Center for Peace and Development

About the CPD

The Center for Peace and Development builds on OU’s longtime work with communities in northern Uganda. CPD brings together faculty and students from across the University’s varied disciplines to build collaborative partnerships with communities affected by conflict.

CPD Goals

To advance understanding of and capacity for grassroots peace building and development. CPD sees its collaborative partnerships in northern Uganda as a launching point for enhancing global understanding of how transformative peace building is done at local levels. The Center begins in northern Uganda, but its aim is to collaborate with grass roots organization across the globe that face the challenges of post-conflict environments.
To work alongside local partners in northern Uganda to critically evaluate grassroots peace building and development needs, establish local strategies, and to work with partners to implement those goals. CPD works through community embedded/participatory research that builds long-term relationships with local partners to facilitate critical reflection on local conditions and needs from the perspectives of local partners. CPD, where appropriate, then works with partners to implement those agendas including helping partners source funds, expertise, and to build local capacity.
To support more traditional research in the region that is connected to the Center’s other goals. While CPD is committed to embedded critical research, other, more traditional research, is also important for the region and CPD seeks to support such efforts.
To develop tools and resources useful to other post conflict communities. CPD observes, records, and reflects with partners on their efforts to transform their communities. The Center will work with partners to develop resources for grass roots peace building and development in other contexts.
To offer opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to engage in community embedded research and service. The Center provides community embedded field research opportunities and study abroad. CPD does this by emphasizing cultural humility in a learning-by-listening context. CPD provides in-depth pre-departure training and critical self-reflection technics for all students.
To establish OU as a leader in training students interested in careers in international development through providing unique locally embedded education. CPD seeks to develop a peace and development degree curriculum.
To be a resource to the larger OU community to facilitate critical discussion on global citizenship and decolonization. CPD is a partner in OUs efforts to bring critical discussion of global interests including colloquiums, book discussion, Dream Courses, etc

People

John Harris, PhD

John Harris is Assistant Professor of Regional and City Planning in the University of Oklahoma College of Architecture. Before entering academia, he worked for a number of years in the area of post-conflict community development in South Sudan. His research interests include the everyday practices of informal economic production, the needs of vulnerable populations and their capacity to make local change in urbanizing Africa, and the ways people meet their urban service needs via informal infrastructure systems.

Sara Ann (Sally) Beach, PhD

Sara Ann (Sally) Beach is a Professor of Literacy Education and the Grant Family Presidential Professor in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education. A former elementary teacher who taught in Texas, Korea, Newfoundland and Great Britain, Professor Beach has worked for the past twenty years supporting education for democracy in Slovakia, Kazakhstan, Czech Republic, and most recently in Armenia, Kenya, and Uganda. She regularly presents the work of her international research teams (with members from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Romania, Slovakia, Kazakhstan) at US and international conferences on literacy research and instruction and has published invited and peer reviewed research and practitioner articles in journals in the United States and internationally. Her research includes early literacy, teacher development, critical literacy, literate identity, and opportunities for engaged learning in international settings. In 2017 she received the Pederson Award for Exceptional Mentoring of Graduate students from the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education and the Norman Vice President for Research award for International Engagement from the University of Oklahoma. She has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator on $2.8 million of external grants.

Executive Committee from Affiliated Colleges

John Harris, College of Architecture

Sara Ann (Sally) Beach, Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education

Jarrett Jobe, David L. Boren College of International Studies

Lupe Davidson, Chair, Women and Gender Studies, Co-Director, Center for Social Justice

Dave Sabatini, Director, WaTER Center, College of Engineering

Jeff Hargraves, Pros for Africa

Andreana Prichard, Honors College

Rhonda Kyncl, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Partners/Collaborators

St. Monica’s Vocational School for Girls

Gulu University

Women’s Advocacy Network

Pros for Africa

Affiliated Colleges

College of Architecture

Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education

Gallogly College of Engineering

David L. Boren College of International Studies

College of Arts and Sciences

Price College of Business

College of Law

College of Medicine
    OU Dept. of Family Medicine Global Health
    OU Dept. of Internal Medicine Global Health
    OU Dept. of Pediatrics –
  Pediatrics in Underserved & Marginalized
  Population s (PUMP) Program

Core Programs of the Center

Provide administrative oversight for OU’s engagement in northern Uganda, and in the future, to other post-conflict countries
Collaborate with local partners to achieve their peace building, development, and women’s empowerment goals for fostering local peace
Organize campus engagement opportunities at OU that could include: conferences, symposia, book clubs, summer programs, or trainings at OU
Support research and community outreach activities
Provide community-embedded study abroad and research opportunities for students, including short term, semester long programs and thesis/dissertation research
Create peace building curriculum or methods that can be used in post conflict zones and in educational settings
Establish a Scholar-in-Residence program
Create an interdisciplinary Master’s Program in Peace Building and Development as well as certificates/minors for undergraduates

Projects

St. Monica’s School of Basic Learning for Women: An adult basic education program for women developed from Ugandan primary school curriculum teaching literacy, numeracy, English oral language, and preparing interested women to continue education into secondary school

Community-Based Water Research: Research with women about local water systems and a long term water plan for Gulu and Atiak campuses of St. Monica’s Vocational School for Girls

Medical Residents at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus may participate in an innovative, multi-disciplinary global health curriculum through collaborations with Gulu University Faculty of Medicine and clinical sites in Uganda.

Photovoice/oral history project: Works with the Women’s Advocacy Network on photographic documentation of everyday lives with formerly abducted women

Interdisciplinary service learning: study abroad program for OU students

News and Media

OU Center for Peace and Development Awarded Carnegie Grant

The CPD has been awarded a prestigious $175,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support the center’s research mission and collaborative activities. The two-year grant will help develop projects under the theme “Peace, Conflict, and International Political Economy.”

Read the press release (PDF)

Center for Peace & Development-Security in Context Speaker Series

On March 10, 2021, the OU Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context hosted a roundtable with contributors to the book Art from Trauma: Genocide and Healing Beyond Rwanda, moderated by Kalenda Eaton, OU Associate Professor of African and African American Studies Speakers: Gerise Herndon, Professor of English, Nebraska Wesleyan University Rangira (Béa) Gallimore, Associate Professor Emerita of French, University of Missouri Margaret Jacobs, Chancellor’s Professor of History, University of Nebraska–Lincoln Heather Connell, Filmmaker, Displaced Yankee Productions Anna Rocca, Professor of World Languages and Cultures, Salem State University

On February 24, 2021, Dr. Julie Livingston discussed her latest book Self-Devouring Growth: A Planetary Parable As Told From Southern Africa as part of the collaboration between the University of Oklahoma's Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context.

On February 5, 2021, Dr. Izabela Steflja gave a lecture based on her co-authored book Women as War Criminals as part of the collaboration between the University of Oklahoma's Center for Peace and Development and Security in Context.

Center for Peace & Development-Security In Context interview Series

Firat Demir's interview with Kamal Soleimani and Ahmad Mohammadpour: "Iranian Kurds and the status of Kolberi 'smugglers'"

Firat Demir’s interview with Daniel Mains: "Under Construction: Technologies of Development in Urban Ethiopia"

2018 Pros for Africa Gala