STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State senior Thomas J. "T.J." Harvey of Foxworth believes the achievement of world peace can start with him.
A general business administration major at the university, he will test his conviction while learning how nations negotiate peace as he attends a Dec. 29-Jan. 12 international symposium in Capetown, South Africa.
Sponsored by the Institute for International Mediation and Conflict Resolution, the program is the Washington, D.C.-based organization's first meeting focusing exclusively on Africa. Since 1996, nine similar IIMCR programs have drawn more than 1,000 participants to meetings in the Netherlands, Latin America and the Middle East.
Training graduate and exceptional undergraduate students like Harvey in the principles of peaceful conflict resolution has been the purpose of each session, said Hannah Britton.
"T.J. is the fourth MSU student to be selected for this highly prestigious program," the political science associate professor said. Earlier participants include 2003 Truman Scholar Jennifer Phillips of Starkville, 2004 George Mitchell Scholar Smith Lilley of Clinton and political science junior Lindsay Buffam of Byram.
Britton credits departmental colleague Rickey Travis with long ago identifying the program's opportunities for political science and other majors with a serious interest in international relations.
Harvey, whose major includes a degree program in German, said the African meeting will focus on ongoing conflicts in the countries of Rwanda, Sudan and Sudan's contested Darfur region. Located in the western part of the continent's largest country, Darfur has suffered a yearlong conflict that escalated from tribal fighting to an international disaster in which a million people are displaced and an estimated 30,000 killed.
Observing that "the whole continent of Africa is in conflict," Harvey said he's most interested in learning whether the best peace strategy involves bringing individual states together for negotiations or seeking the assistance of outside negotiators.
During the symposium, Harvey and other participants "will be exposed to a variety of perspectives, including those from experts who have helped resolve some of the world's most difficult conflicts," Britton said. They also will take part in a series of training exercises and mediation simulations.
IIMCR annually convenes the intensive two-week sessions with assistance from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Harvey is an active participant in the MSU-based Mississippi Model Security Council, an annual spring semester simulation of the workings of the United Nations Security Council. Last year, he was recognized for his participation in regional competition held as part of the 14th annual Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference.
He is the son of Joe Harvey of Columbia and Charlotte Wells of Foxworth.