Two Notre Dame Ph.D. students in peace studies have been named Mullen Family Fellows for the 2016-17 academic year.
Colleen Cross is earning a Ph.D. in Theology and Peace Studies. Her research focuses on a renewed theological vision of the human person, read from the context of violence and war. More recently her work has examined the relationship of Christian hope to human flourishing and human transformation, especially as it applies to migrants, refugees, and trafficked persons. Colleen intends to conduct research in East Africa, Latin America, and the U.S.-Mexico border. Colleen received a B.A. in religious studies and classics from the University of Arizona and a M.T.S. in systematic theology from the University of Notre Dame. She interned with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Migration and Refugee Services. After completing her master’s degree, Colleen worked for Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, coordinating its immigration initiative.
As a joint student in Peace Studies and Clinical Psychology, Katherine Grein is involved in local research centered on campus with her advisor, Kroc professor Dr. Laura Miller-Graff, as well as international research. Through the lab's local research, Katherine studies domestic violence against women who are pregnant, the possible effects of such violence on women's physical and mental health, and protective factors that these women may possess against the negative effects of violence. Katherine’s international research focuses on piloting a psychosocial program, in collaboration with the Palestinian Counseling Center, to address the effects of long-term trauma and stress exposure in Palestine, and the possible spillover of political violence into tensions within the family. Katherine hopes to further explore ways in which psychosocial elements can be incorporated into aid or peacebuilding efforts, and to discover how individual psychosocial healing can contribute to peacebuilding.
The Mullen Family Fellowships were created in 2008 thanks to the generosity of the family of Jack Mullen ‘53, chair of the Kroc Institute’s Advisory Board. Mullen, former corporate vice-president of Johnson & Johnson, and his family are long-time supporters of the Kroc Institute and the University of Notre Dame.
Previous Mullen Family Fellows include Ph.D. students Emily Maiden (political science and anthropology), Kathryn Scrafford (psychology and peace studies) Angela Lederach (anthropology and peace studies), Leslie MacColman (sociology and peace studies), Douglas Ansel (political science and peace studies), Jessica Brandwein (political science and peace studies), Matthew Chandler (sociology and peace studies), Karie Cross (political science and peace studies), Alex Dukalskis (Ph.D. '13, political science and peace studies), Janna Hunter-Bowman (theology and peace studies), Hyunjin Deborah Kwak (sociology and peace studies), Kyle Lambelet (theology and peace studies), Laura Taylor (Ph.D. '13, psychology and peace studies), and Laura Weis (history and peace studies).
The Kroc Institute partners with six Notre Dame departments to offer six distinct but related doctoral degrees: Anthropology and Peace Studies, History and Peace Studies, Political Science and Peace Studies, Psychology and Peace Studies, Sociology and Peace Studies, and Theology and Peace Studies. Students are fully credentialed in one of the six disciplines and trained in interdisciplinary peace research. The degree prepares them for positions in research, teaching, and peacebuilding.
Contact: Jason Springs, (574) 631-0931, jspring1@nd.edu