Researching Peace: Promoting Shalom-Flourishing Through Interdisciplinary Initiatives

Abstract

Peace is often understood primarily as the absence of conflict. The biblical concept of shalom, however, offers a broader understanding that includes wholeness, justice, healthy relationships, and human flourishing. Such an understanding has implications for how complex social problems are studied and addressed. Homelessness provides a particularly important example because it cannot adequately be understood through a single disciplinary lens or reduced either to individual problems or to institutional failures. This paper presents an emerging interdisciplinary approach developed through the Center of Excellence for Homelessness Services and Studies (COEHSS), a collaborative initiative of the American University of Health Sciences and American Theological University. The approach brings health sciences, psychology, theology, public health, clinical research, and institutional analysis into conversation while placing respectful relationships with people experiencing homelessness at the center of service and inquiry. The paper proposes a cyclical model in which service informs research, research improves practice, practice strengthens institutions, and healthier institutions expand opportunities for flourishing and peace.