch, English, and Hebrew, and is author of Crossing the Jordan River: An Israeli Diplomat's Travels in the Arab World (2003).

Mr. Nicholas Tomb (USA)
Secretary of the Board of Directors, Global Majority

Nicholas Tomb is a founding member of Global Majority. His primary employment is with the Center for Stabilization and Reconstruction Studies at the Naval Postgraduate School where he works as a Program Coordinator, organizing short courses in civil-military relations and post-conflict reconstruction.  Nick spent a year teaching English in Japan with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program, and has taught American Government at the Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, CA since January of 2005. He formerly served as President of the Arcata/Camoapa Sister City Project, a sister city relationship between Arcata, CA and Camoapa, Nicaragua. He led several delegations to and from Camoapa, delivering supplies and working on water projects in the sister city. Nick received a BA in Political Science from Humboldt State University, where he received the distinguished "Man of the Year" award in 1999. He received an MA in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, which included certificates in Conflict Resolution and Commercial Diplomacy in 2002. Nick serves as the Secretary on Global Majority's Board of Directors and the Editor of the Global Voice, Global Majority's quarterly newsletter.

 

Ms. Izumi Wakugawa (Japan)
Board of Directors member, Global Majority

Izumi Wakugawa is a native of Okinawa, Japan. She is a founding member of Global Majority, worked as Treasurer of the organization since its inception in 2003 to 2006.  She also serves the organization as a finance advisor and trainer of conflict resolution skills and techniques.  She obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Politics at University of California at Santa Cruz, specialized in international law and political philosophy, and has a Master of Arts in International Policy Studies with a Certificate in Nuclear Nonproliferation Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, California.  Ms. Wakugawa worked as a research associate and instructor at the National Security Affairs Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey California from 2002-2007.  Since September 2007 she resides in Nepal representing Global Majority.  She has been working on peace building process with different organizations in Nepal such as local NGOs, INGOs and Ministry of Peace and Reconstructions.  She has served as international election monitoring observer through Japanese Embassy in Nepal for the Constituent Assembly Election in April 2008.