Undergraduate Program in Peace Studies brochure

Undergraduate Program in Peace Studies

Climate change. Drone warfare. Polarization.

Nuclear proliferation. Gun violence. Migration.

Religious conflict. Mass incarceration. Genocide.

A simple scan of daily news headlines illustrates the many challenges facing our world today.

How and where do we begin the work of building a better world?

The Undergraduate Program in Peace Studies advances your knowledge about the nature and causes of violence, oppression, and inequality, and builds your capacity to transform conflict. You will gain skills and knowledge that contribute to the creation of just societies and relationships at all levels, from the local to the global.

U N D E RG R AD UAT E PRO GR AM I N P E AC E ST U D I E S

“Peace studies is central to understanding the modern world and the increasingly complex challenges we all face, as well as the strategies available to promote justice and peace. Regardless of whether you are studying liberal arts, science, or business, engaging peace studies will deepen your education and prepare you for the future.”

– Ernesto Verdeja Associate Professor of Political Science and Peace Studies Recipient of the 2018 Sheedy Excellence in Teaching Award

Study Peace Students who study peace gain an additional perspective on global issues that sets them apart.

Peace studies is a rigorous interdisciplinary field that draws on diverse academic disciplines and research methods to understand violent conflict and develop nonviolent methods for social change. It ties scholarship to practice, challenges us to develop our knowledge into new ways of thinking and acting in the world, and invites us to apply the techniques and concepts we study to transforming the most pressing issues facing our world.

When you study peace at the Kroc Institute, you experience one of the world’s leading centers for peace studies research and scholarship. You join a dynamic learning community of students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars from around the world who participate in a vibrant exchange of ideas through class discussions, lectures and special events, conferences, program meetings, advising, and other experiences.

Kroc Institute faculty have expertise in theory, practice, and policy across a wide variety of fields including violence prevention, community development, disarmament, nonviolent direct resistance, restorative justice, policy analysis, post-conflict reconciliation, environmental justice, trauma therapy, and more.

Many also work regularly with policy organizations, government agencies, the United Nations, and a variety of international groups devoted to advancing human rights and promoting human dignity.

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Peace Studies Major and Minor The Undergraduate Program in Peace Studies

SUPPLEMENTARY MAJOR The Supplementary Major in Peace Studies (24.0 credits) requires successful completion of eight courses: three required courses and five peace studies electives.

IIPS 20101

Introduction to Peace Studies

3 credits

IIPS 33101

Perspectives on Peacebuilding

3 credits

IIPS 43101

Peace Studies Senior Seminar

3 credits

offers students from any Notre Dame college or

2 IIPS courses from core electives list

6 credits

department the opportunity to pursue either a

3 IIPS courses from core or support lists

9 credits

supplementary major or an interdisciplinary minor in peace studies.

INTERDISCIPLINARY MINOR The Interdisciplinary Minor in Peace Studies (15.0 credits) requires successful completion of five courses: three required courses and two peace studies electives.

IIPS 20101

Introduction to Peace Studies

3 credits

IIPS 33101

Perspectives on Peacebuilding

3 credits

IIPS 43101

Peace Studies Senior Seminar

3 credits

2 IIPS courses from core or support lists

6 credits

Q&A WITH

Elsa Barron, ’21 Major in Biology and Peace Studies

What led you to study peace at Notre Dame?

How do you describe what peace studies is?

In high school I became interested in international relations through my school’s speech team, which focused on political and international events. Coming to Notre Dame, I was really interested in international relations, especially how we pursue justice and rectify conflict. I didn’t know that the peace studies program existed, but it was exactly what I was looking for. After I took Intro [to Peace Studies] and realized how expansive peace studies as a field was, I was hooked.

In some senses it’s exactly what you might think of: working to understand conflict, from the domestic level within families to abroad between countries. It has to do with understanding physical violence and conflict and what it means to work toward peace in those situations. But beyond that it involves recognizing situations of structural violence including racism, gender discrimination, systematic poverty, and climate change.

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What has been your most transformative peace studies learning experience?

I took a class called “Climate Change and Armed Conflict” with Professor Patrick Regan and started to get excited about the ways biology and the environment are connected to violence and peacebuilding.

This summer I’m studying environmental peacebuilding in Israel, which is a really great way to bridge biology and peace studies. This is potentially what I want to study in the future.

Build Peace The Kroc Institute is not only committed to robust peace scholarship, but to applying learning to realworld problems.

As a new Notre Dame student from Derry, Northern Ireland, Conal Fagan (’21) found himself drawn toward the peace studies program after learning about the on-theground peacebuilding work of Kroc Institute faculty and doctoral students.

