The Graduate College Travel Summary Presentation Presented by Yeju Choi

2018 Notre Dame Student Peace Conference Toward Just Peace: Exploring the Intersections of Justice and Peace The Notre Dame Student Peace conference was held in South Bend, Indiana on April 13-14, 2018. This annual conference provides space for undergraduate and graduate students to engage in dialogue on important issues related to peacebuilding, social justice, and global issues. Also, it is intended as a learning environment where students can share their research with other students and network with peers who share their personal passion and academic interest in peace.

The Approach to Culture and Conflict Resolution The title of my paper was “The Approach to Culture and Conflict Resolution.” Applying the emic and etic approaches to culture, this paper analyzes the discrepancies in how people analyze and approach conflict resolution and highlights the importance of the approach to culture in conflict resolution. This paper was originally written to fulfill the class assignment in Dr. Sen’s class. However, based on her feedback and concepts learned in the class, I revised the paper, and it was accepted to present at the conference.

The Approach to Culture and Conflict Resolution I presented my paper in the panel, titled “Responses to Sexual Violence and its Impact on Peacebuilding.” The moderator of the session was Dr. Susan St. Ville from University of Notre Dame. The panel discussed experiences of sexual violence in historical and contemporary conflicts and investigated how an understanding of various manifestations of sexual violence can influence mechanisms of peace, justice, and reconciliation. It was great to meet and discuss the topic with other two presenters, Molly Burton and Pete Freeman, since their perspectives to sexual violence and reconciliation were different from mine. While listening to their perspectives, I was able to expand my thoughts by trying to examine whether their perspectives could be applied to the issue of my study.

Benefit of Travel There are not many PhDs in International Conflict Management programs in the United States. This means that scholars and students in the field of Conflict Management do not have many opportunities to engage in dialogue on important issues related to peacebuilding, social justice, and global issues, compared to the students in other disciplines. At this conference, I was the only student travelling from Kennesaw State University. Many students in the various fields asked about the International Conflict Management program as well as Master’s programs at Kennesaw State University. So, I was able to use this opportunity to introduce our programs, benefits of our programs, and our school. Also, after presenting my paper, I received many questions and feedback from other students and scholars, including Dr. Susan St. Ville from University of Notre Dame. As her expertise was in gender issues in war and peace, her question regarding balancing the views and normative approach were so insightful that I wanted to include this part in my paper as well.

Publication(s) Based on the feedback I received from this travel, I am planning to revise this paper during Summer 2018. Once the revision is done, I am hoping to submit this paper as a theoretical analysis paper in an academic journal, such as Gender & History, American Anthropologist, or Asian Studies Review to see the possibility of publication.