Sustainable Peace Lab (Reconciling Conflicts and Intergroup Divisions)

Who We Are

The Sustainable Peace Lab consists of a core management team, temporary fellows, and affiliated student and faculty members. Most of our lab team and members are from our host institution, the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. However, we also have affiliates and fellows from other GMU departments, other universities, and non-academic institutions.

Our Team

Dr. Karina Korostelina, Sustainable Peace Lab Director

Karina V. Korostelina is a Professor and a Director of the Sustainable Peace Lab at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, GMU. She is establishing member and a President of the International Association for Reconciliation Studies. Dr. Korostelina conducts research on the dynamics of identity and power in protracted conflicts. Her recent interests include the study of peace processes, resilience, reconciliation, and role of memory and history in conflict and post-conflict societies. She has been Fulbright New Century Scholar and fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, the Eckert Institute, National University of Singapore, East-West Center, Institute for Advanced Studies at Waseda University, Northeast Asia Foundation, Central European University, and the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller foundation. She has conducted comparative research and practiced conflict resolution in Armenia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Russia, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, and the U.S. She has received 53 grants from such Foundations as MacArthur, Luce, Spencer, Ebert, and Soros, the US Institute of Peace, US Department of State, US National Academy of Education, USAID, INTAS, IREX, and Council of Europe. The results of her research are presented in more than 100 articles and chapters. She is an author or editor of 18 books including authorship of Memory sites and dynamics of conflict: collective memory, identity, and power(2024), Neighborhood Resilience and Urban Conflict (2021), Trump Effect (2016), International Insult: How Offence Contributes to Conflict (2014), Constructing Narrative of Identity and Power (2013), History Education in the Formation of Social Identity (2013), Why they die? (2012), The Social Identity and Conflict (2007). Among her edited books are: Identity and Religion in Peace Processes: Mechanisms, Strategies, and Tactics (2024),History Can Bite – History Education in Divided and Post-War Societies (2016), History Education and Post-Conflict Reconciliation (2013), Forming a Culture of Peace (2012), Civilians and Modern War (2012), Identity, Morality and Threat (2006).

Ksenia Bakhtiarova, Sustainable Peace Lab Manager

Ksenia (Xenia) Bakhtiarova is a PhD Candidate at the Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Ksenia manages all of the lab’s work, including research design and implementation, business development, and supervising the work of research assistants and fellows. Her work with the lab is intertwined with her own research: she focuses on identity, collective emotions, and collective trauma in groups affected by conflicts. She specifically focuses on the ways expats from conflict-affected communities cope with identity threats and moral emotions like guilt, shame, and outrage. Her research draws on theories and frameworks from social psychology, anthropology, migration studies, and moral philosophy. Ksenia also utilizes her extensive understanding of peacebuilding projects as she worked for over 5 years as a consultant for government and international aid organizations.

If you have any questions about the lab or Ksenia’s research, you can contact her at kbakhtia@gmu.edu.

Beltina Gjeloshi
Michael Sweigart
Billy Agwanda Nyadera

Beltina Gjeloshi is pursuing a PhD at the Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. As a fellow with the Sustainable Peace Lab, Beltina is supporting communications and outreach to raise awareness of the Sustainable Peace Lab’s work – particularly among conflict resolution and reconciliation practitioners – and assist with business development activities. A particular focus of Beltina’s work has been to develop the Sustainable Peace Lab’s website in a way that engages both academic and practitioner audiences. Outside of her work as a fellow, Beltina is an active student affiliate of the Sustainable Peace Lab and her research examines the functions of socio-psychological dynamics of social conflicts. 

Michael (Mike) Sweigart, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Sustainable Peace Lab. His research examines the roles of group identities and norms in contentious social and political change processes. Outside of his affiliation with the RCID Lab, Mike works as Director of Social and Behavioral Science & Learning at Democracy International (DI). In this role, he leads a technical team that supports evidence-based democracy, human rights, and governance programming through the application of social and behavioral science and monitoring, evaluation, and learning. Mike has a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis & Resolution, a Master of Public Administration, and a B.A. in International Affairs.  

Billy Agwanda is a PhD Presidential Scholar at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. He has been published in peer reviewed journals and he has also contributed book chapters in the Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution, Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies, Routledge Handbook on Human Security and Sustainable Development in East Africa, among others. His research interests include identity and intergenerational divide in political activism, political violence, critical terrorism studies, peacebuilding and conflict resolution approaches.

Students & Alumni Affiliates

Dr. Mathieu Bere, PhD Alumnus, Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Dr. Mathieu Bere is an alumnus at the Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution (George Mason University) where he contributed recently to the Sudan Conflict Observatory Project as a Conflict Monitoring and Analysis specialist. His research focuses on conflict prevention and peacebuilding approaches based on inclusive governance  and development. He has published several research products, including a book in French, on violent extremism and terrorism in the Sahel. He co-founded with alumni of US cultural exchange programs a small non-profit, the Center for Peace and Security Research in the Sahel, in 2022 to contribute to sustainable peace and reconciliation in that troubled part of the world.

