ABSTRACT
The year was 1962, the place was Evanston, Illinois. The Northwestern graduate programs in psychology and international relations were critical to my professional development. They provided the more specialized training needed to move forward as a social scientist. That training consisted of learning about conflict in intergroup relations and a veritable platter of methodological choices for doing research. The LeVine-Campbell ethnocentrism project was expansive. It explored a diverse set of theoretical approaches to understanding intergroup relations. These approaches included both societal theories (e.g., realistic group conflict, reference group) and those pitched at a micro level (e.g., frustration-aggression, transfer, and reinforcement). Structures come back into play with communication among representatives of nations within the region, which often take the form of negotiating values and interests. Those communications are influenced by the type of regional system characterized as cooperative (Western Europe, North America), conflictual (Middle East, Africa), or transforming (former Soviet Republic, former Yugoslavia).
