SCCR was formed in 1999 as the project of cooperation between Taurida National Vernadsky University (Ukraine, Simferopol) and Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) of George Mason University (USA, Virginia). Initially students of departments of psychology, political sciences and historical faculty participated in the project, and then the representatives of faculty of management have joined. The first meetings of our centre were held in the form of debates club, where we exchanged our thoughts and ideas about what the conflict is and about ways of the conflict resolution that exist. By the leading scientific employees of faculties of psychology and political sciences (Carina Korostelina, Oleg Gabrielyan, Oleg Smirnov) the introduction lectures to the subject of conflictology were read and the first trainings on processes of mediation and facilitation were carried out. We shall name this period of existence of the Centre a phase of initial preparation and training: there was a search of the literature, creation of library of the Centre, preparation and realization of seminars and trainings.
Since April, 2000, within 2 months, a faculty member of ICAR Linda Johnston has carried out a training course on conflict analysis on the basis of the Centre. The classes represented lectures designed for a wide audience (2-3 times per week) and practical trainings on Saturdays for the participants of the Centre. The lectures were devoted to consideration of the various psychological, sociological, philosophical theories applied for the conflict analysis, the practical classes consisted from work on the analysis of the urgent real conflicts, under the beforehand fulfilled circuits. As the result of the course, the participants of the Centre wrote a full-size analysis of the conflict with the following presentation of the work. The members of the Centre who presented their works perfectly have taken part in the International summer institute 2000 in Yalta. It was devoted to the conflict analysis resolution and was carried out by the faculties of ICAR. Within 7 days, the students of the centre have heard more than 20 lectures on the theory of conflict resolution and have taken part in a number of trainings and role-play games. Deeper understanding of nature of the real conflict and experience of direct work with the conflict (we simply played the conflicts and solved them) were the results of the summer school for the participants of the Centre.
The autumn of 2000 has pleased us with the increase in the number of our members, and the first semester the "experienced" members of the Centre were teaching the beginners. Besides that, the Crimean teachers involved in the project, carried out trainings and seminars for all of us and shared their experience in the conflict resolution in our country, in our culture. From these classes, we have learned about specific for Crimea conflicts, how they are solved here. Besides within the second year of work the teachers of our university have visited ICAR and George Mason University, where they have brought the literature, which makes the biggest part of our library from. The second part of year has passed in preparation of seminars, classes and reports for the conference. In the spring, at the end of academic year, a group of the American teachers and students visited TNU, within one week, at their seminars we studied how to conduct processes of mediation and facilitation and we have also wonderfully spent time in picturesque places of Crimea, which we have visited together with the American students.
In the autumn of 2001 the director of SCCR Irina Kaliseckaya and a teacher of psychology department Y. Vlasenko have visited ICAR. This trip has allowed the director of our Centre to see how the similar centre at George Mason University functions, and, having returned, to order work of our Centre. Y. Vlasenko has passed a month training in the Institute for conflict analysis and resolution and now is one of few certificated mediators in Ukraine; in the near future, under her management the centre for mediation of the conflicts among the pupils will be organized at SCCR.
In May 2002 SCCR was visited by the American students, chiefs of the similar centre in US (they have done some trainings and seminars on team building, leadership) and a PhD student of ICAR - I. Izmerly. During two and a half months I. Izmerly has delivered for the members of SCCR a course of the conflict theory, has carried out a number of practical and seminar classes. This period of existence of the Centre was also marked by first serious works in the sphere of conflict resolution (first facilitations and mediations on real problems in student's environment were done). The course of lectures was finished by writing works on the complete conflict analysis. Each participant of the Centre has shown a level of practical knowledge of the received theoretical materials.
The authors of the best works have visited ICAR in the autumn of 2002, where within two weeks they have studied under the program of institute. The received knowledge and the experience were realized in the form of lectures and trainings for the participants of SCCR.
That is the history of our Centre. We are always open for everybody. You can write in your own pages to the history. Welcome!