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• Annual Peace Studies Conferences
• Africa and Peace Studies
• Curriculum
• Student Resources
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• Organizations and Research Resources

Peace Studies Department

Peace Studies explores the presence and nature of conflict in human interaction, the causes of war and intergroup violence, the methods of violence and nonviolence, and the conditions for sustainable peace. The purpose of the department is to examine these subjects through the methods offered through the humanities and social sciences.

Highlights:

The CSB-SJU group at the Notre Dame Peace Studies conference (with Abdul Kulane '12)!

• "Peacebuilding in Kenya: Intercommunal Violence and Peace in the Rift Valley" William Kiptoo, Tues. March 12th, 2013.
•  Somali Cultural Orientation.    Tuesday, March 5, 2013.  Several thousand Somalis live in the St. Cloud Minnesota area. They could be your neighbors, coworkers, students, customers, or employees. What are their customs, religious beliefs and values? What do they consider polite and impolite, appropriate and inappropriate behavior? What is it like to be a refugee in Central Minnesota? The Somali Cultural Orientation helped to answer these questions for those who interact with Somalis in various settings, or who are simply curious. Just like any other community, the Somali community encompasses a spectrum of people, and regional and individual expressions of their culture may vary widely.

Abdul Kulane graduated from Saint John's University where he double majored in Peace Studies and Sociology. He has speaking and translation competency in English, Somali, Arabic and Swahili. He is the founder and executive director of The Language Bank in St. Cloud, which provides translation, interpretation and cultural orientation training services for business people, health care professionals, educators and others living and working with members of the various immigrant and refugee communities in St. Cloud. Prior to coming to St. Cloud, Abdul worked with the International Rescue Committee and the World Food Program in Kenya. He is a board member of Community Grassroots Solutions, a nonprofit organization which serves the refugee and immigrant communities in central Minnesota. Abdul is also active in other community organizations.

• 25th Annual Peace Studies Conference: September 17, 2012- This is a special conference, a milestone 25th annual conference. We will be announcing at this conference the first St. John's recipient of the Mische Peace Studies scholarship (Reynaldo Ortega), and the third St. Ben's recipient of the Mische Scholarship (Hudda Ibrahim). The donor who established the scholarship, CSB alum Dr. Patricia Mische, will be joining us as a speaker. She added the St. John's scholarship this year, and both our recipients will publicly thank her. Dr. Mische will also be publicly thanked by Kathy Parker for the donation of her book collection to the library. We will be joined by members of the Somali community, and the conference will provide an opportunity for our African students to give their youthful perspectives on challenges facing Africans today.
• Video of lecture by Amy Ernst, March 29, 2012, "Women, War and Rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
• American Benedictine Academy to "Seek Peace and Pursue It" Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:50 AM PDT; The American Benedictine Academy has chosen as the theme of its 2012 annual meeting, "Seek Peace and Pursue It: Monasticism in the Midst of Global Upheaval."  The conference will be held at St. Scholastic Monastery in Duluth MN.  Bridgefolk board member Weldon Nisly will be one of the featured speakers.  (Those planning to attend the Bridgefolk conference in Minnesota in late July should note that the ABA conference is the following weekend, approximately three hours away.) For more information and registration forms, go to http://www.osb.org/aba/2012/.
• Follow the Extending the LINK travel team while in BiH (December 26, 2011- January 17, 2012)  http://extendingthelink.wordpress.com.   The group hopes to have an update each day from one of the team members with information on the daily happenings and photos from their interviews or adventures around the country of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• Video of presentation by peace studies Alum James Kimeu, "Kenya: Preventing Mass Political Violence" November. 21, 2011, CSB.
• 24th Annual Peace Studies Conference: September 19, 2011
• Nonviolent Action and the Egyptian Revolution  (What's Up With Egypt?)
• Journal for Peace & Justice Studies; Fall  2010 Volume 20, Number 2
  Special Issue: Peacebuilding in Africa
  Guest Editors: Ron Pagnucco and Christopher Hausmann
  • Introduction: Peacebuilding in Africa
    Ron Pagnucco, College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, USA
    Christopher Hausmann, University of Notre Dame, USA
• 23rd Annual Peace Studies Conference, "Justice, Peace and Environmental Sustainability", Sunday, September 26, 7:00pm, Dr. Rajmohan Gandhi; Monday, September 27, 2010, 1:00-9:00pm, College of Saint Benedict.
• New Peace Studies Book By CSB Peace Studies Major Kathryn Ebben
• Will work for peace: Peace Studies Programs at Catholic Universities, February 23, 2010 -- featuring Patrick Edrey, SJU '04 peace studies graduate and Ron Pagnucco, Chair of the CSB/SJU Peace Studies Department. Full text version of article from U.S. Catholic magazine.
• Joal Reeves - Senior Peace Studies Major featured in December 26, 2008 St. Cloud Times Newspaper
• Books for Kibera Initiative -- Providing Textbooks for Africa's Largest Slum