The world needs peacebuilders. This Utah institute is training them

With the election behind us, Utahns will continue to confront fundamental disagreements about the direction of their communities as well as the trajectory of American politics beyond Salt Lake City.
While many have legitimate reasons for concern about our shared future, as educators we believe there are also sufficient grounds for hope. However, Utahns will be unable to address their most challenging dilemmas — political polarization, racial injustice, wealth inequalities, gender disparities, ecological degradation, resource scarcity or physical violence — without peacebuilders playing constructive roles in transforming conflict.
And peacebuilders are of limited utility unless they possess the character traits and practical skills that will form and sustain them as people of peace in Utah and beyond.
To meet this challenge, in 2022 we founded the Heravi Peace Institute at Utah State University. Rooted in the generous support of alumnus and entrepreneur Mehdi Heravi, the institute exists to equip Utahns to apply character, knowledge and skills to transform conflict into peace. The faculty and students are intentionally interdisciplinary — anthropology, communication studies, English, history, international studies, journalism, philosophy, political science, religious studies, social work and sociology — and we have had an overwhelmingly positive response to our new programs from students.
At the institute, we train students with the relevant tools connected to peace-building, alongside the necessary temperament to work for peace in an age of conflict. In our experience, knowledge and experience in the context of relationships produce life transformations.
Given the wide range and complexity of the challenges we face, we center our teaching, research and public service across five distinct certificate programs: conflict management, global peace-building, interfaith leadership, leadership and diplomacy, and social entrepreneurship. Although each peace-building domain presents unique challenges and opportunities, our “tools and temperament” framework empowers students, faculty and staff to align their skills and motivations toward a common goal.
For example, the Conflict Management and Facilitation certificate teaches students to manage conflict in healthy and productive ways. The curriculum exposes students to diverse approaches and skills in order to more effectively manage their own conflicts. It also encourages them to consider and apply new techniques and methods to resolve conflicts for others. Through initiatives like the Space Making Program, students learn to appreciate and enact empathy and humanity in building strong relationships, and they are encouraged to practice the principles of nonviolent communication.
Similarly, in a world of increasing religious diversity and conflict, the Interfaith Leadership certificate builds capacity for creating and sustaining relationships with people of differing religious or secular worldviews in service to a common good. It integrates with any major, providing both classroom-based learning and community-based application. Students who complete this certificate program develop the vision, knowledge and skills increasingly needed to help promote positive relationships across religious difference while navigating a religiously diverse world. One pressing example is the need for intrafaith dialogue — conflict resolution among members of the same congregation, denomination or faith community who hold diametrically opposing views on core issues.
In addition to those learning to manage and transform conflict close to home, students are preparing to face big international problems by earning a Global Peacebuilding certificate. Through coursework, internships, study abroad and extracurricular conversations, students learn about resilience, a fundamental tool for the long path toward building and sustaining peace. They also gain important perspective for understanding historical conflicts and their impact on international affairs. For example, students who journeyed to Europe last summer visited Holocaust memorials and museums that both remember the past and highlight the importance of not being a bystander when injustice and discrimination emerge in our communities today.
The Leadership and Diplomacy certificate presents students with experiential learning opportunities within domestic governments and international organizations. Past students have completed successful internships at the Utah state Legislature; in think tanks, foundations and governmental offices in Washington, D.C., and in international nonprofit organizations and corporations. This experience beyond the classroom gives students the chance to refine leadership and diplomacy skills in diverse contexts. It also provides them with unique insights into the complex issues and leadership challenges facing our world.
Finally, the Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship certificate prepares students to understand how organizations drive positive change in their communities and beyond. By learning to promote peaceful solutions through nonprofit work or social entrepreneurship, students gain skills for collective action that fosters a better world.
How can you join our work? Our program invites communities across our state to join us in identifying problems and working together for solutions. Visit our website for information about virtual and in-person events across the state in the coming months, including a mediation discussion next week. Help us cultivate peace across Utah and beyond — our students, colleagues and neighbors are watching.
Austin Knuppe will be the new director of the Heravi Peace Institute as of July 1, 2025. Tammy Proctor currently serves as interim director.