Project Portfolio for Bill Warters
"Working with and Learning from Conflict" has been a core theme of Bill's academic career since he got his BA in Conflict Resolution at UC Santa Cruz back in 1984. Bill went on to graduate school at Syracuse University, studying at the Program on the Analysis and Resolution of Conflicts at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Both as a faculty member and in his personal time working under the name "Conflict Learning Designs" Bill has developed some very creative, informative and functional online tools for conflict resolvers and educators.
Some Background: By the time Bill arrived at Wayne State University in 1997 he had already directed a doctoral program in Dispute Resolution at Nova Southeastern University and created and coordinated campus-based mediation and conflict resolution service centers on three different university campuses where he studied or worked. These experiences qualified him as an expert in the emerging field of campus mediation and dispute resolution programming. Some of his early contributions in this area are noted below.
Bill probably should have been a librarian, given his longstanding interest in cataloging and sharing relevant resources and information. At first, the most exciting thing was having access to a copy machine and mailing addresses. This was quickly eclipsed by tools like listservs and discussion boards that emerged as the internet came alive.
Probably most exciting, however, was the point when we started to be able to create databases that could then be displayed dynamically online. Some of Bill's early projects using these tools are noted here. The fact that they are still online some 15 years later is rather amazing.
Bill developed the Ohio Peace and Conflict Studies Network website supporting 19 Ohio colleges and universities with peace and conflict studies programs.
As part of an FGC workshop, Bill developed a set of Quaker Peacemaker Posters highlighting the many ways Friends work for peace.
Bill developed a fully online course exploring CMC and the emerging fields of Online Dispute Resolution and Info Activism.
Working with the local schools, library and court system, Bill and his students developed the East Side Conflict Resolution Outreach (ESCRO) initiative on Metro Detroit's East Side.
Bill was interviewed on the Texas Conflict Coach Blogtalk Radio program in August of 2014. He shared information on the MADR program he directs at Wayne State University.
At the 2018 IIRP Annual Conference Bill presented a review of different theories about who can best intervene in social conflict. The slides are here.
Using open access software, Bill created a site to promote free online sharing of conflict studies books.
As webmaster for Lake Erie Yearly Meeting (Quakers) Bill organizes and hosts LEYM virtual annual sessions.
Building on data gathered by students and faculty from Swarthmore, Bill put together an interactive timeline of Nonviolence History.
Bill was part of the national Conflict Resolution Day planning committee sponsored by the Association for Conflict Resolution. His CREducation.org website hosted an annual K-12 poetry contest on the theme.
The Association for Conflict Resolution's quarterly magazine featured Bill's article "Empowering Networked Individuals (and Practitioners) to Better Manage Conflict" in the Summer 2015 Issue on Looking to the Future.
Bill was part of a team that took Second Place at the first national Tech for Justice Hackathon held in June of 2014 at Code for America in San Francisco.
Perhaps there are ways our interests or skills overlap in useful ways. Please contact Bill if you think we might create something cool together. The sample projects depicted below should provide some sense of the focus and scope of Bill's interests.
Combining scholarly and practical or creative projects is one hallmark of Bill's work. Below you'll find some examples. Click on an image for more information. You can filter the list using the topical buttons.
