The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies is pleased to announce that four scholars began their terms as visiting research fellows at the start of the spring 2022 semester.
The Kroc Institute’s Visiting Research Fellows Program brings outstanding scholars focused on peace research to the University of Notre Dame for a semester or a full academic year. Visiting research fellows actively integrate their research with ongoing Institute research initiatives and participate in events and lectures as part of the Institute’s learning community.
Spring 2022 fellows include:
Alexandra Tañada Medina is on campus as the 2022 Kroc Institute-Catholic Relief Services Fellow. She has close to 25 years of experience as a program manager and research consultant for various peacebuilding and development projects in Mindanao, and currently serves as program manager of Catholic Relief Services’ Peacebuilding and Governance Program. In this role, she manages the Enduring Peace in the Bangsamoro Project funded by USAID and the Community and Youth Engagement for Peace Governance in Mindanao Project funded by Caritas Norway.
While at the Kroc Institute, Medina plans to engage with the Peace Accords Matrix to support the development of a civil society-led peace accord monitoring system for Mindanao. The formation of this Mindanao-based civil society organization (CSO) platform is expected to be completed in 2022.
Luis Peña Reyes is a lecturer and researcher on the spatiality of peace and reconciliation at the Jena Center for Reconciliation Studies at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany. While at the Kroc Institute, Luis will explore the uneven socio-spatial process of building sustainable peace. He will conduct an intersectional spacial analysis of the patterns and trends of implementing the Final Agreement to End the Armed Conflict and Build a Stable and Lasting Peace signed by the Colombian government and the FARC-EP.
Lydia Schoeppner is a teaching assistant professor in conflict resolution studies at Menno Simons College, a college of Canadian Mennonite University at the University of Winnipeg. During her time as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Kroc Institute, she will edit and expand her research to further explore the effects of contemporary conflicts in the Arctic on Inuit as well as Inuit local and institutional responses. She especially focuses on the history and work of the Inuit Circumpolar Council and the implications of culturally-relevant metaphors for learning about Inuit peacemaking past and present.
Benjamin J. Spatz is a scholar-practitioner focused on conflict and conflict management and serves as a research fellow at the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. As a Visiting Fellow, Spatz will continue his research on elite bargaining in fragile states and the implications that various intra-elite bargaining tactics and strategies have for war, peace, and institutional development.
Learn more about the Visiting Research Fellows program and how to apply.
For more information, contact: Lisa Gallagher, lgallag3@nd.edu