Welcome to Middle East Peace Studies

Make Peace, Not War

Over the last century, devastating wars and violence have plagued mankind. The threat of total annihilation remains a real possibility in an age when nuclear weapons have spread to new parts of the world. Thus, in the face of continued war and heightened militarism, Loyola University in line with its Jesuit mission of social justice aims to make a meaningful contribution to world peace by adding to its curriculum a new and innovative interdisciplinary minor in Middle East Peace Studies (MEPS).

While Peace Studies and Middle East Studies programs exist in a number of institutions, Loyola will be unique in combining these two areas into a single academic program. Building on the Jesuit tradition of engaging the world by promoting a value-based education, MEPS seeks to provide an intellectual and practical response to the spread of war in the Middle East and to increased militarism throughout the world. MEPS courses will encourage inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue in a non-partisan fashion.

Photos provided by Ramin Bajoghli and Reza Deghati.