Staff
From off-campus, please dial: 781-736-XXXX.
| Cynthia Cohen, Ph.D. | Director | x2133 | |
| Alia Goldfarb | Office Assistant | ||
| Lauren Satterlee | Web and Communications Specialist |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cynthia Cohen, Ph.D., Director of Programs in Peacebuilding and the Arts
Cynthia Cohen is Director of the program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at Brandeis University, where she leads action/reflection research projects, writes and teaches about work at the nexus of the arts, culture, justice and peace. She directed the Brandeis/Theatre Without Borders collaboration "Acting Together on the World Stage," co-edited the Acting Together anthologies and co-created the documentary and toolkit (www.actingtogether.org). She directs ReCAST, Inc, a non-profit organization partnering with Brandeis and New Village Press on the dissemination of Acting Together resources. Dr. Cohen has written extensively on the aesthetic and ethical dimensions of peacebuilding, including chapters "Creative Approaches to Reconciliation" and "Engaging with the Arts to Promote Coexistence," and an on-line book "Working With Integrity: A Guidebook for Peacebuilders Asking Ethical Questions." Prior to the Acting Together project, she directed an international fellowship program "Recasting Reconciliation through Culture and the Arts," which produced an anthology by that name. (All are available in the online Resource Library.) In addition, Dr. Cohen has worked as a dialogue facilitator, with communities in the Middle East, Sri Lanka, Central America and the United States. Prior to her tenure at Brandeis, she directed a community-based, anti-racist oral history center in the Boston area.
Alia Goldarb, Office Assistant
Alia is currently a senior at Brandeis University studying Peace, Conflict and Coexistence studies with a focus in the Applied Performing Arts. Alia is a trained singer, dancer and actress. She also has a love for design of all sorts and photography. She has extended her passion for the arts into the field of peacebuilding and the arts and is studying to work as a facilitator for reconciliation, rehabilitation and peacebuilding projects around the world. Alia has already had the opportunity to step into the professional world of arts and peacebuilding through a variety of projects: She organized and hosted a workshop and benefit show to raise awareness about cultural violence against women with Terre des Femmes Suisse in 2009. In 2012 she interned with Attukwei Art Foundation (AAF) and worked with children and teenagers in Ghana for two months. Most recently she was asked to facilitate a workshop focusing on intergenerational communication in Switzerland. Alia is looking for future projects in the U.S. and Brazil.
Alia grew up in Switzerland and was raised as a Swiss-American dual-citizen. She moved to the U.S. for her academic studies at Brandeis University in 2009. Alia is tremendously grateful for the opportunity to work with a leading program in the field she seeks to pursue professionally. She is looking forward to learning and collaborating with Peacebuilding and the Arts and support all its efforts around the globe.
Lauren Satterlee, Web and Communications Specialist
Lauren holds a Masters of Arts in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Lauren conducted her Masters Practicum in 2012-2013 in Colombia with the Corporation for the Sustainable Development of the Archipelago of San Andres, Old Providence, and Santa Catalina (CORALINA), which is the regional government entity of Colombia’s National Environment System (SINA). She served as member of CORALINA's Seaflower Marine Protected Area management team, supported sustainable alternative livelihoods projects, and compiled publications on cultural natural resource use, as well as assisting with an organizational collaboration with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Prior to graduate school, Lauren worked for the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, and for the American Refugee Committee, where she managed the organization’s social media presence and helped develop the web 2.0 strategy and best practices for the organization. She served as an AmeriCorps Volunteer for two years with Ashoka's Youth Venture and volunteered with World Savvy, Growth & Justice, and the Freshwater Society. During an urban studies internship with a neighborhood arts cooperative, she co-organized the Red Hot Art Festival, and has a strong belief in the power of the arts to give a voice to individuals and communities, especially those that are traditionally marginalized. Lauren is also an amateur photographer. She is honored to have the opportunity to support to the work of the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts and a remarkable global network of artists, cultural workers, and peacebuilders.