Student Profiles

Jenna Corbin

From a San Diego family that made politics and religion topics of regular dinner-time conversation, Jenna Corbin has never been satisfied with conventions, instead preferring to apply critical thinking to all parts of life. By the time she settled on Naropa as her university of choice in Fall of 2005, she had already tried and rejected four other institutions. "I had a friend who, while practicing with a Buddhist community, kept saying that I should come here," she says. "I was always interested in the idea that personal process should be a part of the learning process."

Shortly after arriving, Jenna got involved with the Student Union of Naropa (SUN,) which directed her attention to peace studies. "Last year, the Sakyong presented the Dalai Lama with a Living Peace Award at the Shambhala Mountain Center, and he wanted it to have a connection with Naropa, so some of us in SUN interviewed Sudarshan Kapur. I was really impressed with his insights and perspectives and took a course with him in the spring. I've always been interested in what inspires and sustains political action, and what was happening in that class allowed those parts of myself to show up.

"Honestly, when I first heard about Peace Studies, I rolled my eyes, but I was secretly curious. I had already been through a period of burn-out and was rather cynical. It was actually by engaging my doubt that peace is a viable option that I was able to broaden my imagination and understand what is possible when ‘peace' becomes a verb rather than a noun. For me to believe in something or feel it's truth, it must become an experimentation process. I remember Sudarshan talking about the areas of the degree program, and he was making this idea of peace into something tangible, graspable, relatable – it ceased to be a vague concept.

"What's brilliant about the courses is we're starting to look at peace and war from a variety of perspectives, and the multitude of voices is really useful to me because, with all respect to the Dalai Lama, I need more than just him to tell me that peace is an option. In my experience, the alternative perspectives of well-respected authors and teachers who affirm love—when so many others want to talk about hatred—helps us engage the mainstream discourse on war and peace. Those voices seem to reflect a story of humanity that is less often heard, and they seem to come back to a common answer of love. I think it's a very complete program, and I just wish I had more time here."

An internship is required to complete the Peace Studies major, and Jenna works for the Denver Justice and Peace Committee, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting economic justice and human rights in Latin America. The work, she explains, involves writing letters to Congresspeople and Senators, as well as researching economic policies in Latin America. "I spent the summer in Nicaragua doing an independent study," she says, "And the issues around fair trade versus free trade became alive for me."

After graduation, Jenna intends to work with young people, supporting their civic engagement. "Underlying Peace Studies is the idea that we can't just say what we're against; we have to say what we're for. So how do I name what I'm for? I'm still learning how to shift my paradigm, to create alternatives to militaristic thinking, but this program has changed who I am, so wherever I go, whatever I do, that will ultimately show up."