The Kroc Cast: Peace Studies Conversations

Malalai Habibi, 2019 Peace Studies alum and Program Officer at the International Civil Society Action Network, hosts a conversation on the realities on the ground for Afghan women after the takeover by the Taliban. Guests include Wazhma Frogh, Founder of the Afghan Women and Peace Studies Organization (WPSO) and Heather Barr, Associate Director of the Women's Rights Division at Human Rights Watch.

This is the second in a series of podcasts exploring the situation in Afghanistan following the events of August 2021. For more information on the Kroc Institute's Afghan Peace and Development Research Program, visit kroc.nd.edu/afghanistan.

Erin Corcoran, executive director at the Kroc Institute and associate teaching professor at the Keough School of Global Affairs, talks with three Kroc Institute-connected analysts about an in-depth look at the nuclear concerns within the current conflict arising from the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday, February 23. Guests include George Lopez, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies; Gerard Powers, Director of Catholic Peacebuilding Studies and Coordinator of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and its Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament; and Monica Montgomery, a 2019 Notre Dame peace studies alum who is now working as Research Analyst at the D.C.-based Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.

This episode was recorded at 1 p.m. EST on Monday, February 28. For more resources from the Kroc Institute on the war in Ukraine, visit kroc.nd.edu/ukraine. 

David Cortright, Professor Emeritus of the Practice at the Kroc Institute and Editor of the Kroc Institute’s Peace Policy publication sits down to talk with authors from the latest issue. This issue features reflections drawn from the new book, Catholic Peacebuilding and Mining: Integral Peace, Development, and Ecology published by Routledge in January.

Jen Betz, Assistant Director of the International Peace Studies Concentration, Master of Global Affairs degree program at the Kroc Institute, talks with three alumni who are working at the intersection of the environment and peace studies. Guests include Raul F. Campusano (M.A. '89) Academic Director for the Master’s in Environmental Law at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Chile; Katie Conlon (MA '14), National Geographic Explorer leading an expedition and research project on plastic reduction and plastic pollution awareness in the Himalayas; and Valerie Hickey (M.A. '00), Practice Manager for Environment, Natural Resources and Blue Economy at The World Bank.

Additional resources mentioned during the conversation include:

• Environmental Peacebuilding Association

Kroc Institute alumna Malalai Habibi (MGA '19), Program Officer at the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN), talks with Mahbouba Seraj, Executive Director of Afghan Women Skills Development Center who is joining us from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, Founder and Executive Director of the International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN) and director of the London School of Economics Center for Women, Peace and Security, for a conversation about the current situation on the ground in Afghanistan.

They focus in particular on the impact on Afghan women of the U.S. withdrawal and the country's subsequent return to Taliban control in summer 2021. 

Emmanuel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies, talks with recent peace studies graduate and climate activist Elsa Barron (B.A. '21) who attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow (COP26) in November 2021. Here they discuss their commitments to environmental peacebuilding, Katongole's work with the Bethany Land Institute in Uganda, the ways faith informs their environmental commitments, and the future of climate change activism.

Barron also produces the Olive Shoot podcast, where this episode will also air. 

Today’s episode features three current Master of Global Affairs, International Peace Studies students in conversation about their work as members of The Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation, and Reparations Commission. The conversation is hosted by Euda Fils, and the guests include Catherine Patricia Jassey, Musu Bakoto Sawo, and Safiatou Touray. All four are members of the MGA-IPS Class of 2023. 

Listeners should note that this episode does include frank discussions of sexual violence and other atrocities that the TRRC encountered during their work.

Anne Hayner, Associate Director for Alumni Relations here at the Kroc Institute., talks with Kroc Institute faculty, alums, and current students about the significance of the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize. The 2021 Prize was awarded to Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov, journalists from the Philippines and Russia respectively.

Professor George Lopez, the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute, sits down with the authors of the articles appearing in the December 2021 issue of "Peace Policy" focused on sanctions policy reform in three distinct contexts: Iran, Syria, and Venezuela.

You can also explore more work from the Sanctions and Security Project at sanctionsandsecurity.org.

Sean Raming, current Kroc Institute Ph.D. in Peace Studies and History, talks with Nickolas Roth, director of the Stimson Center’s Nuclear Security Program and International Nuclear Security Forum, about current conversations about nuclear weapons, deterrence, disarmament, and arms control.

This episode was co-sponsored by the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and is part of their efforts as part of the Project on Revitalizing Catholic Engagement on Nuclear Disarmament. You can learn more about this work at cpn.nd.edu/nuclear-disarmament.