Peace and War Summit

The Peace and War Summit examines significant international issues in order to recommend viable solutions. The Summit is a two-day event that will host government officials, prominent scholars, and policy experts at Norwich University—America’s oldest private military college, located in Vermont. The culmination of the event is the publication of the Journal of Peace and War Studies

Welcome to the Summit!

Recently, a series of conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have erupted, bringing with them devastating human and economic tolls. While the international community has worked to prevent these regional conflicts from spilling over into wider, global incidents, they’ve paid little attention to the human and political consequences that will linger as traumatic memories for years and decades to come. Norwich University’s 5th annual Peace and War Summit will explore wartime memories, and how nations can reconcile these traumatic events to better understand how the aftermath of a nation’s wartime experiences affects their citizens, infrastructure, and political climate long after the guns have been silenced.

 

Invited Speakers & Guests

Dr. Zachary Bennett, Assistant Professor, History & Political Science

Zachary Bennett joined the faculty of Norwich University’s Department of History and Political Science in 2020. He earned his Ph.D. in early American history from Rutgers University, his M.A. from Miami University, and his B.A. from Northern Michigan University. Professor Bennett specializes in the environmental history of colonial North America and the Atlantic World.

Dr. Emily Fisher Gray, Professor, History & Political Science

Emily Fisher Gray received a doctorate in early modern European history from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. She spent three years as a postdoctoral teaching fellow at Penn before joining the Norwich University faculty in 2007.

Dr. Lyle Goldstein, Director, Asia Engagement, Defense Priorities

Lyle Goldstein is Director of Asia Engagement at Defense Priorities. Formerly, he served as Research Professor at U.S. Naval War College for 20 years.

Dr. Yangmo Ku, Associate Professor, Associate Director, Peace & War Center, Chair, Dept. of History & Political Science

Yangmo Ku received his B.A. in German language and literature from Sogang University in Seoul and earned his M.A. in international affairs and Ph.D. in political science from George Washington University. He taught in the School of International Service at American University before moving to Norwich in July 2012. Since then, he has taught various courses, including Asian politics, U.S.-China relations, international organizations, international relations, comparative politics, and a senior seminar course—U.S., China, and Russia. He also works as associate director of the Peace & War Center at Norwich while serving as editor of the Journal of Peace and War Studies (JPWS).

Dr. Timothy Parker, Associate Professor, Architecture + Art

Timothy Parker regularly teaches survey and elective courses in the history and theory of art and architecture, research methodologies, and graduate-level thesis research studio. He also directs the MArch program.

Dr. Kyle Pivetti, Associate Professor, English & Communications

Kyle Pivetti is an Associate Professor of English, with research interests in Shakespeare, memory, and adaptation.

Dr. Steven E. Sodergren, Professor, History & Political Science

Steven Sodergren earned a B.A. in history and philosophy from Cornell College followed by an M.A. and PhD in American and military history from the University of Kansas. While in graduate school, he received a General Matthew Ridgeway Research Grant from the Military History Institute in Carlisle, Penn., and a Dissertation Fellowship from the U.S. Army Center of Military History for his work on the adaptation of Union soldiers to tactical conditions during the American Civil War.

Dr. David J. Ward, Professor, Program Coordinator, German, Modern Languages

David Ward received his B.A. in German from Duke University and earned his PhD in German literature from the University of Texas at Austin.

Schedule

Monday, March 18, 2024

9 – 9:50 a.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
WELCOME REMARKS
Tara Kulkarni, Associate Provost for Research & Chief Research Officer

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
William McCollough, VP of Student Affairs & 56th Commandant of Cadets

10 a.m. – 10:50 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
PANEL SESSION I
Student Moderators: Ahmed Mohammad and Erin Reynolds
Presenters: 
Zachary Bennett: The Indian in the Mirror: Remembering New England's Colonial Wars 
Steven Sodergren: ‘Miserable Wirz’: The Legacy of the Civil War’s Most Notorious War Criminal

11 a.m. – 11:50 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
PANEL SESSION II
Student Moderators: Richard Conlon and Joshua Smith
Presenters: 
Emily Gray: Peace and Reconciliation after the Thirty Years War: Augsburg’s Peace Festivals and Memorial Art 
Timothy Parker: Within the Aftermath of War: Making Space for Memory and Reconciliation
                                
1 p.m. – 1:50 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
PANEL SESSION III
Student Moderators: Ana Lemler and Gretchen Reese 
Presenters: 
Kyle Pivetti: Where Shame Lives: Emotional Memory and War in Early Modern England 
David Ward: German Re-Unification on a Local Level: The Example of Greifswald 1989-91
        
