Julie Titone
Director of Communications

Every August since 1987, a group of idealistic people have come to the Kroc Institute from around the world. Every June — until 2005 — they departed Notre Dame, having earned their M.A. in peace studies degrees.

This year, there was no gathering on the patio for a final class picture, there were no handshakes from Father Ted. That’s because the 15 students in the Class of 2006 were the first to enroll in the expanded M.A. program, which lasts two years instead of one. Henceforth, we’ll have 22 months to become acquainted with, and attached to, our students. That will probably make graduation even more bittersweet, as we bid adieu to people who have become, in spirit, our children, nieces, and brothers, as well as our friends.

A major component of the expanded grad program is the opportunity for six-month field internships. The Class of ’06 internships started in July 2005. The students’ mission is to field-test their book learning. They are keeping journals in which they evaluate and reflect upon their experiences. Those journals will shape, and perhaps form the foundation of, their final master’s projects.

As the students prepared for what would likely be life-shaping experiences in exotic places, I asked them to share their thoughts. They responded as both scholar-practitioners and human beings.

Diana Batchelor, who was headed for Cape Town, had heard much about South Africa’s high crime rate and wondered how dangerous it might be. At the same time, she was “absolutely ecstatic” about the chance to do research in a country still transitioning to peaceful co-existence after years of apartheid. Given her interest in the role of reconciliation in peacebuilding, she was especially happy about the prospect of meeting people who have first-hand knowledge of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Mica Cayton, a Filipino, was a bit anxious about adjusting to the culture of Uganda, but was eager to study the political economy and legal structure of a developing nation. Tom Arendshorst wrote eloquently of the adventure that he and his wife, Sharon, would share in Kenya. “This field internship is our first practical foray into our brave new world of peace-and-justice work, far beyond the boundaries that have circumscribed our past efforts to help disadvantaged and hurting people.”

By late July, e-mails began arriving from the students. The letters are part travelogue, part treatise, and wholly welcomed by those of us who enjoy the vicarious pleasure of shared learning and adventure. For example, Sarah Park reported on her first trip into southwestern Uganda with fellow researchers from the Refugee Law Project. She wrote: “I am gaining a very first-hand and fascinating picture of both the refugee situation in the Great Lakes region as well as the political, economic, social and cultural context in which conflict and mass displacement arises and where refugees are often manipulated as a bargaining tool and even a weapon by those with power.” The research outing, she noted, just happened to be in a beautiful part of Uganda famous for its mountain gorillas. “Our long truck rides along unpaved and precarious mountain roads were a delight to the eye if not the bones because of the breathtaking views of valleys, lakes, mountain ridges, misty forests …”

From the political habitat of Washington, D.C., Taras Mazyar reported on his visits to the World Bank, the embassy of his native Ukraine, and his work on a project meant to enhance U.S.-Ukraine relations. He was thrilled by an invitation to help edit a film documentary about last winter’s Orange Revolution.

Damon Lynch’s missives from Jerusalem are illustrated with his vibrant photographs and perspectives on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. For example, he believes that hatred, not desperation, is the primary motivation for suicide bombings: “Tragically, there are plenty of desperate people in our world. … Yet the violence they inflict on others — if they inflict any — is likely to be common crime and not unpredictable acts of organized political violence designed to instill fear.”

The temporary good-byes we bade to Damon and his classmates this summer weren’t as emotional as our usual June graduation hugs. Still, the farewells were tinged with the same expectation that these people heading off into the world would not only do well, but do good.

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Home > Publications > Peace Colloquy > Issue 8, Summer 2005 > Saying good-bye - but only for now