Loras College to Start Peace Institute for High Schoolers

In response to the growing conflict in our nation and world, Loras College will launch a Peace Institute that will provide emerging area leaders with the opportunity to gain unique skills they can use to promote peace in their personal and professional lives. To respond to the global reality of difference and division, Loras College is establishing the Peace Institute to create a new approach to forming future leaders in the way of peace. For three days, high-school aged youth from a variety of faith backgrounds will participate in an overnight camp and will engage in programming on peace with self, others and the world. They will be taught skills like non-violent communication, inter-religious literacy, and relationship building by professors and area practitioners.

The Loras College Peace Institute will take place August 4-6, 2017.  Applications will be accepted through May 15.  To learn more, visit the Peace Institute’s website.

 

Celebrating the Fiftieth World Day of Peace

On the Fiftieth World Day of Peace, January 1, 2017, Pope Francis’ message to the world promotes nonviolence as a style of politics for peace. In his message, he spoke of nonviolence as being a difficult response, but the only appropriate one to violent conflicts.

He issued a call for nonviolence to all people saying, “It is a challenge to build up society, communities and businesses by acting as peacemakers. It is to show mercy by refusing to discard people, harm the environment, or seek to win at any cost. To do so requires ‘the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process’. To act in this way means to choose solidarity as a way of making history and building friendship in society. Active nonviolence is a way of showing that unity is truly more powerful and more fruitful than conflict. Everything in the world is inter-connected. Certainly differences can cause frictions. But let us face them constructively and non-violently, so that ‘tensions and oppositions can achieve a diversified and life-giving unity,’ preserving ‘what is valid and useful on both sides’.”

Francis ended with a reminder that “Everyone can be an artisan of peace.” On this World Day of Peace, let us consider how to be creators of peace in our communities.

Catholic Relief Services Webinar on Peacebuilding Now Available

Now available: Catholic Relief Services recently partnered with Gerard Powers of the Kroc Institute at the University of Notre Dame and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network to host a webinar on peacebuilding. Kim Lamberty, Director of Mission and University Engagement at CRS, facilitated the webinar, which is now available to watch online.

Webinar Overview

The opening 20 minutes begins with an overview of Catholic peacebuilding and the role of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, the Kroc Institute, CRS, and Caritas Internationalis.  During the remaining 20 minutes, Gerard and Kim respond to audience questions and share case studies of CRS’ approach in Sudan/South Sudan and Mindanao in the southern Philippines to highlight the following key concepts and their application to global conflicts:

• Peace processes
• Inter-religious dialogue
• Reconciliation
• How the Church works with civil society

 

New Video Highlighting Catholic Relief Services Faculty Learning Commons

Catholic Relief Services debuted a new video highlighting the Faculty Learning Commons program. The CRS Faculty Learning Commons (FLC) is an online learning community and curricular resource that highlights the latest strategies for global relief and development with special emphasis on the application of CRS’ justice lens and opportunities for building global solidarity. This semester’s theme is peacebuilding.

The video features Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love from The Catholic University of America and student Basira Knight sharing their experience with the Faculty Learning Commons in the classroom. It showcases how to utilize these resources to create a globally engaged classroom experience.

Catholic Relief Services Introduces New Faculty Learning Commons

The CRS Faculty Learning Commons (FLC) is an online learning community and curricular resource that highlights the latest strategies for global relief and development with special emphasis on the application of CRS’ justice lens and opportunities for building global solidarity.  This fall, the CRS Faculty Learning Commons will offer four distinct academic modules under the theme of Peacebuilding.

For ease of use, the material is broken down into four interrelated modules, described below.  The resources can be used by a variety of disciplines, and you are free to select from the modules to support your specific course needs.  You will find videos, short articles, book excerpts, discussion guides, and course learning objectives. To access and use the material, however, CRS asks that you simply sign up. 

Fall 2016 Peacebuilding Modules:

WHAT IS PEACEBUILDING AND WHAT IS CATHOLIC ABOUT IT? 

