Welcome to Peace Matters, a blog hosted by the Wisconsin Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. The Wisconsin Institute is an organization of universities, colleges, and individuals dedicated to promoting an informed understanding of peace, justice, and conflict and to encourage students, teachers, academics, and the public to become engaged global citizens working toward a just peace. We have decided to incorporate this moderated blog to serve as an outlet for people to share short pieces on specific topics or pedagogical practices and book reviews.
Throughout its history, the Wisconsin Institute has always understood peace in a very broad sense, so we chose the title of our blog, Peace Matters, to capture this wide-ranging concern. We are committed to seeking a world where healthy, holistic, and just relationships should be the norm, not the exception. This does not necessarily mean that there will not be conflict, but rather where disagreements arise, we seek to find ways to resolve them with thoughtfulness, justice, and wisdom. Cultivating communities where this kind of peace really matters is at the root of all our activities.
Having set this as our mission, we also recognize that creating this kind of holistic, shalom-like peace entails a multitude of concepts and practices. Engaging with issues surrounding interpersonal conflicts, inter-community strife, cultural and/or international disagreements, as well as environmental concerns, are some, but not all, of the possible ways one can enter into our conversations on this blog. Equally important is our commitment to an interdisciplinary study and analysis of peace, so contributions from any approach to matters of peace would be welcome.
Our blog is a new effort to provide a venue to broaden our Institute’s outreach as well as to provide regular stimulation to those of us who are committed to making peace work a more integral part of our lives, both professionally and personally. We invite you to visit and to contribute to Peace Matters in the coming months.
Please review the Submission Guidelines and contact information on our webpage, www.wisconsin-institute.org. Initially, we will be posting new material on a monthly basis. If you have questions or comments about Peace Matters, please direct them to the editors.
The Peace Matters Editorial Team