Natia Chankvetadze, PhD Candidate, Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Natia has experience in teaching, consultancy, and program management related to peacebuilding and conflict transformation. She has led and implemented research projects on Everyday Peace, Conflict Transformation, Trade Facilitation, Youth Engagement, Trauma Narratives, and Track I dialogue within the context of Georgia. Natia co-authored a book “Women During and After War”, as well as two handbooks on Peace and Conflict Transformation in Georgia. Drawing upon this work, Natia also writes policy research and analytical articles for local and international organizations and think tanks. Natia is also an experienced instructor, with experience teaching “Peace Policy Analysis” at the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (2017-2021) and working as a non-resident scholar for the Frontier Europe program at the Middle East Institute. Learn more about Natia and her work on LinkedIn. Natia can be reached at nchankve@gmu.edu.

Alexander Jones, MW Student, at the Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Originally from Massachusetts, Alexander has worked in museums and libraries for over 6 years and his main research interests are public history, peace education, and atrocity prevention. For his M.S. thesis, Alexander is studying how museum visitors in the U.S. experience difficult histories in a time of heightened political polarization.

Naomi Kraenbring, PhD Student, Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Naomi lives and works in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Her research is focused on this geographic area, dubbed by the BBC in 2017 as “America’s refugee capital,” and Naomi is specifically interested in how religious social identity might inform Lancaster’s welcoming posture towards refugee resettlement. Naomi is a graduate of Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Indiana, and is deeply connected to the Church of the Brethren, one of the three Historical Peace Church traditions. She is passionate about interfaith peacebuilding, as well as spaces that invoke the creative, sacred act and art of peacebuilding in non-religious contexts. Learn more about Naomi and her work on LinkedIn. Naomi can be reached at nkraenbr@gmu.edu.

Engy Said, PhD Candidate, Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. Engy holds an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from the University of Notre Dame, Indiana, and a BSc in Economics and Political Science from Cairo University. She has more than 13 years of experience in government affairs and foreign policy with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) as well as Europe and the Mediterranean. She also has experience working on the environment, climate change, and sustainable development. Her current research interests include structural violence, the political economy of conflicts, identity, and conflict transformation. Engy can be reached at esaid@gmu.edu.

Nicholas Sherwood, PhD Candidate, Carter School for Peace & Conflict Resolution. How can peacebuilders maintain and improve psychological resilience while operating in conflict zones? This and other related questions shape Nick’s research and practice agenda, which draws from a transdisciplinary array of scholars and practitioners in peace and conflict studies; clinical, health, and social psychology, medical and cultural anthropology; and international relations. Nick is currently working on his dissertation project, examining psychological resilience within a global sample of peacebuilders supporting reconciliation in their own communities. Nick has conducted fieldwork throughout the United States and in the Middle East / North Africa region. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, policy briefs, and other public scholarly publications. A 4th-year Ph.D. candidate at the Carter School, Nick also serves as the Associate Director of the Mary Hoch Center for Reconciliation. Finally, Nick sits on the Board of Directors of The Parachute People, an NGO conducting mental health promotion and community-building at music festivals and live music events worldwide. Nick plans to defend his dissertation in the summer of 2023 and is currently on the job market. Learn more about his professional knowledge, skills, and abilities/competencies on his LinkedIn page. Nick can be reached at nsherwo@gmu.edu.

Faculty Affiliates

George Mason University Faculty

Dr. Steven Barnes

Dr. Charles Chavis

Dr. Marc Gopin

Dr. Mark Helmsing

Dr. Karina Korostelina

Dr. Alison Landsberg

Antti Pentikainen

Dr. Daniel Rothbart

Dr. Mara Schoeny

Dr. Peter Stearns

Dr. Mills Kelly

Other Faculty

Dr. Tamra d’Estree, University of Denver

Dr. Hope Harrison, George Washington University

Dr. Christine R Henry, Mary Washington University

Dr. Maria Repoussé, Greece.

Dr. Daqing Yang, George Washington University

Collaborations

The RCID lab collaborates with centers and labs at the Carter School and externally that have expertise on reconciliation. Partners include:

The Rotary-Carter School Peacebuilding Initiative in Cyprus
The Rotary-Carter School Peacebuilding Initiative in Cyprus is a joint project between Rotary International and the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, GMU. The project seeks to empower Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot Rotarians, peacebuilders, and other stakeholders to deepen their peacebuilding efforts through a structured, year-long program that includes workshops, dialogues, and collaborative project development.

The initiative aims to address the root obstacles that have hindered peace in Cyprus and to create actionable strategies that advance reconciliation. Participants will be guided through a process that explores the historical and current challenges to peace, generating innovative solutions and building a framework for sustained collaboration. The project aligns with ongoing peace initiatives in Cyprus and leverages the warming relations between Turkey and Greece, as well as the heightened involvement of the UN and the European Union.

The initiative’s primary objectives are to enable Rotarians to implement more impactful peacebuilding projects, raise the profile of their efforts, and share their experiences and proposals with other regional and international actors. The program will also produce a White Paper that captures the findings, recommendations, and proposed projects of the participants.