Nearly 300 students from 22 colleges and universities in the United States, Canada, Colombia and the United Kingdom gathered at Notre Dame on March 26-27 for the annual Student Peace Conference.
The gathering, which focuses on undergraduate and graduate research, is planned and directed entirely by Notre Dame undergraduate peace studies students.
“Invest in Peace: Uncovering the Practicality of Peacebuilding,” set out to give participants a tangible grasp of peacebuilding by highlighting implementable policies for peace and the role of scholar-practitioners. The conference featured a keynote address by human rights activist and bestselling author John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, a project to end genocide and crimes against humanity. Prendergast's address focused on his experience resolving conflict in Africa, especially his campaign to stop deadly "conflict mineral" trade from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
For nearly 20 years, Notre Dame's student peace conference has brought together students from the United States and abroad who share a spirit of peace, a desire to see change in the world, and a commitment to multi-disciplinary research focused on international peace.
Contact: Anna Van Overberghe, (574) 631-8535, vanoverberghe.11@nd.edu