Larissa Fast decided at age 12 that she wanted to earn a doctoral degree. It took her years to choose a field of study, though. When she did, her experiences at home and in the world at large both played a role.

“I grew up Mennonite, in a pacifist environment,” said Fast, who will join the Kroc Institute faculty this fall. “My second year at university, I went to visit Israel and the occupied territories, after the first Intifada had started. I remember being there, witnessing the violence and thinking ‘There has to be a better way to work at this.’ ’’

That was in 1990. Those study-tour images of the Palestinian uprising — the burning tires, the refugee camps, soldiers everywhere — stayed with Fast. “I saw the militarization of society,” she said. After graduation from Bethel College two years later, she worked for two years at Maison de l’amitié, a refugee assistance center in Montreal, as a volunteer for the Mennonite Central Committee. There, she met many survivors of torture. “That also was an important piece of turning me toward peace studies.”

Her inquiries about master’s programs led her to the Kroc Institute, from which she graduated in 1995.

“It was an amazing year. A lot of my close friends are from that year, and I’m still in touch with them,” she said. “We all interacted with people who didn’t think like we did. I had to clarify my thoughts. It exposed me to different ways of looking at issues.”

After graduation, Fast spent a year working for Catholic Relief Services in The Gambia, West Africa. She’s been a project manager, consultant and conflict analyst for several international nongovernmental organizations. But she decided along the way that she wouldn’t want to work full-time with relief groups. “I like to keep my feet in both practice and academics.”

Her education has been interdisciplinary at every step. In 2002, she received her Ph.D. from the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, at George Mason University. Since then, she has taught at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where she is an assistant professor teaching peace and conflict studies. She is also program associate for Project Ploughshares, an ecumenical peace and disarmament agency that works to influence Canadian policy.

As a member of the core faculty of the Kroc Institute, Fast will teach courses on conflict resolution at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She will hold a joint appointment as visiting assistant professor in the department of sociology.

Fast’s father is a minister, born in the United States, and her mother is a nurse, born in Canada. She holds dual citizenship. While she prefers the political climate of Canada to that of the U.S., she is excited about coming to the Kroc Institute. She looks forward to being part of a faculty team whose members focus on peacebuilding. As the only peace studies professor at Conrad Grebel, she said, “I’ve been feeling a sense of isolation from people who research and write about the same things.”

Political science professor Bob Johansen, a senior Kroc fellow, encouraged his former student to apply for the position. He praised Fast’s qualifications as a scholar, teacher, and global citizen. “Because she was a graduate of our program, and a superb student while in the program, we had the added benefit of being confident that we knew we were hiring a person of integrity with a long-term commitment to working for peace and justice.”

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