GRADUATE STUDENT PEACE AND JUSTICE SYMPOSIUM
The Center for Peace and Justice Education co-hosts an annual symposium for graduate student research presentations on issues of peace and justice.
This one-day, no-cost, hybrid (zoom and in-person) event is an opportunity for graduate students to present and showcase their research, providing expertise and perspectives on topics related to justice and peace.
2025 SYMPOSIUM
βPeace and Justice: Practical Implications of Theoretical Analysisβ
Friday, February 14, 2025 | 9:30 am β 5:00 pm
The Fourth Annual Graduate Student Peace & Justice Symposium, co-sponsored by the Center for Peace and Justice Education, was held on Friday, February 14, 2025. The event featured 34 graduate students from 15 universities in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The outstanding student panels, which focused on environmental sustainability, concepts of peacebuilding, political polarization, trauma, feminist theology, youth, colonialism and racial justice, and spiritual approaches to peace, were complemented by fascinating plenary and keynote sessions that highlighted the struggles of migrants and refugees, including the challenge of affordable housing. Over one hundred attendees participated in the symposium, both in-person and virtually.
The Fifth Annual Symposium is tentatively scheduled for February 2026.
2025 SYMPOSIUM
Schedule and Session Titles
COMMUNITY ROOM 102
Housing the Urban Poor: Innovative Approaches for Todayβs Cities
Fr. John Abubakar, O.S.A.Β
COMMUNITY ROOM 102
Panel 1a: Environmental Sustainability
Moderated by Dr. Mark Graham
β’ Questioning Selfish Motivations Disguised as Climate Justice (Arvin Gouw, Cambridge)
β’ Eco-Catechesis in Family (Francis Xavier Joseph, Univ. of Vienna)
β’ Collective Awareness in Managing Waste (Dodi Kusmawanto, Gadjah Mada Univ.)
β’ Unpacking Mental Models of Road Salt Use and Advancing a Novel Sustainable Alternative for Environmental Justice (Rayan Magon & Kamil Aliyev, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
ROOM 210-212
Panel 1b: Concepts of Peacebuilding
Moderated by Joe Evans
β’ Religious Figures and Institutions as Agents of Change (Stella Osei-Agyeman, Univ. of Ghana)
β’ Redefining Peace: Static Paradigms to Dynamic Process Philosophy (Perdian Tumanan, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ International Humanitarian Law and Religious Concepts of Peace & Justice (Jim Garcia, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Reconciling DurgΔ, Restoring the World (Nindyo Sasongko, Fordham University)
ROOM 25
Panel 1c: Political Polarization and Action
Moderated by Dr. Ray Ward
β’ Public Trust and Its Determinants on a Global Scale (Luke Yingling, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ From Pulpit to Protest: The Intersection of Theology and Activism (Carolin Hohmann, University of MΓΌnster)
COMMUNITY ROOM 102
Panel 2a: Trauma & Violence
Moderated by Fr. Fidelis Olokunboro
β’ Exploring Kachin Traditional Practices as a Decolonial Approach to Healing Trauma (Diana Seng Hkawn, Univ. of Notre Dame)
β’ When to Use the word βGenocideβ: Discussing the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict in the Classroom (Guinevere Keith, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ On the Genealogy of Looting (Claryn Spies, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ From Online Contention to IRL Clashes: Political Violence in the Eritrean-American Diaspora (Sara Laine, Univ. of Notre Dame)
ROOM 210-212
Panel 2b: Feminist Theology Panel I
Moderated by Dr. Chris Jingchao Ma
β’ Reconceptualizing Universal Feminism: A Postcolonial and Theological Critique of bell hooks (Nathanael Pribady, Columbia Univ.)
β’ Historical Development of Asian Feminist Theology and its Implications for Vietnamese Women (Sr. Ngoc Nguyen, Marquette Univ.)
β’ Gender Equality in the Vietnamese Catholic Church (Duong Nguyen, FMV, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Afro-Feminist movement to combat GenderBased Violence in Ethiopia (Hasset Shimeles Hailu, Anabaptist Mennonite)
ROOM 25
Panel 2c: Children and Youth
Moderated by Dr. Rubina Bhatti
β’ Dissecting Child Marriage in Central Kalimantan: Analysis of Structural Oppression and Paulo Freire's Thought-Based Narrative of Liberation (Alfonso Munte, Institut AKNPR)
β’ Breaking Barriers, Embracing Hope: Uplifting Families of Children with Special Needs (Ajeng Ayu Widiastuti, State Univ. of Malang)
β’ Viral Trends and Interfaith Campaigns: Examining the Impact of the Takjil War on Promoting Religious Tolerance Among Indonesian Youth (Ujun Junaedi, Boston University)
COMMUNITY ROOM 102
Panel 3a: Colonialism and Racial Justice
Moderated by Dr. HΓ©ctor M. Varela Rios
β’ Racial Paradism: A Critical Ethics of a Touristic Fantasy (Abel K. Aruan, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Racial Justice on the Ground: The Founding of Radnor Township's Bishop Richard Allen Park (Anne Minicozzi, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Patriarchal and Racist Institutions in the Spanish Colonies of Latin America: The Case of the Casas de Recogidas in the 16-17th centuries (Angela Lopez-Egea Vives, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Three Crises, You're Out: Theorizing Labour's Rightward Shift on Immigration, 2008-2015 (David Adah-Ogoh, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
ROOM 210-212
Panel 3b: Spiritual Approaches to Peace & Justice
Moderated by Sr. Beth Hassel
β’ Teresa of Avila's Journey into Divine Intimacy: A Transformative Process of Recovering Full Dignity for Contemporary Vietnamese Christian Women (Sr. Hai Nguyen, Oblate School of Theology)
β’ Re-sacralizing Creation: Rebuild My House (Fr. Augustin Kassa, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ In Search of Relational Wholeness: Teilhard de Chardin on Technology, Unity, and the Path to Peace and Justice (Robert Nicastro, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
β’ Spiritual, Psychological, and Economic Values of Creation and the Theology of God's Enflesh-ment in the Biosphere (Samuel Odidi, ΈΜιΩΦ±²₯)
ROOM 25
Panel 3c: Feminist Theology Panel II (Pre-Recorded)
Moderated by Dr. Stefanie Knauss
β’Interfaith Womenβs Movements in Semarang Addressing Social Injustice: An Intersectional Approach (Muhamad Sidik Pramono, Satya Wacana Christian Univ.)
β’ Unveiling the Hegemony of Gender-Based Violence Against Transgender Women in the City of Love (Benaya Revelino, Satya Wacana Christian Univ.)
β’ Deborah's Leadership: A Challenge to Gender Norms (Indriwati Kanna, Satya Wacana Christian Univ.)
β’ The Intersectional Struggle of Indigenous Women Against Environmental Exploitation (Ningsih Sepniar Lumban Toruan, Gadjah Mada Univ.)
COMMUNITY ROOM 102
Our Response to the Call of the Gospel
Sr. Philo Morris, MMS