Now a political science major with a supplementary major in peace studies, Conal was inspired to put his education to work during summer break, interning with Disability Sports Australia and helping to design new sports programs for students with disabilities. The placement combined his love of sports (he is also one of Notre Dame’s famous Leprechauns) with his commitment to building a more just world.

The internship will serve as a launchpad for Conal’s senior research project on the invisibility of disabled persons in conflict zones and how sports and educational initiatives might help to raise their profile.

”Finding yourself within the peace studies family makes you realize just how much life-changing work is being done across the globe to bring about social justice, and being able to study under the leadership and guidance of some of this field’s greatest scholars was simply too good to pass up.” – Conal Fagan

Conal’s experience is not unique. Our students frequently participate in summer internships or service projects, volunteer with local community groups, and study off-campus in locations that allow for a deeper, more direct experience of strategic peacebuilding. They are also active leaders within our campus community, serving as student body presidents, leading student clubs, and planning events and initiatives that help our whole community grow and learn.

Peace studies students have traveled with the Kroc Institute’s Madrasa Discourses initiative to Nepal and Qatar to participate in intensive cross-cultural seminars.

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When you join the Undergraduate Program in Peace Studies, you also join a diverse network of over 1,800 alumni spanning 100+ countries.

The Kroc Institute alumni network plays a vital role in helping students identify internships and career placements both during and after their time at Notre Dame. The alumni network also exposes students to experienced role models who embody the variety of pathways students can take to make peacebuilding part of their future professional work.

“My peace studies classes have provided me with a holistic education that has taught me how to be a better student, a better citizen of the world, and a better leader. Peace studies has taught me how to have difficult conversations about topics that may be uncomfortable, how to engage with those who have very different beliefs than I do, and how to always treat others with compassion and respect while simultaneously working toward resolution.”

– Elizabeth Boyle, ’20 2019–2020 Notre Dame Student Body President Major in Political Science and Peace Studies

Research Peace Students will find excellent opportunities to build research skills at the Kroc Institute, including mentorship by premier scholars, funding for independent research, and a senior capstone research and writing seminar.

Many peace studies students gain direct research experience by working for the prestigious Peace Accords Matrix Project, which analyzes information on comprehensive peace agreements negotiated around the world. The team makes their compiled data available for practitioners to use in global conflict settings and is currently serving as the official third-party monitor to the Colombian peace agreement implementation process.

RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES Presenting at a student conference Peace studies students have the unique opportunity to present original research at the Notre Dame Student Peace Conference, an annual event organized by students to provide space for students to share their research and experience.

Funding for student research In partnership with the Kellogg Institute for International Studies, Kellogg/Kroc Research Grants provide junior peace studies students with the opportunity to conduct independent research during their final summer break. Students who develop a research project related to international peace and justice are eligible to apply for up to $5,000 in funding.

Engage in Kroc Institute research projects Students frequently have the opportunity to apply for positions as paid research assistants with Kroc Institute research projects or faculty members. They also occasionally have the opportunity to earn credit for participating in research labs and apprenticeships.

Senior Seminar capstone research Peace Studies Senior Seminar is the required capstone course for both the major and minor in peace studies. As an intensive writing seminar, the center­ piece of the course is a substantive research paper on a subject that draws on research methods from peace studies and other disciplines.

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PAST PEACE STUDIES SENIOR SEMINAR ESSAY TOPICS

How climate change exacerbates public health problems Conflict transformation models for refugee assimilation in Italy How maternal morbidity is addressed in international law Restorative justice in school disciplinary processes

STUDENT RESEARCH BY

Melinda Davis, ’19 Major in Psychology and Peace Studies

During her senior seminar, Melinda Davis knew that she wanted to expand her international research experience. The seminar course, taught by Kroc Institute Director and Professor Asher Kaufman, focused on the theme of borders and boundaries. One major topic that interested Melinda throughout the class was the Brexit vote signaling the United Kingdom’s intent to exit the European Union.

Melinda worked closely with Kaufman to design a research project based in London. In partnership with local researchers at King’s College, she arranged over 30 interviews with refugees and migrants, with the goal of exploring the early impact of the Brexit referendum on their lives. She spent the spring midterm break in London conducting the interviews and then used the findings as the basis of her capstone project for her senior seminar. Her analysis earned her First Place in the Senior Seminar Essay Award competition, awarded annually by the Kroc Institute during commencement weekend.

Melinda cites the strong research and critical thinking skills she honed during her peace studies project as instrumental in helping her secure a prestigious post-graduate fellowship with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.

To learn more, visit kroc.nd.edu/undergraduate