Beth Roy

With a long career as a conflict mediator and scholar of identity-based social divisions, Beth Roy, PhD, draws on stories from her practice and research, as well as from her own life, to look deeply into moments of historic conflict. Dr. Roy taught Peace and Conflict Studies at U.C. Berkeley and co-founded the Practitioners Research and Scholarship Institute, as well as co-editing two anthologies of writings on race and professional practice.

Her published works include a revisiting of the desegregation of Little Rock’s Central High School through the life stories of white students at the school in the year of turmoil as well as members of the African American community (Bitters in the Honey: Tales of Hope and Disappointment Across Divides of Race and Time: Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1999). When a young African immigrant was shot and killed by police in New York, she interviewed members of the community where the victim lived and also police officers on the force at the time to produce Amadou Diallo 41 Shots…and Counting: What Amadou Diallo’s Story Teaches Us About Policing, Race, and Justice (Syracuse Univ. Press, 2009). Others of her works recount a mediation involving culture, race, and gentrification in a San Francisco neighborhood (The Bernal Story), how to be a cooperative parent (Parents Lives, Children’s Needs), and why Hindu and Muslim farmers came to blows in a massive Bangladeshi riot (Some Trouble with Cows).

After many decades living and practicing in San Francisco, Beth moved to Albuquerque in 2019 with her longtime partner and three dogs. Somewhat retired, she writes, mediates, teaches, and, occasionally, makes statues.