Students complete course on religious peace-building in India

On the first day of the new year, a group of seven Marquette students arrived in India for the start of a two-week immersion trip.

The trip represented a continuation of the Center for Peacemaking’s commitment to providing transformational educational experiences for Marquette students. It also represented the first time students received academic credit for one of our international programs.

Students earned three Theology credits toward a class titled “Faith and the Role of Non-violence: Religious Peace-building in India.”

India’s rich history of nonviolent social movements and religious diversity creates a fertile environment for students to explore the many ways these topics intersect.

Students gained a deeper appreciation for the assigned pre-trip readings on interfaith approaches to nonviolence after visiting sites of historical and cultural significance such as the National Gandhi Museum, the Lotus temple, Jama Masjid mosque, Taj Mahal, and Gobind Sadan Sikh community.

Students learn how the Kohima Jesuits in Northeast India educate tea workers on their legal rights to organize and advocate for improved working conditions.

The highlight for the students was the time spent visiting community members and professionals engaged in grassroots peacebuilding.

The students met with the head of Jesuit Refugee Services in South Asia and the country director for Catholic Relief Services. Both experts shared how their organizations engage in peacebuilding and how to get a job in international peacemaking. The students met with leading Muslim and secular organizations to learn how they are responding to attacks on religious minorities in India.

These meetings provided students the opportunity to ask questions and spend one-on-one time with professionals who devote their lives to development and peacemaking.

As the students wrote in their reflections, this was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”