Newswise — When recording artists David Wilcox and Nance Pettit wanted to amplify the impact of their new album, they struck a deal with a seemingly unlikely partner " the University of Maryland. They saw a way to mix mysticism and diplomacy.
The album, "Out Beyond Ideas," mixes original music with mystical poetry from Islam's Sufi tradition, as well as from Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and Inuit sources. Though the poetry came from vastly different faiths, Nance Pettit says they found in it a "powerful shared experience" that can unite people.
"We want our music to touch people and to help build peace in a concrete way," Pettit says. "We shopped around for an organization we could help " one that also tries to get people together to communicate and understand what they have in common. The University of Maryland has been a leader in this area, so it seemed like a natural fit."
Wilcox and Pettit will donate all the net proceeds from their album to support a little-known Maryland program that has helped mediate a string of international peace agreements through citizen-to-citizen diplomacy. The Partners in Conflict Project counts among its successes closed-door mediation in Maryland that helped end the war in Lebanon in the 1980s and more recently helped end a hot border dispute between Ecuador and Peru after official talks stalled. "Our work and David and Nance's artistry actually share a great deal," says John Davies, a lawyer and social scientist who co-directs Partners in Conflict. "The title lyric on their new album begins, 'Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing, there is a field, I'll meet you there.' That 'field' is where we aim to bring opposing parties in our mediations. The idea is to empower them to work as partners, understanding and addressing the human needs of both sides that drive conflict, rather than stalemating over who is right, or who is most to blame."
Davies and his colleagues are currently mediating conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, South and East Asia, Latin America and the Balkans. Their work is often conducted alongside official negotiations with approval from the governments. The common ground identified by participants often serves as the basis for more formal agreements.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of this work goes back to the 1980s, as civil war threatened to permanently dismember Lebanon. The Maryland team brought together influential members of warring Muslim and Christian factions for a series of unofficial meetings and helped work out the basis for the 1989 accords ending the war. The work had to remain confidential " the Lebanese participants risked death for daring to talk to the other side. Eventually, they achieved a hard-won consensus agreement behind closed doors at the university's College Park campus.
"The breakthrough came when the factions realized they shared a common vision " they all wanted Lebanon to survive as a single country," Davies recalls. "After that they were able to work out a series of 20 principles that both communities could stand up for, and these served as the basis for a national accord."
The proceeds from the album, "Out Beyond Ideas," will strengthen the operations of the Partners in Conflict Project, according to Davies, helping expand its reach and building its capacity for rapid response and conflict prevention. The project is part of the university's Center for International Development and Conflict Management, a major research enterprise that brings together scholars and practitioners to understand the dynamics of societal conflicts over security, identity and distributive justice.
FURTHER INFORMATION ONLINE:
Partners in Conflict Project: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/projects/pic.htmCenter for International Development and Conflict Management: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/Out Beyond Ideas: http://www.outbeyondideas.org; http://www.davidwilcox.comJohn Davies: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/staff_member.asp?id=27
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