Lindsey Lucente, MS Student

Like many students who choose to attend S-CAR, Lindsey Lucente wanted to study at an institution that would enable her acquire skills and experience to who work in the field of conflict resolution. “I first heard about S-CAR from the Program Directors at Project Harmony Israel and I was immediately drawn to the program,” she said. After graduating from the University of Virginia with a bachelor's degree in Anthropology, Religious Studies, and Middle Eastern Studies, Lindsey wanted to travel the world to experience different cultures before deciding on what career or educational path to pursue. "Traveling has always been important to me because it helps me to put things into perspective and better understand the world.”

While she deliberated on what to do and where to go, an opportunity presented itself: she was invited to be part of a summer camp by the founders of the organization Project Harmony Israel which worked in collaboration with the Hand In Hand School. “I was not sure what to expect but I was certainly very excited,” she said.

 Hand In Hand School is an organization with offices in Portland, Oregon, and Jerusalem, Israel, that aims to create a strong, inclusive, and shared society in Israel through a network of Jewish-Arab organized communities and integrated bilingual schools. Their hope is to have both Jews and Arabs learn and live together to inspire broad support for social inclusion and civic equality in Israel.
 According to Lindsey, “I worked here for six weeks and met with many community leaders, lived with a Palestinian family, and taught children from both sides of the conflict during the summer of 2014.” It was through such interactions that Lindsey realized that she wanted to be more involved in conflict resolution. She also felt that if more people were exposed to the work that Hand In Hand School were doing, they would love to be involved.

"I would like to work abroad again before and after I graduate, and eventually get my PhD in Conflict Resolution or Anthropology," she said.