Conflict resolution is focus of a conference March 24 at the ILR School

By Darryl Geddes

Deborah Kolb, noted author and director of the Simmons Institute on Leadership Change, will deliver the keynote address and noted labor arbitrator Theodore W. Kheel will speak via teleconferencing at a campuswide conference on conflict resolution March 24.

The conference is sponsored by the Cornell Conflict Resolution Network (C-CoRN), an association of the Institute on Conflict Resolution, Cornell Program on Environmental Conflict Management and the Peace Studies Program.

"There are many individuals and programs at Cornell that share a common interest in conflict resolution," said David B. Lipsky, professor and director of the Institute on Conflict Resolution. "We hope this conference will help foster a dialogue among us on how we can create and catalyze cross-disciplinary efforts in the study of conflict resolution."

The conference, open to members of the Cornell community, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Statler Hotel and at the ILR Conference Center. There is no registration fee for the conference, but there is a charge for lunch. To register, e-mail Missy Harrington at mlh14@cornell.edu or call 255-5378.

Kolb will deliver her keynote address, "Conflict Resolution: Challenges of Practice and the Problems of Systems," at 9:15 a.m. in the Carrier Ballroom of the Statler Hotel.

Key highlights of the conference include:

• a 10 a.m panel discussion on "Do Ideas Travel? What Can We Learn From One Another?" Participants include Ronald Seeber, ILR associate dean and associate director of the Institute on Conflict Resolution; Judith Reppy, professor and associate director of the Peace Studies Program; and Larry Fisher, senior extension associate for the Center for the Environment.

• a 12:45 p.m. luncheon address by Provost Don M. Randel. ILR School Dean Edward J. Lawler will introduce Randel. This session will be held in the Rowe and Taylor rooms of the Hotel School.

• a 3 p.m. panel discussion on "Alternative Dispute Resolution: Is ADR the Future of Conflict Resolution?" Participants will be Kheel and John Bickerman, founder of Bickerman Dispute Resolution Group, Washington, D.C. Both will participate in the discussion via teleconferencing in 105 ILR Conference Center.

During the conference, breakout sessions will be held to provide participants with an opportunity to make recommendations on framing the future of conflict resolution at Cornell.