MS IRP-AMP student Colin Tait spent his spring break in Bogotá, Colombia conducting interviews for his thesis titled The Transnational Diffusion of Peace.

"For spring break this year, I was lucky to travel to Bogotá, Colombia. While down there, I conducted field work for my thesis by interviewing people directly involved in the Havana negotiations that ended a fifty-year conflict between the Colombian government and insurgent group Las FARC. In between interviews and processing the information I collected, I was able to visit many different parts of the city and experience Colombian culture firsthand. Conducting field work is important and necessary when writing about conflict and conflict resolution because it gives you a perspective on society that cannot be gained from reading books or watching the news."

"Following my trip, I feel a special responsibility to the Colombian people to present a piece of work that captures the nuances and accurately portray the peace process in respect to the people I spoke with and the things I observed when exploring the city." 

“Unrelated to my thesis, a large impact from the trip was seeing and interacting with the vast amount of Venezuelan refugees. There are one million refugees in Colombia and 300,000 in Bogotá alone. I realize now how much of a humanitarian crisis it is and am even more inspired to pursue a career in conflict management and peace building.”