SPS Stories
Faculty Spotlight
Thomas Hill
Clinical Professor & ACP Coordinator
Center for Global Affairs
A Commitment to Peace through PREP Research
Fast Facts
- Oversees the peacebuilding concentration within the Master of Science in Global Affairs (MSGA)
- Director of the Peace Research and Education Program (PREP), which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary
- Collaborates with PREP partners in six countries, including Iraq, Colombia, Libya, and Kuwait
<p><span class="p-body">A peacebuilding practitioner and researcher with more than 20 years of experience focusing on Iraq, Thomas Hill has made more than 30 visits there and has overseen the design, development, and implementation of research projects focused on peacebuilding efforts. As a clinical professor at the NYU SPS Center for Global Affairs and the director of its Peace Research and Education Program (PREP), Hill oversees the peacebuilding concentration within the Master of Science in Global Affairs.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">Hill’s applied research projects include Enhancing Possibilities for Youth Peacebuilding at the University of Anbar (sponsored by IREX), Joint Certificate in Peacebuilding at the Domiz Refugee Camp (sponsored by the Catalyst Foundation for Universal Education), and Building University Capacity in Peace Education in Duhok and Mosul (sponsored by the United Nations Development Program).</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">In celebration of PREP's five-year anniversary, we sat down with Hill to hear his wisdom about the program and his hopes for the next five years and beyond.</span></p>
PREP's Intention and Strategy to Set the Program Apart
<p><span class="p-body">Since its inception, the goal of PREP has been to "catalyze higher education institutions and organizations that play higher education roles into becoming more effective peacebuilding actors," as Hill puts it. While every university has the ability to foster peacebuilding in their communities and beyond, Hill saw a need to do so more intentionally and strategically.</span></p>
PREP aims to help universities see themselves as not just providers of education and research services to their communities, but as influential stakeholders that can intentionally and constructively affect the conditions that make our societies more peaceful."
<p><span class="p-body">Starting as an existing peacebuilding project led by Hill and a small team of researchers, PREP's increasing complexity and size warranted a solution: institutionalizing the peace research and education work. "It was no longer just a couple of projects, but a community of scholars, practitioners, and activists, and they needed a permanent home."</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">The program's emphasis on face-to-face contact as a means to catalyze transformation was challenged during the COVID-19 pandemic. For almost two years, Hill and his team had to overcome limitations on travel and in-person meetings. However, PREP has since found new momentum and is now working in six countries, with more to come.</span></p>
NYU Taking the Lead in Peacebuilding
<p><span class="p-body">As a global institution, NYU SPS' commitment to applied learning involves the theory and practice of peacebuilding and the obligation to participate in equitable partnerships with other learning institutions.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">This spirit of collaboration is central to PREP and is reflected in the program's participatory research. According to Hill, "Any meaningful peace research must include an action component, or it isn't really serving the community or society where it occurs."</span></p>
Valuable Context for Students
<p><span class="p-body">CGA students can participate in PREP as graduate assistants, though it isn't a degree-granting program. The value students receive is tied to the context-specific nature of peacebuilding with partners in Iraq, Colombia, Libya, Kuwait, and elsewhere. Hill says that students "begin to see themselves as part of a global community of peacebuilders," which is unique to the program.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">Students who would like to take a course with Hill can find him teaching a variety of graduate-level classes. These include Peacemaking and Peacebuilding, Workshop in Applied Peacebuilding, Conflict Assessment, Structures of Peace, Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding, and Advanced Joint Research Seminar in Peacebuilding.</span></p>
The Future of PREP
<p><span class="p-body">Hill's hope for the next decade of PREP is to continue expanding and supporting its network of learning institutions.</span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">"I would like to think that in 10 years, PREP could be the hub of a much larger global network of higher education institutions committed to fostering peacebuilding through participatory research and education." </span></p>
<p><span class="p-body">Be part of PREP's future by exploring a <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-global-affairs.html" title="Master's in Global Affairs">Master's in Global Affairs</a> today.</span></p>
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