A doctoral program is, of course, the pinnacle of the pursuit of knowledge – a sign of our deep commitment to generating new expertise for achieving and sustaining peace. An intensive effort to educate doctoral students is especially important in a pioneering, interdisciplinary field like peace studies, which urgently needs more Ph.D.s to do the all teaching, research, and public education that must be done. The doctoral program gives us an opportunity to seed the field – training our best and brightest so that they become leading scholars, policy makers, and public advocates who pursue promising research paths and help enlighten new generations of students and decision makers. The four departments – history, political science, psychology, and sociology – that are partnering with us in the doctoral program also are confident that this unique collaboration will enhance their ability to attract strong graduate students, recruit excellent faculty, raise external research funds, and encourage faculty and students to transcend disciplinary boundaries and add depth and creativity to their research.
While reviewing the 63 files of the first year’s applicants to the Ph.D. program we saw many first-rate students from a wide variety of national and disciplinary backgrounds who are deeply interested in the historical, sociological, economic, political, and psychological realities contributing to today’s most formidable problems. They are asking: What leads people to acquiesce in genocide and mass atrocity? What role does lived religion play in either fomenting violence or teaching tolerance and compassion? How can we halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and reduce the small-arms trade? In a world that is heavily influenced by global market forces, where are the opportunities for enhancing democratic participation in national and global decision making? It is heartening to see this new generation of scholars attuned to the needs of humanity and committed to using their talents for peacebuilding.
Our faculty is also growing so that we can shape the field of peace studies while meeting the demands of our Ph.D. program. An intense year of faculty searches culminated in the hiring of five new faculty of extremely high caliber (including the long sought-after Luce Professor) who add methodological breadth and substantive depth to our research profile. This year we also substantially increased research support for the Kroc Institute’s visiting researchers, faculty fellows, and core faculty. Our commitment to research not only will strengthen the teaching of graduate and undergraduate students, but also will deepen the credibility of our offerings to other peace researchers, policymakers, United Nations agencies, the Church and religious organizations, and all those who increasingly turn to the Kroc Institute for advice on complex political, social, and ethical questions.
A new worldview
In today’s rapidly changing world, rising global interdependence may work to exacerbate bitter conflicts or to build a just peace. In a CNN, Internet, and YouTube era, people all over the world immediately know when gross violations of human rights and massive violence occur -- but we do not yet know enough to do something effective and compassionate about it. The human interdependences that shape our lives each day are as yet unmatched by responsible political institutions that give voice to policies that serve the human interest as much as they serve competing national interests. As long as the world’s interdependences are governed by political institutions whose highest goal is sovereign independence, humanity is likely to suffer violence and oppression.
The Kroc Institute’s programs arise from recognition that we need more precise understanding of what works and what does not work in addressing terrorism, stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, ending hunger and abject poverty, empowering the dispossessed, respecting human rights, expanding the commitment of all states to greater international equity, and replacing reliance on military means for maintaining security with enforceable legal instruments wherever possible.
One source of hope is that the young people attracted to the Kroc Institute seem more receptive than at any other time in our history to addressing issues such as mass violence, environmental degradation, and endemic poverty as issues of human security. This gives us an opportunity to work in more imaginative ways. Worldwide, we see growing recognition that the planet needs more cooperative means of achieving peace and security; that war and violence are inextricably linked to human rights violations, political disenfranchisement, racial and gender discrimination, religious misunderstanding, environmental degradation, and the failure to establish an equitable rule of law in world affairs; and that the complexity of these issues requires interdisciplinary, transnational efforts in response. We have been richly rewarded this year, as every year, by seeing the transformation of our students – often from a sense of youthful idealism into serious value commitments and intellectual sophistication that are equal to the challenges of the post-modern age.
Our highest calling
The Kroc Institute’s strategic vision makes a distinctive contribution to the University of Notre Dame’s calling to be a premier Catholic research university. We have been guided by our constant commitment, reinforced by our benefactors and by our founder, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., to embody and live out the University’s highest goals. These include academic excellence, the internationalization of teaching and research, and the nurturing of key values that are central to Catholic social teaching, including peace and justice, human dignity, and the preferential option for the poor. These aspirations, which animate our teaching and research, are the lifeblood of the Kroc Institute.
I am deeply grateful to have had a hand in leading the Kroc Institute in 2007-08, as Scott Appleby has taken a sabbatical leave to devote himself more fully to research and writing. I am grateful also that, during this extraordinary year, our faculty and staff continue to shape the Institute in accord with the fundamental purpose of peace studies: to increase human understanding of how to make peace through peaceful means. We look forward to a new year of abundant progress toward this end.
Robert C. Johansen
Acting Director
Senior Fellow and Professor of Political Science
