GRADUATE STUDENT PEACE AND JUSTICE SYMPOSIUM

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

"Building Peace through Justice"

Thursday, February 18 - Friday, February 19

In-Person in St. Rita's Hall and Virtual (Zoom)

Deadline for Abstract Submission: Friday, December 4, 2026

Abstracts should be 100 - 150 words

All graduate students are invited to submit proposals for their research and work related to any aspect of peace and justice. We encourage proposals from any discipline, department, and institution and welcome participation from all masters and doctoral students to this no-cost* symposium. Students may utilize any writing (to include course papers, journal articles, dissertation chapters, etc.), graphic artwork, poetry, or other material as the basis for their proposals.

Event Description

The Villanova University Center for Peace and Justice Education, Catholic Relief Services Partnership, and the Augustinian Institute announce the sixth annual graduate student peace and justice symposium. Everyone can contribute to building the foundation of peace, which is justice. We do not merely seek any kind of peace — such as an absence of conflict at any cost — but instead, the true peace born of justice. The symposium theme “Building Peace through Justice” examines interdisciplinary perspectives on the complex issues related to seeking peace and justice.

This hybrid (zoom and in-person) event is an opportunity for graduate students to present and showcase their research and work, providing expertise and perspectives on topics related to justice and peace. The symposium will consist of a conference dinner, plenary session, paper presentation panels, and an exposition for artwork and poetry. Students selected for paper presentations will be grouped into panels of 3-4 students and allocated fifteen minutes to present their respective research projects.

Unique aspects of this symposium include a pre-submission workshop to help students develop and submit abstract proposals and a pre-symposium mentor meeting to facilitate interconnected panel discussions and presentation techniques.

Paper presentations will be invited to submit their work for consideration in a future special edition of the Journal for Peace and Justice Studies. Papers intended for submission should be 5000-8000 words.

Please submit an abstract for your project by December 4, 2026 using the link below.