Professional avenues outside the classroom: Peace studies Ph.D. students visit DC

The Kroc Institute’s renowned joint Ph.D. programs, which integrates the study of peace with one of six traditional disciplines in the humanities and social sciences, prides itself on creating graduates who become scholar-practitioners and academics. To help foster students interested in developing policy-related or non-faculty careers, three current Ph.D. students, along with the director and assistant director of doctoral studies, Caroline Hughes and Kathryn Sawyer Vidrine, made the trip to Washington, DC April 24–26, where they met with Kroc Institute and other Notre Dame alumni working in those fields.

Born from a discussion to brainstorm ways to promote these types of careers, Debora Rogo (peace studies and history), the professional development representative for Kroc Docs, a doctoral program work group, floated the idea of traveling to the DC area to connect with other professionals doing similar work. Student attendees included Khan Shairani (peace studies and history), Cat Gargano (peace studies and psychology), and Alyssa Paylor (peace studies and anthropology).

“I realized that a place like DC can be particularly useful for Kroc grads who are interested in maintaining an international connection while remaining in the US and remaining global in their outlook,” said Shairani. “I wanted to attend to think more about how my expertise could be useful in policy and institutional settings.”

The inaugural trip took place mainly at the Keough School of Global Affairs’ Washington office and also included a trip to the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) offices. Students attended a Ph.D. careers lunch organized by the Keough School’s Maura Policelli. Policelli invited Ph.D. holders who work in various capacities in the DC area to discuss their pathways from academia to practitioner-based positions.

Later that day, Shairani, Gargano, and Paylor gave presentations to a larger group of Kroc and Keough alumni, along with other local invitees in the policy realm, where they had the opportunity to present their research. A networking reception followed, which gave Kroc participants an opportunity to hold individual conversations with attendees and learn more about their career trajectories.

Students were encouraged to prepare for the trip in advance, which included finessing their CVs, updating their LinkedIn profiles, working with Anne Hayner, associate director of alumni relations at the Kroc Institute, to identify alumni in DC they would like to meet, and partnering with Policelli to draft introductory emails and learn how best to secure meetings with these individuals.

“The visit offered an opportunity for policymakers and Ph.D. students to learn from one another—how best can peace be supported and promoted in the world?” said Caroline Hughes, the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C. Chair in Peace Studies and director of doctoral studies.

“The students learned a lot from the engagement: particularly how to simplify and communicate the key arguments from their research in accessible language. The gap between peace research and US government policy is wide, but we hope that events like this can start to build bridges.”

 

 

Originally published by Lisa Gallagher at kroc.nd.edu on June 05, 2024.