Cheryl Picard

Dr. Cheryl Picard, teaches conflict studies in the Law Department at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. Since coming to Carleton in 1989, in addition to her academic responsibilities, she founded the Mediation Centre, a teaching, research and service centre in 1992. In 1997 she was instrumental in establishing the Graduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution, and through her efforts the Centre for Conflict Education and Research (CCER) was created in 2003.

Dr.Picard has been involved in conflict resolution and mediation work for over 30 years. Her research and expertise has led to the development of Insight Mediation, a learning centred relational method of mediation. She has applied this learning centred approach in mediating numerous one-on-one conflicts, and in facilitating collaborative problem-solving within small and large groups. She brings a relational ideology to her teaching and conflict resolution practice, meaning she views people as connected to each other through complex webs of relationships and patterns of interaction and meanings.

Off-campus, Dr. Picard is active locally, nationally and internationally, promoting conflict resolution and mediation initiatives. Some notable activities include her work with the protection of Children in Bermuda where she helped implement school peer mediation and conflict management programs at the primary and secondary grade levels; she continues to teach mediation to professionals in Bermuda. Her ongoing work in Cuba furthers non-violent collaborative problem-solving at the grass-root level through the teaching of conflict resolution, mediation, and mediation coaching skills to Cuban professionals and community leaders.

In a more formal setting, Dr. Picard has taught at Teachers College of Columbia University, the Law University of Lithuania, and lectured in the United States , England and New Zealand. Early in her career, Dr. Picard founded a victim-offender mediation program in Halifax; and implemented one of the first high school peer mediation programs in Canada.

Dr. Picard has authored three books: Mediating Interpersonal and Small Group Conflict -now in its 2nd edition and available in Spanish-(2002), an introductory primer for individuals interested in mediation theory and practice; The Art and Science of Mediation (2004), a university text written with 3 other authors; and Transforming Conflict Through Insight, co-authored with Kenneth Melchin, published in September 2008.

Dr. Picard was a founding member and first Chair of Conflict Resolution Network Canada; and a Board member with the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution, now the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), and the National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution (NCPCR). She founded the Neighbourhood Coalition for Conflict Resolution, a not-for-profit, community based conflict resolution program for individuals living in social housing communities in Ottawa.