Geleta Tesfaye Berisso is a Ph.D. student in the joint Peace Studies and Theology program at the University of Notre Dame. Before beginning his doctoral studies, he led the youth division of one of Ethiopia’s largest churches, taught theology, and coordinated national dialogue facilitation projects in the aftermath of Ethiopia’s 2020–2022 Civil War. He holds a B.A. in Theology from Pentecostal Theological College in Addis Ababa, an M.A. an MA in Peace and Security Studies from Addis Ababa University, and an MA in Biblical and Theological Studies from the Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology.
Geleta’s research focuses on how political, cultural, and religious forces make some human lives seem expendable: lives that can be ignored, cast aside, or killed without consequence. Grounded in Ethiopia but attentive to wider global patterns, his work examines how such logics of violence take root and how they might be resisted. He is especially interested in how alternative visions of human dignity and solidarity can break cycles of exclusion and open pathways toward justice, reconciliation, and peace.