REU Site: Civil Conflict Management and Peace Science

鉴于世界上国内冲突的日益频繁，以及对美国在21世纪产生的这些冲突的安全担忧，发展有能力应对这些挑战的人力资本对国家安全至关重要。北德克萨斯大学(UNT)政治学系寻求启动一个独特的项目，为10名本科生(从全国各地招收)提供机会，在高级教师指导下，在为期八周的暑期研究体验(SRE)中，从事冲突管理与和平研究方面的研究生水平的研究，该项目将国内冲突管理培训与命题演算和计算机模拟技能培训相结合。参与者将使用命题演算和模拟来开发理论命题，并进行经验检验。与会者将收集和分析实证数据，并在全国专业政治学会议上报告他们的发现。活动将包括关于计算机模拟、研究方法和研究生院申请程序的研讨会。还将有旨在学生、教职员工和研究生导师之间建立研究共同体意识的活动。我们之前通过国家科学基金会授权的为期一年的试点项目(2010年夏天为8名参与者提供服务)的经验证明了我们计划的项目的有效性。北卡罗来纳大学政治学系是提供此类项目的理想人选。北卡罗来纳州立大学政治科学系拥有31名全职教职员工，是维维安·卡斯特尔伯里和平研究所的所在地，也是美国西南部唯一的和平科学学位授予课程，拥有国际和国内冲突领域的一些最著名的学者(以及拥有管理本科研究项目的丰富经验的教员)，非常有能力提供冲突管理与和平科学方面的REU。智力优势：该课程的智力重点是国内冲突管理与促进和平。真的是从1945年内战开始的吗？革命、分离主义战争、种族和宗派暴力？已经取代州际战争成为世界上最频繁和最致命的武装冲突形式。我们提议的方案旨在重点了解国内冲突发生(或再次发生)的原因，并调查可能的机构配置和可能有助于缓解国内冲突的其他类型的行动(如维和特派团)。特别是，我们寻求训练学生的形式和逻辑推理，这将促进创新思维和解决问题的技能。开发经验技能来检验使用计算机模拟得出的理论命题，也将磨练学生参与者的科学技能。广泛的影响：冲突管理方面的培训，包括历史上在高等教育中代表性不足的人群(但他们在美国本科生人口中的比例正在上升)是全国的当务之急。该计划旨在通过向来自这类人群的学生提供从事高级实证研究的机会，满足在冲突管理与和平科学方面进一步发展专业知识的需要，这些学生本来不会有这样的机会。UNT在体制和地理上都处于有利地位，能够提供这种通道。为此，他们已经获得了拉美裔和美国原住民在职机构以及德克萨斯州和俄克拉何马州历史上的黑人学院/大学(HBCU)的正式承诺，以及北卡罗来纳大学的罗纳德·E·麦克奈尔项目(Ronald E.McNair Program)，以帮助扩大该项目的申请者池。然而，私人投资机构也向全国各地征集申请。

Given the growing frequency of civil conflicts in the world, and the security concerns these conflicts engender for the United States in the 21st century, the development of human capital that is equipped to deal with these challenges is critical for the national security of the country. The Department of Political Science at the University of North Texas (UNT) seeks to initiate a unique program to provide 10 undergraduate students (recruited from across the country) the opportunity to engage in graduate-level research in conflict management and peace studies, in a senior faculty-mentored, in-residence, eight-week, Summer Research Experience (SRE) that integrates training in civil conflict management with training in propositional calculus and computer simulation skills. Participants will use propositional calculus and simulations to develop theoretical propositions that will be tested empirically. Participants will collect and analyze empirical data and report their findings in a national professional political science conference. Activities will include workshops on computer simulations, research methodology, and the graduate school application process. There will also be activities designed to build a sense of research community among students, faculty and graduate student mentors. Our previous experience with a one-year pilot program that was authorized by the NSF (serving eight participants in the summer of 2010) has demonstrated the effectiveness of our planned program.The political science department at UNT is ideally positioned to offer such a program. With 31 full time faculty members, home to the Vivian Castleberry Peace Institute, and the only degree granting program in peace science in the Southwestern United States, and with some of the most noteworthy scholars in the field of international and civil conflict (as well as having faculty with substantial experience in managing undergraduate research programs) the UNT Department of Political Science is very well equipped to offer an REU on conflict management and peace science.Intellectual Merit: The intellectual focus of the program is on civil conflict management and the enhancement of peace. Indeed since 1945 civil war ? revolution, secessionist war, and ethnic and sectarian violence ? has replaced interstate war as the most frequent and deadly form of armed conflict in the world. Our proposed program seeks to focus on understanding the causes of civil conflict occurrence (or reoccurrence) and investigating possible institutional configurations and other types of actions that may assist in ameliorating civil conflict (such as peacekeeping missions). In particular, we seek to train students in formal and logical reasoning, which will promote innovative thinking and problem solving skills. Developing empirical skills to test the theoretical propositions derived from the use of computer simulations will also hone the scientific skills of the student participants.Broader Impacts: Training in conflict management that includes populations historically underrepresented in higher education (but which are growing as a proportion of the undergraduate student population in the United States) is a national imperative. This program seeks to address the need to develop further expertise in conflict management and peace science by providing opportunities to engage in advanced empirical research to students from such populations, students who would not otherwise have such opportunities. UNT is well positioned, both institutionally and geographically, to provide such access. To that end, they have secured formal commitments from Hispanic and Native American Serving Institutions and from Historically Black Colleges/ Universities (HBCU) in Texas and Oklahoma, and the Ronald E. McNair Program at UNT to assist in broadening the pool of applicants to the program. However, the PIs solicit applications from across the country as well.