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Solon Simmons

Solon Simmons
Associate Professor at the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and Interim Vice President, Office of Global Strategy, Office of the Provost, George Mason University, 2006-present

Ph.D., Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A., Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Minor Certificate, Finance, Investment and Banking, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A., History, Philosophy & Social Studies of Science & Medicine (HIPSS), University of Chicago

Biography

A professional sociologist, Solon is an intellectually polyglot and humanistic social scientist with formal training in sociology, the history and philosophy of science and business and informal training in just about everything else. Once aptly described as the ur-type of the University of Chicago undergrad, Solon's interests span the range of disciplinary knowledge with special focus on political ideas, social stratification, cultural sociology, collective memory, and the symbolic history of political dysfunction. His first book The Eclipse of Equality: Arguing America on Meet the Press tells the story of the atrophy in post World War II America of one of the canonical categories of the moral imagination, equality. In this book Solon, explores the progressive articulation of the American idea as the the core values freedom and tolerance find ready advocates and rhetorical supports in postwar America, while equality thought of in non-ascriptive and universal terms stagnates and falls out of our collective vocabulary. The story is not a happy one. Americans now confront one another over a dysfunctional divide, lacking the intellectual tools they need to confront their most dire social problems.

In a forthcoming book, co-authored with Neil Gross, Professors and their Politics, Solon explores questions of the genesis of ideas with a more direct look at their producers--the professors. Building on a widely recognized set of surveys of American college and university professors, along with contributions from a wide array of scholars interested in the rise of the new politics of higher education, this book demonstrates what can be revealed about the politics of



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Date
Titlesort icon Semester
Analyzes theoretical basis undergirding methods of research in conflict resolution. Explores how theory is built...
Building on logic of inquiry, introduces steps in research process to prepare dissertation and implement published...
Understanding social conflict and potential for conflict resolution requires that both conflict and cooperation be...
These 1- and 2-credit courses are scheduled non-conventionally using weekends, concentrated presentations, and intersession periods to develop...
Introduces students to study design, data collection, and measurement. Teaches students how to identify research...
Topics vary; they are announced each academic year.
Taken in last semester of master’s student course work. Assists in developing students’ own theories of conflict and conflict...
Examines major theories of conflict causation and motivation. Emphasizes need for theories to inform processes of conflict resolution. Weaves...
Examines selected topics relating to analysis or resolution of conflict. Topics vary but may include historical...
Covers conflict at macro level, introducing theories of international and global violence and conflict, drawing from...
Through this course students will utilize critical thinking and analytical skills to begin an in-depth examination of the major theories of...
Brief history of field, survey of key conflict resolution themes and theories, and intervention methods. Overview includes general factors of...
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Title Published Date
April 15, 2016
The chapter explores the path to an Arab enlightenment which may provide startling new templates for conceptualizing human freedom. IT proposes a set of organizing principles based on his philosophical reflections on the history of power drawing on the works of...
Category: Book Chapter
July 10, 2014
Professors and Their Politics tackles the assumption that universities are ivory towers of radicalism with the potential to corrupt conservative youth. Neil Gross and Solon Simmons gather the work of leading sociologists, historians, and other researchers...
Category: Book
March 05, 2013
Red state vs. blue state. Republican vs. Democrat. Fox News vs. The Daily Show. The so-called culture wars have become such a fixture of American politics that dividing the country into rival camps seems natural and political gridlock seems inevitable. Entering...
Category: Book
May 08, 2012
Solon Simmons explores one of the central assumptions of a science of conflict analysis and resolution that the more escalated and deeply entrenched a conflict is, the more tightly bound it is likely to be in rival moral projects — projects that draw their...
Category: Book Chapter
September 09, 2008
Enough progress has been made in thinking about conflict from the perspective of social identity, that it is time to move that point of view forward by revisiting the psychological underpinnings of identity theory. At its heart, identity-based conflict imagines...
Category: Book Chapter
October 20, 2006
While less religious than most Americans, professors are more religious than might be commonly assumed, according to a new survey.The survey -- described in a working paper titled "How Religious Are America's College and University Professors?" -- was...
Category: Journal Article
June 01, 2006
Much has been written about the effect of Ralph Nader's recent experience in Presidential politics—in particular about the consequential election of 2000. The general view is that Nader's direct effect on that contest was to cost Gore the election and the...
Category: Journal Article
December 01, 2004
A surprising number of modern American cities are experiencing efforts to drastically alter or even abandon their forms of local government. We discuss the major perspectives on municipal structural choice and then use both survey and census data in an attempt to...
Category: Journal Article
December 01, 2002
In a series of books published since 1990, Anthony Giddens has explored the impact of globalization on the personal relationships and inner lives of those living in the advanced capitalist societies of the West. Of particular interest to him have been intimate,...
Category: Journal Article
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January 19, 2017
In the immediate aftermath of the November election, we witnessed what may well be the beginning of a political
Category: Newspaper Article

