Blogger Bios

Dr. Peter T. Coleman holds a Ph.D. in Social/Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. He is currently Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University where he holds a joint-appointment at Teachers College and The Earth Institute and teaches courses in Conflict Resolution, Social Psychology, and Social Science Research. Dr. Coleman is Director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Teachers College, Columbia University, Chair of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity (ACCCC), and a research affiliate of the International Center for Complexity and Conflict (ICCC) at The Warsaw School for Social Psychology in Warsaw, Poland. He has conducted research on ingroup/outgroup formation, the mediation of inter-ethnic conflict, intractable conflict, complexity theory and conflict, identity formation, moral emotions, ripeness and conflict, and on the conditions and processes which foster the constructive use of social power. In 2003, he became the first recipient of the Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association, Division 48: Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence. Dr. Coleman co-edits The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice (2000; 2nd edition 2006), and has authored over 60 journal articles and chapters. He is also a New York State certified mediator and experienced consultant.

Roi Ben-Yehuda, an Israeli writer based in the US, is a graduate student at Columbia University and a Ph.D. student at the School of Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. His work has been featured or quoted in publications such as The Daily Beast, New York Times, Huffington Post, Haaretz, Al Jazeera, France 24, The Forward, The Daily Star, Publico, Common Ground, 972 Magazine, Middle-East Online, The Epoch Times, Tikkun, and Zeek. His articles have been translated into multiple languages including: French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, and Indonesian. Roi holds degrees from New School University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Christianna Gozzi currently serves as the Assistant Director at the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at Columbia’s Earth Institute where she focuses on fostering interdisciplinary research, practice and theory amongst various centers, departments and faculty members working on conflict, violence and peace and sustainability at Columbia University. Prior to her time at AC4, Christianna held various positions within the ICCCR and other non-profits in New York City. She is a member of Peter Coleman’s workgroup and her research interests include mediation, sustainable peace, international cooperation and social justice. Christianna holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Psychology from Teachers College and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Wagner College.

Taly Harel-Marian is a Ph.D. candidate in the Social-Organizational Psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her primary research interests include stereotype threat, cross-cultural dynamics, work/family issues, conflict resolution, and diversity in organizations. She also holds an M.Sc. in Behavioral and Management Sciences from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor degree in Psychology and Sociology from Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. Prior to joining Teachers College, she held various positions in the human resources industry in Israel, including working for four years as a Recruitment and Placement Consultant in one of Israel’s leading placement firms. She also spent two years serving in the Israel Defense Forces Human Resources Branch, Behavioral Sciences Division, where she conducted personal and psychological interviews, assessments and tests to candidates for military service. Taly is currently leading a research project executed by a Think Tank of a large influential nonprofit organization, with a nation-wide reach.

Regina Kim is a doctoral student in Social-Organizational Psychology at Teacher’s College, Columbia University.  She graduated from Smith College with a B.A in Psychology and East Asian Literature and received her master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Yonsei University, South Korea.  Regina worked as a researcher at institutions like Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School and Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute at UC San Francisco. She also has experiences in consulting nonprofit organizations in the domains of conflict resolution and intercultural communication. Currently, she is conducting a research that examines cross-cultural differences in value orientations for power distribution and type and degree of interdependence on managing conflict at work.  Her research interests include conflict resolution, organizational justice and culture.

Kyong Mazzaro is AC4-ICCCR Project Coordinator at Columbia University. Prior to joining AC4, Kyong Mazzaro was a NGO representative at the Economic and Social Council, and worked with the NGO Committee on the United Nations International Decade of the World’s Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations. As part of various advocacy activities, she researched the impact of natural resources management on poverty eradication and the link between social integration and sustainable development. Kyong, who was born in Caracas, also has experience working with immigrant communities in Venezuela and Italy. She received her master’s degree in migration studies from the University of Rome and her bachelor’s degree in international studies from the Central University of Venezuela. She currently supports the coordination and management of research agendas at AC4 and the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College (ICCCR).

Lily Ng is pursuing a Masters degree in Social-Organizational Psychology at Columbia University and will graduate in May 2012. As part of her interests, Lily is a member of a research workgroup at the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Columbia University. This allows her to be involved in ongoing research related to the key themes and emerging trends in Conflict Resolution. She is currently undergoing training to be an approved mediator in the State of New York. In addition, Lily is pursuing executive coaching certification and will be receiving this through the Columbia Coaching Certification Program. Prior to her time in New York, Lily worked in the HR department at Deutsche Bank, a global investment bank with its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore. She joined the Bank as a global graduate trainee, before becoming a graduate recruiter, pioneering regional and global projects. Lily’s interests range from that of conflict resolution, coaching, psychology, interpersonal relationships, music, and children’s books.

Nick Redding is a doctoral student in the Social-Organizational Psychology department at Teachers College, Columbia University, and a Project Coordinator for the Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4) at the Earth Institute, Columbia University. Before coming to Columbia, he spent two years living in South Africa as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer working in the area of HIV outreach and education. Past research experiences include investigating the properties successful trial outcomes and the placebo effect in clinical drug trials research at the Northwest Clinical Research Center, diversity assessment and campus climate at Eastern Washington University, and PTSD, gender roles and help-seeking behavior as part of his master’s thesis. Nick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Washington State University and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Eastern Washington University.

Christine Tsai spent her undergraduate years at UC Riverside studying Psychology and was heavily immersed in two laboratories, Eyewitness Identification and Culture & Personality. She focused on multiculturalism, particularly biculturalism, and participated in the 2007 Asian American Psychological Association on identity consistency research. Christine received her M.A. in Social-Organizational Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University in 2011. She pursued a conflict resolution track and is also a member of the ICCCR Work Group. In addition to pursuing the relationship between culture and conflict, she is interested in complexity science and applying a dynamical system lens to analyze conflict, justice, and peace.

Christine Webb is a doctoral student in Psychology at Columbia University. Broadly, her research interests include reconciliation, individual differences, evolution, and motivation. She received her B.A. in Psychology from Emory University, where she studied the social behavior of brown capuchin monkeys for two years. The following year, she worked as a field assistant in South Africa through the University of Capetown/Baboon Research Unit and a research assistant in Columbia’s Primate Cognition Lab. Upon entering the graduate program, she began to blend her interests in human and non-human primate behavior through the study of conflict resolution. She now studies motivations for and individual differences in reconciliation behavior in both humans and chimpanzees. Specifically, she is interested in what motivates different individuals to resolve conflict and the various strategies/tactics that are employed by them in order to do so. Overall, she hopes to develop a better understanding of the basic motivations underlying conflict resolution, and apply this more holistic view to larger, international settings. As a member of the workgroup at ICCCR, she looks forward to learning how this application might be possible.

Credit: Illustrations by Connie Sun

Connie Sun is a friend of the ICCCR and works for the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution master’s program at Columbia’s School of Continuing Education. She cartoons daily at www.conniewonnie.com. Twitter: @dearconnie | Facebook: facebook.com/dearconnie