2 p.m. – 2:50 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
PANEL SESSION IV
Student Moderators: Jasmin Sackey and Pelumi Adefarakan
Presenters: 
Lyle Goldstein: The Politics of Memory and Reconciliation between China and Japan 
Yangmo Ku: Historical Justice, Reconciliation, and Peace between Japan and South Korea
     
3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.: Mack Hall Auditorium
STUDENT PANEL SESSION
Moderator: Amy Woodbury Tease, Associate Professor & Chair, Dept. Global Humanities
Presenters: 
Michael Cathy: The Shift in China’s Support of Russia in the Russian-Ukrainian War 
August Guerrieri: The Donbas Separatist Movement—A War of Independence, Hijacked
Kaleb Hogan: China and Russia's Use of Transnational Repression
Ethan Trask: Confederate Perspectives on the First World War: Narrative Shifts and Reconciliation
Discussants: Michael C. Andrew, Associate Professor, Program Coordinator, International Studies; Michael Thunberg, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Director, Honors Program


SUMMIT CONTACT
Yangmo Ku, Executive Director
Associate Professor, Political Science, Norwich University
Associate Director, John and Mary Frances Patton Peace & War Center


Keep the conversations flowing. Join The Norwich University Peace & War Center on Facebook.

Past Summits

March 18, 2024

WATCH SUMMIT

  1. War, Memory, and Reconciliation

    Recently, a series of conflicts in Europe and the Middle East have erupted, bringing with them devastating human and economic tolls. While the international community has worked to prevent these regional conflicts from spilling over into wider, global incidents, they’ve paid little attention to the human and political consequences that will linger as traumatic memories for years and decades to come. Norwich University’s 5th annual Peace and War Summit will explore wartime memories, and how nations can reconcile these traumatic events to better understand how the aftermath of a nation’s wartime experiences affects their citizens, infrastructure, and political climate long after the guns have been silenced.

March 20 to 21, 2023

 WATCH DAY ONE  WATCH DAY TWO

  1. Peace in the Middle East: An Impossible Mission?

    The world community is confronted with a series of significant challenges. These challenges include escalating great power rivalries between the U.S. and China/Russia, concerns over nuclear war, economic instability, climate change, and pandemics. In this global context, the Middle East is engulfed in turbulent geopolitical dynamics, such as the power vacuum caused by U.S. disengagements in the region as well as the intensification of sectarian competition between Iran, its proxies and Israel and Sunni Arab countries. Thus, the Middle Eastern regional order remains complex and unstable while facing the lingering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, unstable economic conditions, and tumultuous civil war-like conditions in Syria, Libya, and Yemen. Norwich University’s 4th Peace and War Summit thoroughly addressed these challenges in the Middle East to advance our understanding of the region and outline effective solutions to construct a more peaceful regional order.

    READ JOURNAL

March 21 to 22, 2022

 WATCH DAY ONE  WATCH DAY TWO

  1. Deciphering the Russian Riddle: National Interests & Geopolitical Competition

    The Peace and War Summit examines significant international issues in order to recommend viable solutions. The Summit is a two-day event that will host government officials, prominent scholars, policy experts at Norwich University—America’s oldest private military college, located in Vermont. The culmination of the event is the publication of the Journal of Peace and War Studies. The 3rd Summit, March 21-22, 2022, scrutinized various challenges deriving from Russia, which range from its territorial intrusion into Ukraine and Georgia to intervention into Syria to growing military partnership with China to its cyber-attacks and disinformation campaigns. 

    READ JOURNAL

October 4 to 8, 2021

  1. ISOMA Special Edition: Preparing Military Leaders to Effectively Resolve 21st Century Challenges

    The International Symposium of Military Academies (ISOMA) is a biennial international exchange forum focused on the training of young military officers and planned under the guidance of the International Association of Military Academies. The event included representatives from a variety of nations and explore meeting civil-military challenges through military leader relationships; developing military leaders’ capacity beyond traditional conceptions of land, sea and air; and leadership, ethics and educational challenges under the theme of Preparing Military Leaders to Effectively Resolve 21st Century Security Challenges.  Norwich University was honored to be the first institution in the United States to host the symposium.

    READ JOURNAL

April 15 to 16, 2020

WATCH SESSIONS

  1. On the Path to Conflict? Scrutinizing US-China Rivalry

    The Peace and War Summit examines significant international issues in order to recommend viable solutions. The Summit is a two-day event that hosts government officials, prominent scholars, policy experts at Norwich University—America’s oldest private military college, located in Vermont. The culmination of the event is the publication of the Journal of Peace and War Studies. The 2nd Summit, April 15-16, 2020, dealt with the rivalry between the United States and China, a rapidly rising challenger in world politics. Specifically, the Summit highlighted challenges derived from military/security, economic, and technological angles.

    READ JOURNAL