The Center for Social Concerns introduced its inaugural cohort of 14 Notre Dame graduate students to the Graduate Scholars program. Among those selected were two current Peace Studies doctoral students at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Helal Khan and Joachim Ozonze.
"We are thrilled that Kroc is so well represented among the inaugural cohort of graduate students,” said Catherine Bolten, director of doctoral studies and associate professor of anthropology and peace studies at the Kroc Institute. “Questions of justice come up frequently in the work of our Ph.D. students, and it is wonderful to see that their work articulates so well with other initiatives at the university."
The Center for Social Concerns Graduate Scholars program represents three colleges, two schools, and 11 departments around the University. The fellowship is designed to create an interdisciplinary community of graduate students committed to scholarship that engages questions of justice. The aim is to introduce young scholars from various disciplines to questions of justice in the hope that they make those a regular part of their scholarship and teaching going forward.
The inaugural Graduate Scholars cohort includes:
- Helal Khan, Ph.D. candidate in Peace Studies and Anthropology
- Joachim Ozonze, Ph.D. candidate in Peace Studies and Theology
- Mariana Alifa, Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering
- Sara Chan, Ph.D. student in Philosophy
- Isaih Dale, Ph.D. candidate in English Literature
- Henry Downes, Ph.D. candidate in Economics
- Spencer French, Ph.D. candidate in English
- Geneva Hutchinson, MFA candidate in the Department of Art, Art History, and Design.
- Alexandra Lesnik, second-year law student
- Laura López-Pérez, Ph.D. candidate in Political Science.
- Aidé Cuenca Narvaez, Masters of Global Affairs Candidate with a concentration in Sustainable Development
- Carlos Alejandro Noyola Contreras, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures
- Erica Patterson, third-year law student
- Tracy Porter, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Biology