ĢAV

Sara Cobb

Photo of Sara Cobb
Titles and Organizations

Professor Emerita, Carter School

Contact Information

:scobb@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-4452

Campus: Arlington
Building: Arlington: Vernon Smith Hall
Room 5078
Mail Stop: 4D3

Biography

Dr. Sara Cobb, (Ph.D., ĢAV of Massachusetts, Amherst) is Professor Emerita at the  at George Mason ĢAV, where she was also the Director for 8 years. In this context she teaches and conducts research on the relationship between narrative and violent conflict; she is also the Director of the Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution at the Carter School that provides a hub for scholarship on narrative approaches to conflict analysis and resolution. Formerly, she was the Director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and has held positions at a variety of tier one research institutions such as ĢAV of California, Santa Barbara, ĢAV of Connecticut, and more recently at the ĢAV of Amsterdam. She has also consulted to and/or conducted training for a host of public and private organizations, including UN High Commission on Refugees, UNDP, La Caxia Bank, and Exxon, the American Bar Association, Fox Learning Academy as well as a number of universities in Europe and Latin America. Dr. Cobb is widely published. Her book, Speaking of Violence: The Politics and Poetics of Narrative in Conflict Resolution offers a narrative perspective on both conflict analysis and conflict resolution. She has been a leader in the fields of negotiation and conflict resolution studies, conducting research on the practice of neutrality, as well as the production of “turning points” and “critical moments” in negotiation processes. Some of this research is based on case studies from her field research in Guatemala, Chile, Rwanda and the Netherlands. The blend of academic research, program development, and practice enables Dr. Cobb to develop research projects that can yield practical understanding and generate effective interventions.

Honors and Awards

  • Psychotherapy with Women Award, American Psychological Association

Affiliations

  • Member of Global Advisory Board at
  • Associate at the
  • Honorary Fellow at the

Media Appearances

  • The ISIS Narrative: A long term strategy for peace
    November 22, 2015
  • Dr. Sara Cobb and the Narrative Practice
    November 10, 2015

In the News

  • 12th Annual Communication and Social Action Conference to ‘Reframe Blame’ Next Week
    Published on March 14, 2011
  • Washington Post Features ICAR Director Sara Cobb and Point of View
    Published on November 14, 2017

Degrees

  • PhD, Communication, ĢAV of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • MEd, Counseling, ĢAV of Puget Sound
  • BA, English (Honors), Albertus Magnus College