Dr. John Harris, Director of the OU Division of Regional + City Planning, and Dr. Firat Demir, professor of Economics at the University of Oklahoma, recently received a renewed grant from the Carnegie Corporation to continue the work of the Center for Peace and Development (CPD) and the Security in Context Network (SIC) through 2024.
The Carnegie Corporation had previously provided funding for the CPD and SIC Network from 2020 through 2022, and the renewed award of $275,000 will continue to fund the work of the Center for Peace and Development, including basic research on grassroots peacebuilding, applied community engagement, the CPD fellowship program, and facilitates discussions of global concern with partners across the world.
The University of Oklahoma’s Center for Peace and Development is a part of the Security in Context Network, which is an interdisciplinary network of university nodes promoting collaborative research, policy analysis and outreach on key questions regarding peace and conflict, the political economy of security and insecurity, and international norms. The CPD builds on the University of Oklahoma’s longtime work with communities in northern Uganda, bringing together OU faculty and students from across disciplines to build collaborative partnerships with communities affected by conflict.
Dr. Demir is one of the CPD’s co-directors, and Dr. Harris serves on the Center’s Executive Committee. To learn more about the Center’s work, visit their website.
Petya Stefanoff, Chair of the Educational Committee with the American Planning Association, Oklahoma Chapter (APA-OK) and Gibbs College PhD candidate, has developed a new training program for local government officials. The program, focused on land use, zoning principles, and land development, recently certified its first graduates with Certified Citizen Planner status.
Gibbs Construction Science and Architecture students recently traveled to Dublin, Ireland, to compete in the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 8 Student Competition. The team partnered with Czech Technical University and secured third place in the Design-Build category.
Gibbs College is pleased to present the exhibition Vollendorf in Oklahoma: The Architecture of Dean Bryant Vollendorf during the Spring 2026 semester. It will be on display in Gould Hall, on the OU-Norman Campus, from February 16, 2026 - March 13, 2026.