December 2016
I travel in the sorts of circles in which everyone I know stands bewildered by the ascendance of Donald Trump. His rise
Category: Newsletter Article

 
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July 26, 2016
Solon Simmons, vice president for Global Strategy at George Mason University, joins CTV News to talk about highlights
Category: Television Appearances

 
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February 26, 2016
Solon Simmons, VP for global strategy at George Mason University where he is also Professor of Conflict Analysis and
Category: Television Appearances
February 20, 2016
Professor at the School Conflict and Resolution at George Mason, Solon Simmons discusses how the results of the Nevada
Category: Television Appearances
February 14, 2016
"In the United States, Republican Presidential candidates were throwing jabs at one another as they took to the
Category: Television Appearances

April 09, 2015
This edited volume addresses the common assumption that professors have overwhelmingly liberal or radical political
Category: Newspaper Article

November 21, 2014
Only two years after George Mason launched the Global Problem Solving Consortium, the university is being honored on a
Category: Newspaper Article

 
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November 16, 2014
Battle lines are being drawn as US President Barack Obama says he is prepared to go it alone on immigration reform.
Category: Television Appearances

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Dissertation Proposal Defense - Irene TurnerMgr. Christophe Munzihirhwa: Leadership and Influence on the Dynamics of the Congo ConflictWednesday, January 25, 20171:30PM - 4:00PMJohnson Center Meeting Room CFairfax Campus Mgr. Christophe Munzihirhwa: Leadership and Influence on the Dynamics of the
January 25, 2017
Dissertation Defense - James PugelSocial Identity Balance and Implications for Collective ActionMonday, November 28, 20162:00PM - 4:00PMMetropolitan Building, Room 5145Committee Memebers:Chair: Dr. Karina Korostelina           Dr. Solon Simmons     
November 28, 2016
When Students Misbehave: Student Discipline from the Insight ApproachWednesday, November 9, 20161:00PM - 3:00PM Metropolitain Building, room 5183 Committee Memebers:Chair: Dr. Solon Simmons,           Dr. Kevin Avruch,           
November 09, 2016
Refugees are a growing international concern yet they are largely ignored as a relevant group who can contribute to conflict resolution. Throughout their experience, refugees are a victim of both direct and indirect violence. This research used the lens of Galtung’s theory of violence to
April 21, 2016
Elections 2016: Could America Go Fascist? And What Can We Do About It?Sunday, February 28th5:00pm-8:00pmBusboys and Poets2021 V Street NW, Washington DC RSVP HerePlease join The Unrest Group and The School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution for an evening of
February 28, 2016
Dissertation Defense: Gina CerasaniMoments of Connection: Cultivating Empathy Between Parties in Conflict Using Role-PlayMonday, Nov. 2nd12:30pm - 2:30pmMetropolitan Building 5183 Committee Members Prof. Susan Hirsch (chair)Prof. Solon SimmonsProf. Kimberly Eby<
November 02, 2015
The Nexus between U.S. Foreign Policy and Conflict Resolution or Protraction:The case of North KoreaTuesday, July 21st1:30pm- 3:30pm Conference Room 5183This study analyzes the connection between U.S. foreign policy and its mechanisms for either the resolution or protraction of conflict using
July 21, 2015
Fragmentation of identity Groups and Conflict Mitigation in Darfur, Sudan 2005-2015Monday, April 27th 2:00pm - 4:00pmConference Room 5145Committee Members:Prof. Daniel Rothbart (Chair)Prof. Solon SimmonsProf. John Paden Abstract:How do fragmentations based on tribal affiliation further
April 27, 2015
Dissertation Defense: Jay Filipi OMAHA, NEBRASKA, Woodstock for capitalists: an urban tragedy of the post-industrial Midwest 
March 31, 2015
MLK Event Week Youth Leadership and Civil Rights in the 21st CenturyThursday, January 22nd5:00pm-7:00pmMetropolitan Building 5183Please join S-CAR in welcoming a panel to discuss youth leadership and civil rights in the 21st Century. Speakers from various organizations will be represented
January 22, 2015
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The study seeks to develop a comparative approach that will help to understand the plight of the victims of human rights abuses during periods of unconstitutional (military) rule and how they develop principled ways to “live with perpetrators” in West Africa. During conflict resolution
March 08, 2017
Join our new undergraduate program director, Dr. Solon Simmons, discuss American foreign policy in the postwar period.
September 11, 2012
Many scholar-practitioners have studied gender mainstreaming as a policy tool to help achieve gender equality, but their work does not consider how the related gender equality change and its implementation impact men at a socio-psychological level in male-dominated societies. The impact of such a
April 11, 2012
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