Peace Studies Faculty Books

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  Religion, Education, and Peace: Proceedings of an Online International Conference Held in March 2021

  Jon Armajani and Wilbert van Saane

  This volume contains the proceedings of the international online conference entitled Religion, Education, and Peace, which was organized by Haigazian University in Beirut, Lebanon, and the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning at Saint John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota, USA, and was co-sponsored by the Peace Studies Department at the College of Saint Benedict I Saint John's University in Minnesota.

  The conference took place on March 4 and 5, 2021. The chapters in this volume analyze religion, education, and peace in various parts of the world in a variety of settings including secondary schools, colleges, universities, governmental agencies, and nonprofit and nongovernmental organizations. This book's unique contributions involve its interfaith and interdisciplinary approaches to topics related to peace and religion in educational settings and local communities. [description from back of book]

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  Shia Islam and Politics : Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon

  Jon Armajani

  This book argues that ever since Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979, which established a Shia Islamic government in Iran, that country’s religious and political leaders have used Shia Islam as a crucial way of expanding Iran’s objectives in the Middle East and beyond. Since 1979, Iran’s religious and political leaders have been concerned about Iran’s security in the face of the hostility and expansionism of the United States and other western countries, and the threats from powerful neighboring Sunni leaders and countries. While Iran’s government has attempted to align itself with Shia Muslims in various countries, such as Iraq and Lebanon, against American and Sunni expansionism, the Iranian government has attempted to religiously nourish and politically mobilize those Shias as a matter of principle, not only because of the Iranian government’s desires to protect Iran from external threats. The book analyzes Shia Islam and politics in Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon which have among the largest proportional Shia populations in the Middle East and are vibrant centers of Shia intellectual life. The book's clear and jargon-free approach make it especially accessible for students and general readers who would like an introduction to the book's topics. (--Publisher's website)

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  Maridhiano Mashinani (Reconciliation at the Grassroots): Reflections on the role of the church in building sustainable peace in the north rift region of Kenya

  Cornelius Korir, Matthew Bolton, William Kiptoo, Samuel Kosgei, James Kimisoi, Florence Njeri, and Ronald Pagnucco

  Description taken directly from the blog: https://disarmament.blogs.pace.edu/2017/05/02/maridhiano-mashinani-reconciliation-at-the-grassroots-reflections-on-the-role-of-the-church-in-building-sustainable-peace-in-the-north-rift-region-of-kenya/

  Faced with recurrent political and inter-communal violence since 1992, the Catholic Diocese of Eldoret in Kenya has responded in numerous ways to alleviate, contain and end the conflicts that have divided local communities. In a new book co-published by the Diocese and Pace University’s International Disarmament Institute, Bishop Cornelius Korir follows up on the success of his 2009 book Amani Mashinani (Peace at the Grassroots), by turning his attention to reconciliation.

  With co-authors from the Diocese and beyond, Korir shows how reconciliation after violent conflict is a subtle, slow and often difficult process that is not just about ending observable fighting. Drawing on almost 25 years of experience with peacebuilding at the community level, Korir argues that reconciliation requires communities to recognize the worth of other, atone for injustice, heal wounds of the spirit and commit to building a non-violent, equitable and just society. While external actors can support it, sustainable reconciliation requires an intensive focus at the grassroots – maridhiano mashinani – by faith institutions and local civil society to build relationships of interdependence.

  The book also offers insight into processes of disarmament at the very local level, often overlooked in global and national policymaking processes on arms control, nonproliferation and disarmament.

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  A Vision of Justice: Engaging Catholic Social Teaching on the College Campus

  Susan Crawford Sullivan and Ron Pagnucco

  A Vision of Justice: Engaging Catholic Social Teaching on the College Campus draws together the insights of social scientists, historians, and theologians in order to introduce readers to central topics in Catholic Social Teaching and to provide concrete examples of how it is being put into action by colleges and college students. The authors bring their disciplinary backgrounds and knowledge of Catholic Social Teaching to the exploration of the issues, making the book suitable for use in a wide range of courses and settings. Discussion questions at the end of each chapter help readers to think about issues raised in the essays and to think creatively about Catholic Social Teaching in an ever-changing world. The authors invite readers to join them in engaging contemporary thought and experience in the light of Catholic Social Teaching and the college campus.

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  Transnational Social Movements and Global Politics: Solidarity Beyond the State

  Jackie Smith, Charles Chatfield, and Ron Pagnucco

  Transnational Social Movements and Global Social Politics examines a cast of global actors left out of the traditional studies of international politics. It generates a theoretically informed view of the relationships between an emerging global civil society - partly manifested in transnational social movements - and international political institutions. This book consists of fifteen essays, all written by experts in the field. The first three parts analyze the rise of transnational social movements in the context of broad twentieth-century trends. A fourth part builds a theoretical framework from which organizations influencing global governance can be viewed.