Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies at University of San Diego

Kroc Q+A is here! 🎉 Join our Instagram Office Hours to connect directly with our Kroc Ambassadors and get real insight into the Kroc experience. Ask about coursework and concentrations, what classes are really like, faculty mentorship, student life, internships, career pathways, and what it truly means to be a Kroc graduate student. Whether you’re exploring your options or preparing to start, this is your space to ask, learn, and connect live. #KrocSchool #KrocCommunity #PeaceStudies #GradSchoolJourney #FutureGradStudent #AskKroc #StudentAmbassadors #GraduateSchool #KrocLife

Our incoming class of 2025 Changemakers promise to bring new perspectives and positive energy to our classrooms ☮️ Over two days of orientation, this inspiring group came together for workshops, shared meals, and community building, setting the stage for an incredible year ahead at the Kroc School 🌍 We can’t wait to see the impact they’ll have on our community of peacebuilders and innovators. 💬 Tell us in the comments what you are most looking forward to this semester! #KrocProud #2025Cohort #PeaceStudies #USD #Changemakers #GraduateStudents #UniversityofSanDiego

Sage Dobby ’26 (MA) is graduating with a master’s in social innovation from the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies and a winning business model in hand. As a graduate student, Dobby developed her company, Ciao Bella, which specializes in sustainable hair accessories made from pineapple fibers. She competed in the Fowler Business Concept Challenge with her company, previously known as Piña Designs, and secured a first-place victory. “Winning that competition was so gratifying,” Dobby said. “I’ve worked on this concept for years and fallen short so many times. To win the Fowler Business Concept Challenge, it really gave me the confidence I needed moving forward.” To read more, visit the link in our bio and click on ‘USD News Center’

10 graduating Kroc Students over the past two weeks completed their portfolio presentations, sharing the research, coursework, and experiences that shaped their time at the Kroc School. ☮️ 💙 More than just a final requirement, these presentations were a chance to reflect on real growth and map out what comes next. Thank you to all the friends, colleagues, and faculty from the Kroc community that came to support these students! 👏 #KrocProud #KrocSchool #PeaceAndJustice #GraduatingChangemakers #USD

Scarce resources. Rising tensions. Environmental Peace and Justice starts here. 🌏☮️ KROC 515 with Topher McDougal connects the dots between ecological health, economic development, and human conflict. Using San Diego as a real world case study, Kroc students examined why resource scarcity fuels violence, what environmental justice looks like in practice, and where technology fits into the equation. Drawing on the active lessons being learned from the Tijuana River, students simulated ways in which different stakeholders interact or could interact to address the major issues revolving around the sewage crisis. If you’re looking for a graduate program that prepares you to tackle the issues shaping our world, explore the Kroc School curriculum at the link in our bio. 🔗 #EnvironmentalJustice #ConflictResolution #KrocSchoo #GraduateSchool #SanDiego

Real change starts with real questions. 🎓 This semester, students in Peace & Justice Infrastructure: Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and Resourcing Social Change Work sat down with local funders, nonprofits, and community leaders across San Diego, doing the hard work of understanding what it actually takes to resource social change from the inside out. What they found was complicated, honest, and worth hearing. Want to be part of what’s next? Check out the link in our bio to learn more about the Kroc School. 💙 #KrocSchool #USD #SanDiego #Philanthropy #CommunityImpact

“Peace starts from within, don’t go without.” Students from USD Kroc Center of Peace Studies visited Hsi Fang Temple to learn more on how the temple fosters peace in the community followed by a gathering of all Faith Leaders to come to a “Table of Shared Peace” to listen not only what the students present, it’s also@a step@forward in future collaborations among faith groups in promoting peace. #hsifangtemple #universityheights_sdcommunity #kroccenter #usdkrocschool

It's never to early to learn about corporate participation in mass atrocity. (Well, okay sometimes it's too young).

Kroc School students in the Peace & Justice Infrastructure: Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and Resourcing Social Change Work course spent the semester engaging directly with local funders, nonprofits, and community organizations across San Diego, examining how resources move through the social sector and what more collaborative, effective approaches to philanthropy could look like. 🤝 Led by Professor Jake Wild Crea, these students brought that work full circle, presenting their end-of-year research to a room full of colleagues, friends, and community practitioners, turning months of discovery into a conversation that extended well beyond the presentation itself. This is what a Kroc education looks like in action. ☮️ #KrocSchool #SocialChange #Philanthropy #USD #SanDiego #NonprofitLeadership #HandsOnLearning

Real problems. Real partners. Real impact. 🤝 This semester, Kroc School students in the Social Innovation Practicum, taught by Professor Karen Henken, partnered with the Community Resource Center to tackle food insecurity head-on, digging into how CRC's Food and Nutrition Center can expand access and get more food to more people who need it most. Yesterday, they presented to CRC's CEO, Chief Program Officer, key staff, and six board members, delivering research and recommendations curated throughout the semester that will help shape how CRC moves forward. The executive team and board provided genuine feedback, expressing how the depth of the analysis and the practicality of what students brought to the table were not just impressive but immediately actionable for their work ahead. This is what the hands-on curriculum at the Kroc School looks like: Students applying the lessons learned in the classroom and working on challenges that matter to real people in our community. 💙 #SocialInnovation #KrocSchool #FoodInsecurity #CommunityImpact #HandsOnCurriculum

The beautiful game has always had the power to bring people together, but in the hands of peacebuilders, it can do so much more. ⚽🌍 USD Soccer recently sat down with iACT, a humanitarian nonprofit running trauma-informed soccer programs for children affected by war and conflict across Chad, Cameroon, the CAR, Mexico, and beyond. This is the beginning of a partnership between USD Athletics and the Kroc School of Peace Studies, one that equips student-athletes to carry the values of the game — teamwork, resilience, inclusion — far beyond the pitch. Sport as a force for peace. We're just getting started. 🕊️ #PeacebuildingThroughSport #KrocSchool #USD #USDSoccer #SportForGood #PeaceStudies #HumanitarianAction #RefugeeRights #SportForPeace #iACT

Taking a chance on your ideas can lead to more than you expect. 💡 MA in Social Innovation student Elise Free reflects on her experience presenting independent research at a graduate symposium at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. She shares what it was like to present research in an academic space for the first time, engage with peers across the field, and explore questions of peace, justice, and environmental governance. ☮️ Read her full story at our Innovating Peace Blog and see how one opportunity turned into a meaningful step forward, link in bio 🔗