noteworthy
Since Suffolk alumnus Tim Phillips, BS ’83, HDHL ’18, founded Beyond Conflict nearly 35 years ago, the organization has helped facilitate conflict resolution and peace agreements in places as diverse as Northern Ireland, El Salvador, Kosovo, and South Africa.
Now, the organization is coming home, with a new strategic partnership with Suffolk that will give students, faculty, and staff access to Beyond Conflict’s expertise in conflict transformation and approaches to social change based in brain and behavioral science.
Started in 1992, Beyond Conflict has developed innovative frameworks to reduce polarization and rebuild social trust, leading to breakthroughs in peace talks, transitions to democracy, and national reconciliation in the aftermath of division and violence. More recently, Phillips has catalyzed efforts to combine research in brain and behavioral science with the study of social conflict, in partnership with universities and research labs around the world.
The partnership’s inaugural joint initiative with Suffolk, Strengthening Democracy Through Civic Literacy, will launch this year with the goal of creating more informed and active citizens. It will combine Suffolk’s civic-engagement efforts with Beyond Conflict’s network of global leaders, researchers, and practitioners.
“This collaboration emerges at a critical moment when the global community is facing a series of profound threats to democracy and social cohesion,” said Phillips, who received an honorary degree from Suffolk in 2018. “Now is the time to prepare a new generation of students with the leadership skills, values, and courage needed to meet the urgent challenges we face.”
Return to Table of Contents
FALL 2026
Photograph: Michael J. Clarke
