Karen Gados '08 spent last Friday and Saturday at the 2008 Student Peace Conference at the University of Notre Dame. The annual conference aims to bring together undergraduate and graduate students to engage in an interdisciplinary education program aimed toward bringing about international peace.

The task of this weekend seemed a bit daunting: "bring peace down to earth." I had to chuckle at the Friday evening events--a welcome address, drum circle and movie. Were we a just bunch of bleeding-heart hippies hoping to save the world? The conference's title and association with the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies made it sound serious at least.

Seven other Grinnellians and I had packed into a few vehicles to attend the day-and-a-half conference which was broken down into 13 student panels ranging from topics like "Gender and Peacebuilding" to "Contributions of IOs [International Organizations] and NGOs to Peacebuilding."

At the beginning of the conference, our keynote speaker, Dr. Ellis Jones, outlined clear objectives for the conference and for our vision of the future in general: that we should build a shared vision of positive peace on the macro, meso and micro levels as well as inspire hope through articulation of a vision of a better world, seeking out good information about global problems, acting in line with our values and recognizing our own limits.

I had never heard an articulation of such clear and specific goals for those of us committed to building peace.

Specifically, he suggested that as individuals, we "find a hole in the world and fill it." As students he urged us to build a "peace wiki" which would contain resources, plans, and suggestions for our future, while as consumers we support organizations that promote and support human rights.

The student panels were equally well-researched, rooted theory and chock-full of tangible suggestions for our future. Students were given 15-20 minutes to present issues for which they had done extensive research or projects that they themselves had been a part. I was intrigued to hear what the students had to say on a topic as idealistic and as broad as "peace."

Despite the diversity among the presentations, I noticed a fair amount of overlap between them. Most of the student panelists emphasized empowerment, building social consciousness, collaboration, focused evaluation of existing programs and deep listening of needs on the ground.

As I listened to business outlines, economic suggestions, environmental discussions, case studies of NGOs working for women's rights, and sociological explanations of conflict, I was reminded just how interdisciplinary peace studies is. It was extremely valuable to listen to the collaboration and synthesis of so many ideas from creative and motivated students.

I was a little behind with work after the conference finished, a little woozy from the six-hour return drive from Notre Dame and a little sleep-deprived, but extremely excited about my future and the ability of students to make a tangible, positive impact on our world.

Maybe our tree-hugging hippie values of peace for everyone the world are difficult to achieve, but the weapons we wield are those of clarity, collaboration, and critical thinking. And I think that we should build a peace wiki.