The Peace Studies Department is active in bringing speakers to campus, attending conferences and writing for publications. Here are just a few highlights!

On April 26, 2016, Shamsia Ramadhan presented "Christian and Muslim Collaboration for Peace and Justice in Africa"

Shamsia Ramadhan is a program manager for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), currently undertaking a peacebuilding project in east, west, and north Africa.  Before joining CRS, she worked with Life & Peace Institute (LPI), a Nairobi-based Swedish organization engaging in peacebuilding activities in Kenya and Somalia. She was the program advisor on policy and advocacy for Kenya and Somalia, and was editor of the Institute's Horn of Africa Bulletin, an online journal that analyzes conflict in the Horn of Africa region.

She holds a master's degree in international peace studies from University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She is also an alumna of the Australia Leadership   Awards Fellowship, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.  Ramadhan is working extensively in inter-religious peacebuilding. Under the Capacity for Inter-Religious Community Action (CIRCA) project for  Catholic Relief Services, she is building the capacity of faith-based efforts toward enhanced resilience in the face of violent conflict and extremism.          

The project operates in six countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Nigeria, and Niger.

• On November 13, 2013, Abdul Kulane (SJU '12) presented "My Pilgrimage to Mecca: Reflections on the Hajj"
• "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.
• Video of lecture by Amy Ernst, March 29, 2012, "Women, War and Rape in the Democratic Republic of the Congo"
• Video of presentation by peace studies Alum James Kimeu, "Kenya: Preventing Mass Political Violence" November 21, 2011, CSB.
• 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 Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, USA
    Christopher Hausmann, University of Notre Dame, USA
• 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.
• Books for Kibera Initiative -- Providing Textbooks for Africa's Largest Slum