Gerard Powers
Director, Catholic Peacebuilding Studies; Professor of the Practice
- Office
- 1110D Jenkins Nanovic HallsUniversity of Notre DameNotre Dame, IN 46556
Notre Dame, IN 46556 - Phone
- (574) 631-3765
- gpowers1@nd.edu
Expertise
Ethics of the use of force; religion, conflict and peacebuilding; ethics and US foreign policy
Biography & Research
Gerard Powers is director of Catholic peacebuilding studies for the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame. He is also coordinator of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, which links 21 bishops’ conferences, Catholic development agencies, universities and independent peace organizations in an effort to enhance the study and practice of conflict prevention, conflict management and post-conflict reconciliation in war-torn areas.
Powers specializes in the ethics of the use of force; religion, conflict and peacebuilding; and ethics and US foreign policy. He is co-editor (with R. Schreiter and S. Appleby) of "Peacebuilding: Catholic Theology, Ethics and Praxis "(Orbis, 2010); co-editor (with D. Philpott) of "Strategies of Peace: Transforming Conflict in a Violent World" (Oxford 2010); and co-editor (with D. Christiansen and R. Hennemeyer) of "Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Challenges for a New World" (1994).
From 1998-2004, Powers was director of the Office of International Justice and Peace of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and from 1987-1998 was a foreign policy advisor in the same office.
Recent Work
- “The New Nuclear Predicament: An Ethic of Deterrence or an Ethic of Disarmament?” (Journal of Catholic Social Thought )
- “Catholic Accompaniment of Mining-Affected Communities” (Policy Brief)
- “Back to the Future: Updating the Moral Critique of U.S. Nuclear Policy,” (Peace Policy)
- "Challenges and Opportunities of Religious Peacebuilding: Insights from the Catholic Peacebuilding Network" (Italian Institute for International Political Studies)
Honors & Awards
Courses
- War, Peace, & the Catholic Imagination (master of global affairs elective)
- Introduction to Global Affairs and Integral Human Development (required course for undergraduate major in global affairs)
News & Media
- “What is and isn’t new about US bishops’ criticism of Trump’s foreign policy" (National Catholic Reporter)
- "Notre Dame peace scholar advises Catholic voters to use social teaching as guide" (National Catholic Reporter)
- "Catholic peacebuilders bring hope amid the world’s crises" (Notre Dame News)