Workshops
Workshop sessions involve extensive interaction between presenters and participants around an idea or hands-on experience of a practice. These sessions may also take the form of a crafted panel, staged conversation, dialogue or debate – all involving substantial interaction with the audience. [45 min. each]
Cross Community Experiences: The Ulster Project Delaware
Workshop Presentation Eileen Starr
For the past 96 years Ireland has been divided, six counties in the North part of the United Kingdom and an independent nation in the South. Despite multiple peace agreements, sectarian violence continues. During the reenactment period in July, traditions dating back to the 17th century exacerbate the escalation. Long held values and historical trauma reinforce division and violence. Research indicates that primary conflict during adolescence impacts personal and social identity (Coon and Mitterer, 2009). Shepard (2007) determined that exposure to long-term violence and community discord impairs development and increases psychiatric symptomology. This research study explores the relationship between the Ulster Project Delaware (UPD) and good will and negative stereotyping of “The Other." UPD is a cross-community integration program for adolescents (ages 14-16) exposed to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. This study highlights youth’s involvement in UPD. For example, the importance of continuing UPD, despite the 1998 Belfast Peace Accord and the official end of “The Troubles” is to offset the on-going consequences of sectarian violence due to historical and intergenerational trauma. Our interactive presentation includes de-identified audio clips from individual interviews sharing not only their experiences as an adolescent participating in UPD, but also their exposure to community violence and the impact in their lives across the lifespan. Implications for the continuation of UPD and associated interventions will also reviewed. Participants will explore implications for practice in their countries.
Trauma-Informed School Programming: A Response to the Impact of Immigration, Social Upheaval, and Community Violence
Workshop Presentation Anna Berardi, Brenda Morton
This workshop focuses on responding to the effects of relational and socio-political trauma within K12 and higher education settings using Trauma-Informed School Programming (TISP). Traumatized students must prepare for their futures, but social and academic engagement is often exceedingly difficult due to invisible side effects. The data emerging from the International and United States versions of the Adverse Childhood Events (ACE) survey has sounded a startling alarm regarding the impact of trauma as it interferes with psychosocial development across the lifespan. In response, TISP is an integration of neurobiology, traumatology, attachment and cognitive developmental theories to help traumatized persons achieve a sense of safety and stabilization. This is prerequisite to accessing higher order cognitive processes involved in learning and social engagement. Its principles are applicable to all students regardless of age or type of trauma interfering with functioning. The presenters will introduce case examples of the model’s application in both k12 and university settings in the United States and Estonia. Examples include trauma related to economic marginalization and violence due to national immigration and race-based policies, and war. ACE data suggests that well over 50% of the world’s population is at risk of suffering the consequences of unmitigated trauma caused by abuse, catastrophes, or socio-political violence. TISP provides a way for educational settings to tend to trauma-based wounds in order that those already disadvantaged by acts of neglect and aggression can create needed resiliencies to survive and thrive.
