Peace Jobs

A Student’s Guide to Starting a Career Working for Peace

By:
David J. Smith, George Mason University

A volume in the series: Peace Education. Editor(s): Laura L. Finley, Barry University.

Published 2016

This book is a guide for college students exploring career options who are interested in working to promote peacebuilding and the resolution of conflict. High school students, particularly those starting to consider college and careers, can also benefit from this book.

A major feature of the book is 30 stories from young professionals, most recently graduated from college, who are working in the field. These profiles provide readers with insight as to strategies they might use to advance their peacebuilding careers.

The book speaks directly to the Millennial generation, recognizing that launching a career is a major focus, and that careers in the peace field have not always been easy to identify. As such, the book takes the approach that most any career can be a peacebuilding career provided one is willing to apply creativity and passion to their work.

ENDORSEMENTS:

The 30 profiles and other examples of career options across disciplines in Peace Jobs should be a required resource for all high school and college career offices. Packed with valuable realistic examples of how students, from a wide array of backgrounds, connected their passion with a paid career, it answers the ever present question “but what job can I get in peacebuilding”?
Jennifer Batton
Co-Chair, Peace Education Working Group and Chair, North America, Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict
Coordinator, International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education

If changing the world is your calling, David Smith offers the guiding framework to channel passions and talents into meaningful employment. In Peace Jobs, millennials and others can discover ways to apply their social conscience to traditional and transformative career opportunities.
Tony Jenkins, PhD
Director, Peace Education Initiative, The University of Toledo
Managing Director, International Institute on Peace Education
Coordinator, Global Campaign for Peace Education

CONTENTS
Peace Education Series Introduction, Laura Finley and Robin Cooper Preface. Acknowledgments. CHAPTER 1. What is a Peace Job? CHAPTER 2. Preparing for and Finding a Peace Job. CHAPTER 3. Peacebuilding Careers in Diplomacy. CHAPTER 4. Enforcing Peace and Justice Through Human Rights and Law. CHAPTER 5. Working in Conflict: NGO, IGO, Humanitarian, and Military Careers. CHAPTER 6. Teaching About Peace and Conflict. CHAPTER 7. Activism: Social Justice and Environmental Action. CHAPTER 8. A Healing Approach: Health, Community, and Faith-Based Strategies. CHAPTER 9. Creating Peace: The Arts, Science, Technology, and Media. CHAPTER 10. Pursuing Peacebuilding Education. APPENDIX A: 86 Peace Jobs for College Grads. APPENDIX B: Peace Jobs Glossary. APPENDIX C: Peace Jobs Career Resources. APPENDIX D: Additional Readings. About the Author.

REVIEWS
"By putting a spotlight on lesser known organizations, Smith provides tools for career professionals. Career counselors can use this text with students who are exploring majors, in an internship search, beginning to network, in a job search, or exploring graduate school options. This book is a practical resource for career counselors because they can point to specific chapters which can guide students based on their interests and major. " Mason Murphy Texas State University in National Career Development Association (Read full review)

"David J. Smith, who is well known in peace education for his work as a consultant and educator and his former roles at the US Institute of Peace, wrote Peace Jobs to answer a question students frequently ask him: How can I get a job working for peace? That anyone can do peace work in almost any occupation is a central claim of this book, which brings a career guidance lens to the emergent broad scope of peace education. Smith frames the book in terms of the pressures that students today face to treat college as career training and devalue liberal arts education: they will end college with high educational loan debts, and the job market is tight. The study of peace bridges the gap, Smith suggests, by inviting students to discover a sense of purpose as they prepare for careers of the future." Janet Gray The College of New Jersey in Global Campaign for Peace Education (Read full review)

MORE INFORMATION
> Author David Smith writes about Nurturing the Peacebuilders and Conflict Resolvers of Tomorrow on Mediate.com