2023 Call for Proposals
Annual Conference of the Peace and Justice Studies Association
The Art and Science of Peace: Building Positive Peace in the Twenty-first Century
September 15-17, 2023 | Iowa State University (Ames, IA)

Informed global citizens understand that we are in crisis. The interlocking challenges posed by environmental destruction, gaping social and economic inequalities, global mental health crises, rampant consumerism, and a politics of power which stymies meaningful debate have led humanity to the precipice. What we desperately need for a peace-filled future is positive peace, the type of peace recognizing the interconnectedness of our individual beings with others and the environment. We need examples of and pathways to types of peace that embrace community, justice, resilience, a mutualism that honors the past, lives in the present, and facilitates a healthy, just, and right future. We need narratives grounded in respect for all beings, the planet we call home, and the vastness of the cosmos. The 2023 Peace and Justice Studies Association invites scholars, activists, students, community-based practitioners, experiential educators, musicians, artists, social-movement organizers, and other interested people or groups to offer ideas about, approaches to, or critiques of positive peace.

We align ourselves with the Earth Charter definition of positive peace as the cultivation of right and just relationships with self, others, and the Earth. How can we imagine, enact, and disseminate positive peace? How can we reach the place where a peace-filled social order inhabits a whole, sustainable natural environment? What obstacles do we face, and how can they be overcome? These and a million other questions and concerns will form the central plank of the 2023 PJSA Conference. We invite you to help us explore positive peace in all its formations through papers, plenaries, workshops, and performances.

We invite proposals that engage with the aforementioned topics in the following ways:
- Conceptualizing positive peace
- Interrogating late modern consumer capitalism and current models of economic growth
- Considering sustainability and the right use of resources
- Respecting the rights of all sentient beings and deconstructing hierarchies of human value
- Truth telling, deep listening, justice, and healing
- Building positive peace for LGBTQ+, ethnic and racial underrepresented populations, and other communities marginalized by mainstream culture
- Rethinking/deconstructing “the enemy” and “welcoming the stranger”
- Embracing the roles and contributions of specific disciplines to the study and practice of positive peace and social justice
- Preserving and furthering the rights of women and women peacebuilders
- Promoting spirituality, wonder, and awe in peace-filled contexts
- Creating and curating peace-filled narratives, storytelling, myths, folklore, poems, ballads
- Connecting peacebuilding with non-traditional peace studies disciplines, including but not limited to food and nutrition, health, agriculture, education, business, music, engineering, architecture, fashion, environmental science, history, and library science

Submissions may include a range of formats:
- Individually submitted papers (to be organized into panels by the conference committee)
- Panels (3-4 individual papers or presenters linked thematically)
- Films, creative works, art presentations
- Roundtable discussions (interactive, facilitated discussion led by presenter(s))
- Teaching and/or skill-building interactive workshops
Submissions are limited to 2 per person.

Submissions from teachers, students, activists, youth, first-time presenters, and academics are all very welcome. The PJSA conference creates a welcoming community designed to facilitate the sharing of work and ideas across disciplines and vocations.

To submit your proposal, visit:

https://www.peacejusticestudies.org/conference/2023-submit-your-proposal/

The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2023.