International Peace and Security Initiative
The College of Law’s new International Peace and Security Initiative works closely with global partners and peacebuilders to offer unique student experiences, thought leadership, community engagement, and support for the field.
The Initiative amplifies voices on the ground, prepares students to be advocates and peacebuilders, and provides collaborative opportunities to advance better pathways to peace.
The International Peace and Security Initiative is committed to supporting sustainable peace and security by addressing the root causes of conflict and advancing solutions based on the rule of law, human rights, justice, and shared humanity.
Support Our Work
Howard M. Leftwich, PhD spent his entire career at the University of Cincinnati as a faculty member in the Department of Economics and the Center for Organizational Leadership. He also served as head of the department’s graduate program in Labor and Employment Relations.
He was a kind, generous, and caring person who was loved by everyone who knew him. He wanted to see good in the world and had a deep sense of compassion and social justice, which he passed on to his daughter Julie.
He was a bright light that shone in the lives of all who knew him. He was an inspiration.
This fund was established by Howard’s family in his memory to support the Center for International Peace and Security and to honor the legacy that he left behind.
Please join us in honoring his memory and supporting the work that he believed in.
To send a check: Please make checks payable to the UC Foundation, with Howard M. Leftwich Memorial Fund in the memo line or on an accompanying note. Checks can be mailed to the following address:
Attn: Development Office
UC College of Law
PO Box 210040
Cincinnati, OH 45221
The International Peace and Security Initiative prepares students to work in a wide variety of professional settings and political contexts. Students gain substantive knowledge, build practical skills, and engage in real-time projects with international partners directly related to peace and security.
Through its experience-based learning program, students examine the drivers of insecurity, conflict, and displacement; the laws and policies to address them; effective peacebuilding strategies; and a framework for changing the traditional paradigms of peace and security to better reflect the challenges of today’s world.
This learning is tied in through projects with global legal, academic, and NGO partners. The Initiative is developing partnerships in Colombia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. Students have opportunities to engage with transitional justice courts, civil society organizations, legal rights organizations, and peace processes. They also write reflections, analyses, and policy papers to advance the Initiative's thought leadership.
From conflict prevention to conflict resolution to peace negotiations and post-conflict statebuilding, students develop an understanding of the drivers of conflict and better pathways to peace.
Stay tuned for more information.
Research and internship opportunities are available. Interested students should contact Julie Leftwich, Director of the International Peace and Security Initiative, at julie.leftwich@uc.edu.
The International Peace and Security Initiative provides critical assistance to peacebuilders and advocates around the world by sharing real stories, amplifying their voices, providing technical expertise and much needed capacity and assistance, and illustrating through their work that peace is possible.
The International Peace and Security Initiative engages the university and broader community through educational events, interaction with global peacebuilders, workshops, and dialogues.
Check back for upcoming events.
True peace and security require solutions based on the rule of law, human rights, and justice.
They require an understanding not just of negative peace – the absence of violence or conflict – but of a positive peace that is characterized by political, social, and economic justice.
Why Peace and Security?
Devastation in Gaza. Mass starvation and displacement in Sudan. Sexual violence in DRC. Russian aggression in Ukraine. Gender apartheid in Afghanistan. Fragile peace in Syria and Colombia. And the list goes on.
The world is facing unprecedented displacement, massive human rights violations, gender-based violence, technology-facilitated violence, and increasing insecurity due to extremism, cyber insecurity, health crises, and climate emergencies. 90% of casualties in today’s conflict are civilians, and 70% are women and children. We also see increasing instability, threats to democracy, and political violence in the U.S.
Violence has never been the answer. True peace and security require solutions based on the rule of law, human rights, and justice. They require an understanding not just of negative peace – the absence of violence or conflict – but of a positive peace that is characterized by political, social, and economic justice.
True peace and security require solutions that incorporate women and other marginalized voices in decision making. It is proven that peace processes that include the meaningful participation of women have a greater chance of success.
Sustainable solutions require leaders who are dedicated to peace, prosperity, and human security. Leaders who will look beyond power to get to the root causes of conflict. The International Peace and Security Initiatives helps develop those leaders.
Contact
Julie Leftwich
Director of International Peace and Security Initiatives , College of Law
Julie Leftwich is founder and Director of the International Peace and Security Initiative at the College of Law and a Professor of Practice in UC's School of Public and International Affairs. She is a proven expert and thought leader who has long worked in, created, and led organizations globally. She has advised, trained, and published on many aspects of human rights and women, peace, and security and worked with audiences including judges, legal practitioners, law enforcement, civil society, lawmakers, security sector actors, and religious and cultural leaders.
Julie provides expertise to international peacebuilding, human rights, justice, and security organizations, bringing her experience to offer hands-on learning to UC students and opportunities for community engagement.
Julie has worked with many organizations including the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Freedom House, U.S. Institute of Peace, Women in International Security (WIIS), Our Secure Future, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), National Defense University, International Association of Women Judges, American Association of People with Disabilities, Internews, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
She is the founder and former executive director of the Immigrant and Refugee Law Center, where she also represented women refugees and those seeking asylum from gender violence.
Julie also held adjunct faculty appointments at the University of Colorado Boulder and the Korbel School of International Affairs at the University of Denver.
Julie is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Law/Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, holds a master's degree in international relations and communications from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University.