Dr. Sarah E. MacDonald

Dr. Sarah MacDonald joined UWM’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusive (DEI) in 2023 as the Training & Dispute Resolution Specialist. In this role, she fosters a campus culture of inclusion and belonging, in which diverse identities and voices are valued, heard, and fruitfully engaged. Drawing on her expertise in conflict transformation, Sarah works closely with the Office of Equity/Diversity Services to provide negotiated resolution processes. She also supports the Vice Chancellor of DEI to offer trainings and consultations on proactive and responsive conflict transformation strategies. One of her primary goals is to help the UWM community engage conflict in constructive ways that can lead to learning, growth, and positive change.

Before coming to UWM in 2018, Sarah earned a Ph.D. in Ethics from Emory University, with a concentration in Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding. Her dissertation research, focused on ethics of solidarity, grew out of her previous work in international peacebuilding and nonviolent activism. She also holds an M.A. in English from the University of Iowa and an M.Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

This variegated background has informed all of Sarah’s work at UWM. From 2018–2023, she was a teaching consultant in the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), where she specialized in inclusive teaching and in conflict transformation as a tool for teaching and learning. Sarah developed and continues to facilitate the Inclusive Teaching Toward Justice program for UWM instructors. She has been a member of the UWM Ombuds Council since 2019, and she teaches part-time in the Master of Sustainable Peacebuilding (MSP) program.