Marcia Sweedler, Ph.D.

Marcia Sweedler, Ph.D.

Associate Chair

Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution
Nova Southeastern University
Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences
3301 College Avenue
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33314

Phone: (954) 262-3019
Toll Free: 800-262-7978
Fax: (954) 262-3968

Email: msweedle@nsu.nova.edu

Dr. Sweedler holds a B.A. and M.S. from Brooklyn College, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland. Her first career was in education, as a teacher and then as an elementary school principal for 18 years in Fairfax County, Virginia. Dr. Sweedler’s interest in mediation in 1985 led her to join the first cohort of certified mediators in Virginia. She subsequently became a state certified trainer for Supreme Court Mediator Certification. She brought mediation to Fairfax County Public Schools in 1987, first in her own school, and eventually throughout the school system as the director of Conflict Resolution and Mediation Services, providing training, consultation, and mediation for schools, departments, and offices. Dr. Sweedler collaborated with the George Mason University Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution in 1992 to start the first Student Mediation Conference, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2002 with Dr. Sweedler returning as the keynote speaker.

Dr. Sweedler joined NSU’s Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution as a visiting professor in 1996 before being appointed an Assistant Professor the following year. She currently teaches in both the residential and online programs, and has served as Director of the Masters Program.

Dr. Sweedler presented at the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) national conference in 2002 on: Connection and Affiliation in Online Instruction in Conflict Resolution; She also presented at the Society for Professionals in Conflict Resolution (now ACR) on: Teaching Conflict Resolution: Making the Most of the World Wide Web for Online and Traditional Instruction, with Drs. Byrne, Yang, and Warters (2000); Feminist Mediation, with Drs. Bartolotta and Femenia (1998); School System Disputes; 1995: A School-System Approach to Conflict Resolution (1997); and A School-System Approach to Conflict Resolution (1997). Dr. Sweedler presented at the Professional Convention Management Association in 2002 on: Meeting Rage – De-escalating Conflict and Moving Toward Collaboration. In 1996, Dr. Sweedler addressed the plenary session of the National Association for Mediation in Education (now part of ACR), and presented at the National Conference for Elementary School Principals on Conflict Resolution for Administrators. She also spoke at the Maryland Department of Education Conflict Resolution Conference and the National Association for Mediation in Education conference in 1995.

She was editor of The Fourth R, the publication of the Education Section of ACR for two years.

Dr. Sweedler served on the advisory board for the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University, and received the first annual award from the Washington DC chapter of SPIDR "in recognition of outstanding contribution to advancement of conflict resolution."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------