Ph.D. Candidate Gina Cerasani

Gina Cerasani's deep interest in community dynamcis led her to become involved in one of Norhtern Virginia's most pressing issues - immigration in Prince William county.  As an ICAR Ph.D. candidate focusing on com- munity conflicts, her involvement began when she joined the Latin American and Caribbean working group in 2006, which was being led by Lisa Shaw. By 2007, the depth of the conflicts between PWC residents and the large influx of immigrants in the area looking for jobs was becoming apparent. The ICAR working group partnered with organizations, such as Unity in the Community, to start a series of facilitated dialogues involving various members of the community. Not only was the process one that had not been seen before in the county, open- ing the eyes of the parties involved as well as the facilitators, the dialogues gave Gina and her peers a chance to practice the theories they studied at ICAR.

With her colleagues, Cerasani led a series of interviews in order to gain an understanding of how the conflict had escalated. Her approach was humanistic and the information gathered was most valuable—it told the story of the deeply rooted fears that the residents had.  Gina uses the lessons learned from this experience as she teaches her students CONF330, Community Conflict class. Her first hand experience analyzing these conflicts and orga- nizing interventions for reconciliation brings a real life view of how to approach such issues into the classroom providing a connection between theory and practice. Most importantly, Cerasani understands that one must have a realistic objective in working through the deeply rooted tensions that arise between parties.

“Before I came to ICAR I was much more of an activist, and a strong supporter of empowering the underdog,” Cerasani said. Although that passion remains, she now understands that as part of her role as a third party intervener, she must not only seek to mediate the conflict, but to learn from it herself as well.