Professor Matthew Bolton, PhD, with Daniel Högsta, Deputy Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

In November 2023, Dyson faculty Emily Welty, PhD, and Matthew Bolton, PhD, joined faith leaders from the World Council of Churches (WCC) on a human rights trip to the Republic of the Marshall Islands, highlighting the ongoing impact of US nuclear testing.

The US government detonated 67 atmospheric nuclear tests in the Pacific country in the 1940s and 1950s, equivalent in power to more than 5,400 Nagasaki bombs. Welty and Bolton, a married couple who serve as co-directors of Dyson’s International Disarmament Institute, listened to affected communities, including college students, artists, government officials, and healthcare professionals.

They learned that catastrophic humanitarian, human rights, and environmental legacies persist today in the Marshall Islands, including health problems, displacement, cultural trauma, and environmental contamination.

“The effects of nuclear violence in the Marshall Islands are a racial and climate justice issue,” said Welty, who directs the Peace and Justice Studies program at Dyson College. “Exposure to ionizing radiation raises the risk of cancer and yet there is no oncology unit in the Marshall Islands.” Radioactive material—including contaminated soil from the Nevada Test Site in the States—stored at Runit Dome, Enewetak Atoll, is also at risk from the rising seas caused by global climate change.

Upon their return to the US, Welty and Bolton brought their experiences directly to Pace students, in their respective classes, Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control, and Reconciliation and Transitional Justice, illustrating the real-life consequences of these subjects.

As part of the Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control course, Ellis Clay ’25, Antje Hipkins ’24, and Jasmine Cintrón Soto ’25, double majors in Peace and Justice Studies and Political Science, delivered statements to the UN General Assembly First Committee.

Students’ Experiential Learning at the UN

Welty and Bolton have also advocated in diplomatic spaces, such as at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, calling on governments to join the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and assist communities affected by nuclear weapons production, use, and testing.

“We don’t have to just accept passively the way things are,” said Bolton, Professor of Political Science. “With nuclear weapons, we can stop treating them as normal. There is a human story at the center, and we must share the experiences and voices of those who have been most affected.”

In October 2023, as part of Bolton’s Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control course, Ellis Clay ’25, Antje Hipkins ’24, and Jasmine Cintrón Soto ’25, double majors in Peace and Justice Studies and Political Science, delivered statements to the UN General Assembly First Committee.

This experience was connected to an immersive internship in nuclear disarmament, advised by Welty, which featured direct engagement by the aforementioned students with multiple civil society organizations. These include the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Reaching Critical Will, Youth for the Treaty on the Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons, and the New York Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The students called for greater participation of youth in international disarmament forums, consideration of the gendered implications of disarmament, and reserving cyberspace for peaceful purposes rather than war. The efforts of Clay, Hipkins, and Cintrón Soto were immediately recognized by the UN on social media.

Professors Emily Welty, PhD, and Matthew Bolton, PhD, at the United Nations.

The Pace International Disarmament Institute

In 2017, Welty and Bolton were part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) team awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work “to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and “ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition on such weapons.”

Since joining Pace in 2011, they have been working on advocacy efforts seeking to restrict and mitigate the damage caused by inhumane weapons, including land mines, cluster munitions, military robotics, and the arms trade. Welty was serving as vice moderator of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs and chairing its nuclear disarmament working group. In 2016, Bolton received a grant from the United Nations to assist and train East African government officials on implementation of the 2013 Arms Trade Treaty.

With support from Dyson College, Welty and Bolton founded the International Disarmament Institute to give a framework for their work and, just as importantly, to involve Pace students.

Since its creation, it is fast becoming a space of world-class education and research, playing a key role in support of disarmament policymaking, including humanitarian, human rights, and environmental perspectives, with Pace’s contributions to promoting youth involvement in disarmament forums even being featured in a report by the UN Secretary-General.

Emily Welty, PhD, with a Nobel Peace prize.

 “With nuclear weapons, we can stop treating them as normal. There is a human story at the center, and we must share the experiences and voices of those who have been most affected.”

—Matthew Bolton, PhD