The Peace Scholars program, sponsored by Augsburg, Augustana, Luther, Pacific Lutheran, St. Olaf and Concordia, is designed to deepen students’ understanding of the central issues and theories regarding conflict, war and peace.
Each summer, the program’s founding colleges and some academic partner institutions send Peace Scholars to study for seven weeks in Norway at the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue in Lillehammer and at the University of Oslo International Summer School.
Concordia’s Peace Scholars are underwritten by the Smaby Family Foundation.
“I am very grateful to have been awarded this opportunity to be a Peace Scholar,” Armstrong said. “To learn and study about peace, especially within the contexts of Norway, will be an incredible experience and one I am excited for. It is my hope that this program will shed more light on what peace looks like and how we both discuss and work toward it, nuancing and deepening my understanding of peace and the forms it can take.”
Armstrong, a major in environmental studies and English writing, seeks to extend her many involvements in sustainability and to increase her expertise in writing for social change. She believes in the power of text to engender peace in our world.
“I am excited to learn all of this with other Peace Scholars and to have a group of peers that are all interested and committed to peace and peace studies,” she said.
Beck said she first learned about the Peace Scholars Program during her freshman year at Concordia and immediately knew she would want to pursue the experience.
A major in global studies, Beck hopes to advance her interests and skills in the development of narrative imagination through story exchange to create a more empathetic world. She believes in the power of dialogue to build peace in our time.
“In addition to the formal education offered at the Nansen Center and Oslo International, the program provides a platform for meeting and collaborating with passionate students from across the globe,” Beck said. “That is incredible and I am so excited to be part of this opportunity.”
Armstrong and Beck will be introduced at the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize Forum, Sept. 14-15, at Augsburg University in Minneapolis.
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