How do you define peace?

The easy answer to the question above is “the lack of conflict.” But that is not sufficient.

Melannie led a lively discussion about peace and its relationship to racial reconciliation at our next stop: Bjorknes University College. This university routinely hosts students from PLU for semester programs in Peace and Conflict studies. So, in addition to a warm welcome from the faculty the Peace Queen was greeted with hugs from the students from PLU studying in Oslo this semester.

Barbara Gilchrist ’20, Alexandria Alcantar ’20, Vanna Tangonan ’20, Madeleine Newton ’21 and Angela Dominquez ’19 even joined Miss Melannie in a ‘god jul” picture post back home to PLU.

Melannie asked the Bjorknes faculty (Nik Brandal and Torstein Dale Akerlund in addition to others) about the definition of peace which led to a fascinating discussion of culture and appropriation.