"It has been one of the most interesting and enjoyable classes I've taken at Hope College."

"A great learning experience! Something you will become total engulfed in. You will remember and carry the experience with you far into the future."

"This class has challenged me to not believe everything I hear and not to agree with everything people say is right."

"Since no one knew who I was, I felt like I could really play into my character's personality."

"I saw as the course progressed how certain methods and ideas from class were being put to use in the sim. This was fun to watch and be a part of."

"The course material was extremely helpful. I have saved most of it and will use it again and again in life"

"What a fun experience! Come and see how to you try to get out of a conflict. You are an actor/actress in a play or a movie. You are on a ship and suddenly you are confronted with a life-threatening crisis. What will you do? You all have to find a way out of it. It was exciting, scary, intense - a great feeling! That made the simulation just explode at that point and I could not wait for the next day to see what would happen next. Like a play, you feel the tension as you and your fellow actors/actresses try to resolve the conflict. Unlike a play, you are not physically on the ship.... Great way to learn how you handle conflicts!"

"This has been my favorite class of my college career - a new way to learn for the future. I have been taking the information I have learned and bringing it up in conversation outside of the classroom with family, friends, etc., debating topics with others and really taking this material into my everyday life."

"So, what about the sim? I learned a lot in the sim, and not all about conflict resolution. Much to my surprise, I learned more about myself. I saw myself in action – with flaws and inadequacies exposed. I found myself awakened to remember the things I learned through the years about digging deep, operating from a core of love, and truth, and seeking peace – all things I believe in, but do not regularly focus on or operate from in my busy daily patterns. The simulation itself became a kind of Aurora where I could do some real soul-searching. I found that I was starving for in-depth communication about serious issues, a hunger I did not know was there, and that I will try to put back into my life. The late night talks with the characters became a huge part of my life, one that I will terribly miss. I found through the fun with one of the characters a slight nudge to explore being in a relationship (which I had rejected any desire for or possibility of) and realized that I have some real trust issues that I need to deal with. I found that I am impatient, too quick to speak and react, too closed and bossy. I am pretty sure that these are not the learning objectives intended in this sim, but where else could I have learned this, and how valuable and life-changing is this experience? Will I be a better friend and mother because of this? Does going through this make me more open and careful with others in conflict? Does it help me to recognize that leading one through the process of getting in touch with ourselves is mandatory for reaching any kind of change or resolution? Would you have believed that anyone could experience this shift in awareness and introspection in just two months? Don’t you know, as I do, twenty people who need to take this course?

Conflict Lab in my opinion is a masterpiece! From the wonderful art, to the great musical prompts, to the incredible attention to detail, to the imagination and crafting of the story line and character development, to the author's vision, to the instructor's performance and coaching – it doesn’t get any better than this! Congratulations on an over the top product and experience! I wish you all great success.”

"Originally, the Friends of Chris Vermeer(“FOC”) banded together to discover the location, health and well being of Amy Vermeer. Amy had decided to take a cruise aboard the Aurora off the coast of San Francisco, CA a few months ago. The Aurora is owned and operated by an alternative, peace-based community called the Elysians. The FOC began an offensive rescue operation and found out that we didn’t have an enemy to pull Amy away from, but it was Amy’s job to pull us from the clutches of our society, a society that saw “different” as bad, wrong, and evil. We had a lot to learn, and the Elysian community opened themselves fully and exposed their cause, turmoil, worldview and choices.

These past few weeks have taught me much more about myself than I could have imagined. Originally, I perceived the Elysian Community as a cult that was seeking to steal Amy, the sister of my best friend. I thought Amy was weak, vulnerable and naïve to the methods of coercion. That was until I opened my mind and listened to each of them. Dialogue is the key to this situation and over the past few months several members of the community got under my skin and I began to love and respect each of them. Amy got into my heart when I finally accepted that she is far more intelligent and insightful than I ever gave her credit for. It was me, and my colleagues that were acting childish and blinded by the conventions of society.

So,now we find ourselves in a troubling situation. A member of the Elysian community has chosen to act out in a very brash manner. My question of each American and member of the world: “When someone from the U.S. breaks the law, do we punish and blame the whole country?” Far too often, we attach the actions of an individual to entire countries and races for that matter. Boris’s actions were not necessarily the most peaceful and appropriate actions to be supported by the community. However, I would like to stress each Elysian is free to make choice about their lives exactly as other Americans do. They all want peace, although Boris has chosen a paradoxical way that is really troubling. To quote Ariana Amnisos, an Elysian, “We support Boris, we will assist him and work with society in any way we can to resolve this peacefully. We understand him, and we care for him as a person who is passionate about the cause of peace. We would have preferred a different method, but what he has done is important in its own right.” It is my belief and Boris’ own belief that he is not doing anything that other countries aren’t doing.

I will attempt to address the situation at hand equally as an American living in the Bay area, and as a deeply committed friend of the Elysians. As I prepare to graduate with a degree in Political Science and International Relations, I realize negotiation needs to be the leading method of solving all conflict. Our country refuses to negotiate with a human being who is labeled a terrorist. What is the other option… violence?

After a candid conversation with an Elysian, her question really shook me. Sirena asked what's the most powerful force is in this world? I was stumped until I decided we are. People, citizens of the world, we are the most powerful force as a whole. We have the power to heal a planet after the turmoil of possible natural and artificial disaster. What better time than now to literally birth a movement that will disarm the world to the tune of the majority? Boris likes to act in the words and wisdom of Gandhi. Well, here is a global chance: 'We must become the change we wish to see in the world'."

“Simulation will evolve to become the killer application for e-learning. Interest in simulation is increasing for several reasons. Research with adult learners consistently shows learning is most effective in problem-solving or hands-on situations. Simulations bring students closer to the real experience than do simple unidirectional (teacher or courseware to student) instructional techniques. Technology is now available (and continuing to evolve) that enables enterprises to build simulations that are complex, visually stimulating, interactive and provide immediate feedback. Finally, Web capabilities-such as collaborative commerce applications, rich media (audio-conferencing and videoconferencing) and network connectivity-can enable rich, complex simulations to be extended across enterprise boundaries.”

“Ask yourself this question: Would you undergo heart surgery if the surgeon had been trained in the same way that business-school students are trained? Imagine that the surgeon had sat around in medical school discussing heart surgery, watching heart surgery videos and listening to other heart surgeons talk about what they did – and now you’re lying on the operating table, that surgeon’s first real patient. Would you actually let that surgeon cut you open? I don’t think so!”