Spring 2024 Events & Happenings
A student adds to the Peacebuilding and Transformative Conflict Club mural, March 2024
USU Hosts Inaugural President's Forum on Conflict & Conflict Resolution
On Feb. 5, USU welcomed to campus Utah Governor Spencer Cox, and Founder of the Moral Courage College Irshad Manji for the first annual President’s Forum on Conflict & Conflict Resolution. During her visit, the HPI also hosted Manji in a Communication and Conflict course, provoking a lively discussion with students. Read more about the forum and watch Manji's keynote address on Utah State Today.
Women's History & Peacebuilding
What better way to kick off Women’s History Month than by hearing a fantastic group of women share their stories and experiences from the Vietnam war? On March 1, the Bringing War Home Project, led by Dr.’s Sue Grayzel (History) and Molly Cannon (Anthropology) hosted three guest speakers: memoirist and author Thi Bui, former military nurse and author Susan O’Neill, and Professor Kara Dixon Vuic, LCpl. Benjamin W. Schmidt Professor of War, Conflict and Society in Twentieth Century America at Texas Christian University, as well as a panel of women veterans from Utah. These remarkable women shared their memories of war and its devastation, laying the foundations for conversations of peace. The HPI sponsored this event, along with a book group for Thi Bui’s memoir, The Best We Could Do, inviting a discussion on war, memory, and reconciliation.
A Century of Friendship and Peace Between Iranians and Utahns
For over one hundred years, Utahns and Iranians have been fostering academic and cultural cooperation. In an effort to celebrate this century of collaboration, a team of undergraduate and faculty researchers from USU, supported by the Baskerville Institute, brought a beautiful exhibition to life. The project, which was on display in Merrill-Cazier Library during the month of March, consited of an inspiring mural depicting years of connections between Utahns and Iranians, paired with a timeline of significant events, key figures, photographs, and fascinating stories. View a walk-through video of the exhibit!
Peacebuilding & Transformative Conflict Club
Looking for a place to build community and promote collaboration? The Peacebuilding and Transformative Conflict club is the perfect space for peacebuilding students from all across campus to connect outside the classroom. This semester, students created a mural representing what peace means to them; learned about leadership and conflict from Space Makers and the USU Covey Leadership Center; discussed grief, growth, and community with Professor Clair Canfield; and hosted a de-stress yoga night! Interested in joining the club? Follow @usupeacebuildingclub on Instagram!
Peace in A Podcast
HPI faculty Patrick Mason is sparking conversations about peace by co-hosting a new podcast. "Proclaim Peace" hopes to rebrand peacemaking from naive to necessary with practical tips from experts. One episode even features fellow HPI faculty, Clair Canfield, which you can listen to here! The Salt Lake Tribune wrote an extensive article on the project, including an interview with Mason and his co-host, Jennifer Walker Thomas, co-executive director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
Planting Roots of Peace: World Food Prize Winner Visits USU
On April 17, the HPI co-sponsored the Food Security and Solutions Symposium, where 2023 World Food Prize Laureate Heidi Kühn was the keynote speaker. Heidi is the founder of Roots of Peace, an organization that clears landmines around the world, then works with local experts and farmers to transform those lands into sustainable agricultural sites. Several HPI students had the opportunity to meet with Heidi, asking her questions about her work and sharing their hopes for peace in the world. More on Heidi’s organization and her visit to USU was featured in Utah State Today.
Interfaith Initiative Awarded $30,000 Grant
Utah State University has been chosen to receive a $30,000 Advancing Religious Pluralism Grant from Interfaith America. This grant is considered a testament to USU's commitment to fostering interfaith cooperation and learning on campus, as reflected in the innovative projects proposed by the university's Interfaith Initiative (housed under the HPI). Find out more about the grant.
New Faculty: The Vision of the HPI Expands
International conflict mediator Chad Ford will be joining the robust list of HPI core faculty in August, 2024. Known for his work in conflict zones around the world, Ford has acted as a mediator and facilitator in the Middle East and delivered conflict training to organizations like Nike, the U.S. Olympic Team, and USAID. Ford joins USU from BYU-Hawaii, where he was first to head the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding and to create a major and certificate program in intercultural peacebuilding, mediation, and facilitation.
Ford looks forward to helping the institute become a vital academic resource offering strategies to overcome conflict in a divided world. He will join the Religious Studies program, housed in the History department, but he is anticipated to teach several peace and conflict-oriented courses, including the newly-offered Intro to Peacebuilding course (PI 1010).
A Generation of Peacebuilders: HPI Class of 2024
In 2023, the Heravi Peace Institute honored its first official class of graduates. Thirty-two students from varying majors received one or more of the institute’s five certificates. This year, the HPI more than doubled the amount of graduates, with over seventy students leaving USU equipped with the temperment and tools necessary to make positive change wherever their next steps take them. Congratulations, grads!