Age-old debates over just war and pacifism are well known.  What is less well known and understood is the Church’s role in conflict prevention, conflict mitigation and post-violence reconciliation.  From Colombia to South Sudan, the Catholic community, including Catholic Relief Services (CRS), is working with other religious actors and the wider civil society to promote peace amidst some of the world’s most intractable conflicts.   This session provides an overview of the Church’s role, considering it in the context of Catholic social teaching and a strategic approach to peacebuilding, with special attention to the peacebuilding work of CRS.

CIVIL SOCIETY, THE CHURCH & PEACE PROCESSES

Since the end of the Cold War, there has been a growing appreciation of the critical role of civil society actors in people-to-people peacebuilding, and in directly and indirectly supporting formal and informal peace processes.  Increasingly, active engagement by civil society actors (Track 2 and Track 3 diplomacy) is considered an important factor in addressing the fact that half of peace settlements fail within five years.  In many countries embroiled in conflict, the Catholic Church is a leading civil society actor.  In South Sudan and Colombia, the churches often play an indirect role, organizing local, regional and national peace processes for civil society that complement official peace processes.

AFTER THE PEACE ACCORD: Transitional Justice and Reconciliation

When wars end, some of the most difficult challenges of peacebuilding begin.  The Church has played a role in formal Truth and Reconciliation Commissions in South Africa, South Sudan, Guatemala, Burundi, and other places.  These formal processes often involve painful moral dilemmas, pitting legitimate demands for justice and accountability against the practical demands for amnesties and calls for forgiveness.  While governments often speak of reconciliation, defined narrowly as political accommodation, the Church promotes a much deeper and fuller understanding of political, communal, and personal reconciliation.  Moreover, reconciliation is not just or mostly a matter of formal post-war processes; it is an integral component of preventing and mitigating violent conflicts.

Inter-religious Dialogue and Action

Inter-religious dialogue and peacebuilding are often seen, by religious and secular actors, as the natural antidote to religious violence or identity conflicts with a religious dimension.  Interreligious peacebuilding can also be indispensable in conflicts where religious differences are not at issue in the conflict, as with the Lord’s Resistance Army in northern Uganda.  The goals of interreligious peacebuilding depend on the nature of the conflict and one’s theory of change.  They range from (1) repairing and/or deepening relationships, (2) improving mutual understanding, (3) finding common ground on beliefs and issues, (4) promoting common action, and/or (4) encouraging complementary action for peace and justice.  In some cases, the most effective work of inter-religious peacebuilding is done alone within one’s own faith community.

 

Catholic Higher Education Programs on Peace and Justice

Did you know that a number of Catholic higher education institutions feature degree programs focused on peacebuilding and peace studies? If you’re interested in an academic approach to social issues, then take a look at what various Catholic colleges and universities have to offer you!

Boston College (Certificate)​

Boston College’s Center for Human Rights and International Justice addresses the increasingly interdisciplinary needs of human rights work with students from graduate and professional programs across the university. The Center offers an interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Human Rights and International Justice, with students drawn from MA and PhD programs in sociology, psychology, political science, economics, philosophy, and theology, and from post-graduate professional programs in education, law, social work, and others. Through multidisciplinary training programs, applied research, and the interaction of scholars with practitioners, the Center aims to nurture a new generation of scholars and practitioners in the United States and abroad who draw upon the strengths of many disciplines, and the wisdom of rigorous ethical training, in the attainment of human rights and international justice.

 

The Catholic University of America (​M.A., Ph.D.)

The Center for Social Development offers a program in conjunction with the Religion and Culture academic area emphasizing analysis of the ways that religious expressions have transformed cultures and have been transformed by them.  Both the M.A. and Ph.D. are offered.  The area’s programs utilize the methods of the social sciences and humanities in the study of religion, emphasizing the human and cultural dimensions of religious life. These methods may include anthropology, sociology, psychology, literary theory, history, phenomenology, ritual studies, and others.

Emmanuel College​ (B.A. majors, minor)​

The Political Science and International Studies department offers several majors designed to prepare students for work and life in an increasingly inter-connected world. International Studies provides a broad-based foundation in world history, culture, politics, and economics. The major is well-suited to students interested in a career in such rapidly growing sectors as international business, law, media, and governmental and non-governmental organizations concerned with diplomacy, policy making, public health, peace, relief operations, immigration, and the environment. Concentrations within the major include diplomacy & security and sustainability & global justice. An interdisciplinary Peace Studies minor, drawing on theology, philosophy, sociology, history, and political science, is also offered.

