The Loyola Peace Initiative is preparing for the 16th annual Peace Conference. The event, themed “Memory in Peace and Conflict,” will be held on campus from March 22-24 with an opening ceremony in Miller Hall room 114.
This will be the first year that founder and former director of the Loyola Peace Conference, Behrooz Moazami, will not be present after his retirement from Loyola in fall 2023. Moazami is a former professor and director of the Middle East peace studies program as well as a journalist, political activist, and author.
“His presence and ethical guidance will be missed dearly,” Lance Longo, chairman of the Peace Conference and former student of Moazami, said. “We just weren’t ready to accept his departure.”
According to the political science junior, Moazami continues to call and check in with students and faculty to offer help when he can.
This year’s Peace Conference welcomes Benan Grams as the new director and advisor. Grams, a Middle Eastern studies professor, said she is excited to serve as conference director.
“Dr. Moazami left strong foundations over the past years as he was directing them,” she said. “This lays everything out and makes it so much easier to absorb and build upon.”
Longo said last year’s theme was “Complexities of Human Nature,” based on everyday life in an interconnected world. This year’s conference will focus on memory in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Memory is utilized and essential within conflicts and peace,” Grams said.
Longo said, to him, memory is an important part of being human that carries both positive and negative traditions.
Their biggest goal for this year’s conference is outreach, he said.
“We want to strategically reach our audiences from other universities all over the world,” Longo said. “I am confident that the conference will continue to excel in facilitating a diverse environment to tackle diversity spanning the globe.”
