Troy University will soon be formally designated as a Partners in Peace (PiP) institution, a recognition that places the University among a select group of institutions connected to the educational mission of the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway.

This designation expands opportunities for faculty-student collaboration, public humanities engagement and community partnerships while bringing international affirmation to Troy University’s Honors program.

“Troy University’s coming designation as a Partners in Peace institution reflects our deep commitment to academic excellence, global responsibility and meaningful engagement beyond the classroom,” said Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. “This designation strengthens our academic mission and reinforces TROY’s role in preparing thoughtful leaders equipped to contribute to a more peaceful and collaborative world.”

A collaboration between the National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) and the Nobel Peace Center (NPC), a formal PiP designation will enable TROY students and faculty to study and implement practices utilized by Nobel Peace Laureates in their attempts to achieve harmony and collaboration between individuals.

“Within its first semester, Troy University Honors Program has forged partnerships with institutions such as the Nobel Peace Center that expand research opportunities, deepen global engagement, and directly benefit our students,” said Dr. Kerry Palmer, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. “It reflects both the seriousness of the work underway in Honors and in TROY’s enduring commitment to preparing thoughtful leaders who will serve their communities and the wider world.”

TROY’s proposal was accepted through the curricular track centered on a new University Honors Global Scholars Program course, “HON 2202: Peace as Place: Norway, Nobel Peace, and Global Responsibility,” which examines Alfred Nobel’s vision and the evolving meaning of peace.

“Guided by our Honors Faculty Council and inspired by our remarkable students, University Honors is building a program that matches their talent and our University’s highest ideals,” said Dr. Priya Menon, University Honors Director and project lead. “Through Partners in Peace, our students will study lasting ideas about peace and apply them with care and purpose.”

The course traces the historical and conceptual evolution of peace reflected in Nobel Peace Prize awards from early peace movements, diplomacy and arms control to contemporary work in human rights, humanitarianism, democracy and environmental responsibility. Students engage peace through disciplinary inquiry, applying the methods of their majors—science and engineering, arts and humanities, health sciences, business and education—to Nobel Peace Prize-recognized work and to the Norwegian institutional context in which the Prize is awarded.

“Reading Dr. Priya Menon and Troy University Honors’s proposal to offer ‘Place as Peace: Norway, Nobel Peace, and Global Responsibility’ as a contribution to Partners in Peace was a true delight,” said Dr. Kevin Dean, Coordinator for Partners in Peace, Novel Peace Center, Oslo. “They offer a truly interdisciplinary course that capitalizes on the rich disciplinary diversity of students engaged in Troy University Honors, enabling students to enhance their personal leadership development, for the purpose of civic engagement, by studying peace through applying methods drawn from their majors to work celebrated by the Nobel Peace Prize. 

“Dr. Menon joins a cohort of now 47 active Partners in Peace projects nationwide. Through Dr. Menon’s leadership, and the passion of Troy Honors students, I have no doubt that the lessons learned at TROY will find both a national, and, through the Nobel Peace Center, international audience.”

Taught by Honors Faculty Council and selected faculty, the course emphasizes global responsibility and culminates in a TROY Peace Prize, modeled on the Nobel tradition but grounded in Alabama’s communities, where students and faculty partner with local organizations to apply peace-building ideas in practice.

“I have no doubts that this will strengthen TROY’s academic life and extend its influence into the wider community,” Menon said. “We are excited about what this prestigious opportunity means for our students, for the faculty who will teach and mentor them and for our beloved institution.”

The Honors Faculty Council is comprised of faculty from different areas of study within the University, including Dr. Andrew Tatch, Anthropology, Sociology and Criminology; Dr. Bruno Costa, Chemistry and Physics; Dr. James Meadows; Social Work; Dr. Jonathan Farrow; Art and Design; Dr. Noah Trudeau; Decision Systems and Sciences; Dr. Lesley Parrish; School of Allied Health; and Dr. Johanna Alberich, World Languages and Cultures.

About Partners in Peace and the NCHC

Operating within the International Education Committee of NCHC, Partners in Peace enables students, faculty and institutions to study and implement practices utilized by Nobel Peace Laureates in their attempts to achieve harmony and collaboration between individuals. Universally celebrated as the world’s most prestigious award, the Nobel Peace Prize represents the selfless determination of laureates who advocate for peaceful global co-existence.

Akin to affiliation with such luminaries as Carnegie and Fulbright, institutions recognized by Nobel can take great pride in their commitment to humanity through the study and practice of celebrated actions towards peace. 

Celebrating 60 years, NCHC is the largest professional organization of its kind, bringing together administrators, faculty, staff, and students from institutions of higher education who support honors education during a student’s undergraduate degree program. 

A core mission of NCHC involves opportunities for students to attain personal leadership development for the purpose of civic engagement born through academic study and active learning. NCHC membership consists of United States and International institutions that span the spectrum of higher education.