Thursday, February 6, 2003

"Increasing the Chances for Peace with Justice in Nepal"

Dr. Dee Aker & Karon Cochran

Dee Aker, Ph.D., is the Director of WorldLink - Connecting Youth to Global Affairs and Assistant Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego. Dr. Aker is an educator, journalist and psychological anthropologist focusing on the cultural issues and priorities for groups, particularly women, in transition around the world. WorldLink, a program in global literacy that brings high school youth from Tijuana and San Diego into direct contact with leaders, experts and world issues, was created by Dr. Aker in 1997. As a facilitator, researcher and conference presenter, Dr. Aker travels extensively. During the 1990’s, her work took her to Uganda , Algeria , Turkey , Ireland , Tunisia , Mexico , Taiwan , Portugal and China . She was an international columnist for the Women’s Times in San Diego from 1991 to 1994, and producer/host for the television program WOMEN on KUSI TV for six years (1986-1991). She is a former President of the University for Humanistic Studies in San Diego (1993-1995) and was vice-president for international campuses’ of the United States International University , San Diego , as well as director of the USIU’s campuses in Nairobi , Kenya (1980-1984) and in Irvine , California (1986-1991). Dr. Aker holds a combined doctoral degree in anthropology and psychology and a masters in international affairs.

Karon Cochran, Program Coordinator the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice at the University of San Diego, manages the outreach programs of the institute that include conflict resolution and human rights projects in numerous countries. Ms. Cochran oversees the internship program, and she organized the Institute’s dedicatory conference, “Peacemaking with Justice: Policy for the 21st Century,” December 5-7, 2001 that brought together representatives from official and unofficial organizations to examine issues surrounding incorporating justice into peace processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guatemala, Macedonia, and Nepal. Prior to coming to the Institute, Ms. Cochran was a Research Assistant at The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She is co-author of two papers on conflict resolution in Africa, and lived in the North Caucasus in 1993-1994.