Master’s students in the second year of the Kroc Institute's interdisciplinary peace studies program are on their way this week to field sites in Uganda, South Africa, the Philippines, and the U.S. They will pursue 6-month internships at highly respected local and international organizations focused on peace, justice, human rights, and development.
In the field, master’s students work under the supervision of experienced professionals, acquiring real-world skills and making substantive contributions to peacebuilding projects, including policy research and analysis, community development, health education, interfaith dialogue, peace communications, violence prevention, and grassroots organizing.
“The field experience is often transformational for our graduate students,” said Susan St. Ville, director of the master's program at Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. “After months of hands-on work, they return with a sharper skill set, a deeper understanding of local and global issues, and a solid sense of their place as well-connected professionals in the field.”
Working with a Kroc faculty mentor, each student also reflects on the internship experience to develop a research question that integrates peace theory with the challenges faced by regions recovering from war and violence. This question forms the basis for the capstone project that master’s students produce in the final semester when they are back on Notre Dame’s campus.
Ten students have been placed at Kroc field sites outside of the U.S.; one will work in Baltimore; and four master’s students (who have chosen the “thesis option” rather than the field internship) will remain in the U.S. to research and write a substantive paper on a conflict setting or contemporary issue related to peace and justice.
In the Philippines
James Adams (United Kingdom) will work with Catholic Relief Services in Mindanao.
Eric Lepp (Canada) will work with the Initiatives for International Dialogue in Davao City.
Anton Murra (Palestine) will work with Catholic Relief Services in Mindanao.
In Gulu, Uganda
Ellie Adelman (USA) will work with The AIDS Support Organisation.
Cooper Brown (USA) will work with the Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative.
In Cape Town, South Africa
Lydia Baek (USA) will work with the Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Amy Braun (USA) will work with the Institute for Democracy.
Solomiya Pyatkovska (Ukraine) will work with the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Lucia Tiscornia (Uruguay) will work with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation.
Francis Amooti Tuhaise (Uganda) will work with the International Centre for Transitional Justice.
In the United States
Emmanuel Gore (Sudan) will work at the headquarters of Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore, Maryland.
Thesis students are: Benjamin Bernard (USA), Jude Nnorom (Nigeria), Emily Manaen (USA), and Shashi Rani Regmi (Nepal).
Contact: Susan St. Ville, 574-631-2628, sstville1@nd.edu