Patrick T. Hiller
Executive Director, War Prevention Initiative/Founding Editor, Peace Science Digest
Patrick holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from Nova Southeastern University and an M.A. in Human Geography from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany.
He teaches at the Conflict Resolution Program at Portland State University. Following an interdisciplinary approach, his work and research interests encompass war and peace, conflict resolution, peace studies, environmental issues, ethnicity, human rights, nationalism, social justice, Mexico, Latin America, social/peace movements, identity formation, culture and conflict and migration. He studied and worked on those topics while living in Germany, Mexico and the United States.
His writings and research are almost exclusively related to the analysis of war and peace and social injustice and, most often in the form of structural violence and power dynamics with an emphasis on human dignity, solidarity among all peoples, equal participation of all peoples, the role of the governments and the promotion of peace. Patrick seeks to contribute to the growth of the still young peace and conflict studies field.
Patrick is the Vice-President of the International Peace Research Association Foundation and served on the Executive Committee of the Governing Council of the International Peace Research Association (2012-2016). He served on the Coordinating Committee of World Beyond War (2013-2016), he is member of the Advisory Council of the organizations International Cities of Peace and PeaceVoice/PeaceVoiceTV, member of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Peace Institute, member of the Peace and Security Funders Group as well as member of the Peace and Justice Studies Association. He is the founding editor of the Peace Science Digest. In his free time, Patrick enjoys the outdoors and is a committed triathlete. He lives in Hood River, Oregon with his wife and son.
David Prater
Program Manager, War Prevention Initiative/Contributing Editor, Peace Science Digest
David holds an M.S. in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University and a B.S. in Marine Transportation from the California Maritime Academy.
Before his interest in studying the nonviolent alternatives to war, David worked for the U.S. Department of Defense as a civilian navigator and rescue swimmer. Over the period of three years, his work took him to Asia, Europe, South America, and the Middle East. While experiencing many regional conflicts through the lens of an American DOD employee, David took interest in learning alternative approaches to address these issues, ones that do not involve the disruptive tactics seen in today’s foreign policy. David now focuses his research on exploring ways to better communicate the social and economic costs of war, and the many viable, more effective, nonviolent alternatives.
Molly Wallace
Contributing Editor, Peace Science Digest
Molly Wallace is Contributing Editor at the Peace Science Digest and Visiting Scholar in Portland State University’s Conflict Resolution Program. Previously, she taught in the International Affairs and Political Science Programs at the University of New Hampshire and Brown University. Her recent book, Security without Weapons: Rethinking Violence, Nonviolent Action, and Civilian Protection, explores nonviolent alternatives for civilian protection in war zones—and particularly the unarmed civilian peacekeeping work of Nonviolent Peaceforce in Sri Lanka. More broadly, her research and teaching interests include nonviolent action; conflict resolution/transformation; military desertion/defection; peacebuilding and development; transitional justice and reconciliation; humanitarian intervention, civilian protection, and the “Responsibility to Protect” in postcolonial contexts; discursive and psychological conditions enabling political violence; gender and global politics; and international ethics.
Molly earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Political Science from Brown University and her B.A. in Peace and Conflict Studies from Mount Holyoke College. She served as a volunteer mediator with the Community Mediation Center of Rhode Island and previously worked with non-governmental organizations in the fields of conflict resolution and international affairs in Washington, DC—where she was living and protesting during the first few years of the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. She is pleased to have the chance now to integrate her academic and antiwar activist commitments through her work with the War Prevention Initiative.
Raised in Oregon but then an East Coaster for a couple decades, Molly is happy to have finally returned with her spouse and daughter to the beautiful Pacific Northwest!