By Rose Sall, Alumna of the M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program (’24SPS), School of Professional Studies
What does respect look like? What does community mean? As a child of immigrants, these weren't abstract questions—they were daily negotiations. As a first-generation Senegalese American Muslim woman, I learned to navigate what things like love, forgiveness, and belonging meant across cultures long before I had language for what I was doing. I took on a self-appointed role as a bridge-builder in my family, learning to communicate across differences out of necessity. I learned to negotiate before I knew what negotiation was.
When I joined the M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program at Columbia University School of Professional Studies, I learned many frameworks and theories. But one stayed with me above all others: Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM). CMM focuses on the importance of co-creating meaning with those around you—recognizing that communication doesn't just describe reality, it creates it. For the first time, I had language for what I'd been doing my entire life. It wasn't just "being caught between cultures" or feeling confused. It was sophisticated meaning-making work. This framework transformed how I understood my own experience and gave me a lens for the work I do today.
Of all the concepts that require co-created meaning—respect, love, community, and justice—religion and spirituality are where we need this work most. And yet, they're where we're worst at it. We've learned to avoid these conversations. We treat them as too personal, too risky, too likely to cause offense. And in that avoidance, we make a dangerous assumption: that disagreement about religion or spirituality means incompatibility.
But disagreement doesn't mean incompatibility. It just means we haven't done the work yet to create meaning together.
When we skip that work—when we build peace while leaving our spiritual selves outside the room—we're building peace on a foundation with cracks we refuse to acknowledge. Our spirituality shapes how we connect with ourselves, with others, and with what's beyond us. It influences our perceptions, our values, and fundamentally, how we navigate conflict. If we can't talk about these influences, if we can't understand how they shape what justice or peace or community means to each of us, then we're negotiating with only part of the picture.
Now, through my work at WanderBloom, I teach young people to co-create meaning around inherited spiritual narratives. Through my program, The Spirits in Me, participants learn what I learned: how to honor what they inherited while becoming who they are. They practice asking the same questions I navigated as a child—but with tools, with language, with community. They learn that their voices aren't isolated, but part of an inherited, evolving story that can be retold with courage and compassion.
What CMM taught me—and what I hope current NECR students carry forward—is that we're not passive recipients of meaning. We create it together, in conversation, in relationship, in the brave choice to show up fully. When we bring our full selves to conflict resolution tables—including our spiritual selves—we're not making things messier or more complicated. We're making peace more sustainable. Because real peace isn't built when parts of us are left outside the room. It's built when all of who we are can show up, be understood, and co-create something new together.
Views and opinions expressed here are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia School of Professional Studies or Columbia University.
About the Program
Columbia University’s Master of Science in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution prepares students to analyze the root causes and dynamics of conflict and to transform disputes through reasoned and resourceful interventions. The program focuses on developing self-awareness, tenacity, and interpersonal competency; building common ground; opening lines of communication; ensuring representation and recognition, and building sustainable possibilities for resolution.
The application deadline for the M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program is May 1. The program has on-campus and online (with residency) modality options. Learn more about the program here.