Georgetown University​ (B.A. certificate, M.A.)​

The two-year M.A. in Conflict Resolution is an intensive, theoretically- and practically-oriented, multidisciplinary degree. It is housed in the Government Department, with core courses offered also in the Department of Psychology and the McDonough School of Business.  Elective courses may be selected from departments across campus, including courses in dispute resolution offered at the Georgetown University Law Center.  Students can also participate in activities of the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. Georgetown also has an undergraduate Program on Justice and Peace, with a suggested concentration in Catholic Social Teaching. The School of Foreign Service in collaboration with the Berkeley Center now offers the Religion, Ethics, and World Affairs certificate program in which undergraduate students can explore the faith-related dimension of global issues.

Marquette University (B.A. major, minors)​

Marquette offers an interdisciplinary major in peace studies and minors in peace studies and in justice and peace.  Courses focusing on conceptualizing justice and peace, bridging social communities, promoting social and economic justice, and resolving violent conflict.

University of Dayton (B.A. major)​

Through the International Studies major, a Peace and Global Security concentration is offered at the undergraduate level. International Studies is a multidisciplinary major designed to meet the needs of students seeking the broadly based international perspective required for successful careers in education, government, international business, law, national and homeland security, humanitarian relief, and social entrepreneurship. The curriculum includes a core of required courses, a concentration, a foreign language requirement, an international and/or cross-cultural experiential component, and a senior capstone seminar. The experiential component may be satisfied through study abroad, internship, language immersion, service, or work experience.

University of Notre Dame (Fellowship; ​B.A. major, minor; M.A.; Ph.D.)​

Beginning in Fall 2017, Notre Dame’s new Keough School of Global Affairs will offer International Peace Studies as an important feature of the new Master’s in Global Affairs.The Kroc Institute’s Ph.D. program trains scholars in interdisciplinary peace research and history, political science, psychology, sociology or theology.  Students apply for admission in one of these five areas.  Graduates are prepared for research and teaching positions that contribute to solving the global challenges of violent conflict and peace.The Kroc Institute also has an undergraduate program in peace studies, and the University of Notre Dame has a program in Catholic Social Tradition.

University of San Diego (B.A. minor, one- and two-year M.A. programs)​

The Master of Arts in Peace and Justice Studies is an interdisciplinary program emphasizing peace as human development. The goals of the program are: 1) to produce graduates who are capable of relating disciplinary and cross-disciplinary theories of peace and justice to real world problem-solving involving regional and international conflict; 2) to foster scholarly agendas that examine the dynamics of justice and peacebuilding; and, 3) to facilitate faculty and student interaction and development across disciplines and academic units at USD, along with outreach to the community and the larger society. The Program takes full advantage of the School of Peace Studies’ two institutes: the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice and the Trans-Border Institute.  USD also has an undergraduate minor in peace and justice.

University of St. Thomas (MN) (B.A. major, minor)​

The Justice and Peace Studies major offers a revised curriculum with three concentrations, offering skill sets for a variety of career tracks, and a minor, which has been revised as well.  The three concentrations are Leadership for Social Justice, Conflict Transformation, and Public Policy Analysis & Advocacy.

Does your college or university offer a program on peace and justice? Let us know! 

Food for Thought Friday: Building a Better Peace

Food for Thought Friday: Maryann Cusimano Love, associate professor of International Relations at The Catholic University of America, recently published an insightful piece in America magazine about working for a just peace.  She discusses how Pope Francis, in “The Joy of the Gospel”, calls for dialogue to build a more just peace.  Dr. Cusimano Love notes that the Catholic Church has many institutions, including Catholic colleges and universities, that could foster dialogue and help develop positive relationships.  Read the full article on the America website.

The State of our Study

Wondering how the field of Peace Studies is developing these days? The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame invited George Lopez, a researcher in Peacebuilding and International Conflict Management, to speak about the state of Peace Studies. He discusses the state of the field as well as its challenges for the future. See his lecture below: