Peace Skills Workshops
(concurrent sessions 3–4:15 p.m. and 4:30–5:45 p.m.)
Open to students only
PS1.
Louder than a Bomb: Institution-Building as a Pathway to Social
Change
PS2. Courage and Commitment:
Overcoming Obstacles in Our Own Lives
PS3. Making Peace in Other
Places
PS4. Making Art, Making
Peace: Arts and Social Change (3:00 session only)
PS5. Imagining a Culture
of Peace
PS6. Media Savvy
PS7. Sustaining Peace Organizations
PS8. Advocating for Human
Rights: Student Activism and Beyond
PS9. Dialogue: A Deep Root
to Peace
PS10. Peace Churches: Congregations
Involved in Peace and Justice Work
PS11. Grassroots Peacemaking
in Southeastern Minnesota
PS12. Making Peace with
the Earth at the Local Level
PS1.
Louder than a Bomb: Institution-Building as a Pathway
to
Social Change
Eboo Patel, executive director, Interfaith Youth Core
Eboo Patel will discuss strategies for building social change
institutions, touching on the history of the Catholic Worker, Highlander,
Hull House and the Industrial Areas Foundation. He will also discuss
the history and purpose of the institutions he has founded, including
the Interfaith Youth Core. Participants will learn how new institutions
can be built to last. back
to list
PS2. Courage
and Commitment: Overcoming Obstacles in Our Own Lives
Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness
Kathy Kelly’s presentation will feature a role-
play of a college student expressing humanitarian commitments but
meeting resistance from parents and other “practical”
people. How do we find the courage to express our commitments and
to embody them with our lives? back
to list
PS3. Making
Peace in Other Places
Laura Flynn
Sponsored by the St. Olaf faculty of Social and
Applied Science
Laura Flynn worked with peacemaking and human
rights activists in Haiti from 1994 to 2000. In 1994, she coordinated
a group of 67 peace activists who served as nonviolent witnesses
during the violence surrounding the coup in Haiti. More recently,
she has written a book with Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in an Age of
Globalization. In this workshop, she will talk about these
experiences, but more particularly about the skills Americans need
to be involved in peace and justice and environmental work in other
cultures. back
to list
PS4. Making
Art, Making Peace: Arts and Social Change
(3 p.m. session only)
Apo Torosyan, visual artist
Jerry Goralnick and Lois Kagan Mingus, the Living Theatre
Some people help to make peace by making art that engages the imagination.
In this workshop, Apo Torosyan (whose work is currently on exhibit
in the Dittmann Center) and two members of the Living Theatre Co.
will show how artistic skills can be enlisted in the cause of peace.
back
to list
PS5. Imagining
a Culture of Peace
Erik Cleven, Centre for Conflict Management, Norway
2001–2010 is the United Nations Decade for a
Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World.
In this session, participants will take part in a creative simulation
to explore what is meant by cultures of peace. Erik Cleven, St.
Olaf ’87, is active in peace-building work in Russia and Chechnya,
where he is running a dialogue process with mid-level civil society
leaders and facilitating a training-for-trainers program for young
Russians and Chechens. He also works in the former Yugoslavia and
holds courses for colleges and organizations in Norway. back
to list
PS6. Media
Savvy
Jen Randolph Reise, former co-director, Women Against Military
Madness
Amy Gage, director of communications and media relations, St. Olaf
College
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change the world,” said Margaret Mead. But small groups
of committed citizens have a better chance of success if they can
reach out and become large groups of committed citizens. In this
workshop, Jen Randolph Reise and Amy Gage will discuss media strategies,
including practical tips on making contacts and developing relationships
with the media, writing press releases and pitching stories that
reporters can use. back
to list
PS7. Sustaining
Peace Organizations
Larry Weiss, Resource Center of the Americas
Brad Kmoch, director, Office for Servant Leadership, St. Olaf College
Sponsored by the St. Olaf faculty of Social and
Applied Science
Peace groups don’t run by themselves;
it takes a lot of skills to keep them vital. In this session, students
will encounter a variety of skills — in dealing with people,
organizations, finances and motivation — that can help them
maintain organizations that support peacework. back
to list
PS8. Advocating
for Human Rights: Student Activism and Beyond
Megan Powers and Beth Varro, Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights
How can individuals get involved in human rights advocacy? This
session will highlight opportunities for students as well as career
choices in the human rights field. Presenters will provide a brief
overview of concepts of human rights, including current advocacy
efforts in Minnesota. Participants will also brainstorm how to reframe
their academic and personal skills into the context of human rights
work. back
to list
PS9. Dialogue:
A Deep Root to Peace
Nancy Rodenborg and Nancy Huynh, Dept of Social Work, Augsburg
One of the problems of peacemaking is getting different people to
talk to each other. Nancy Rodenborg and Nancy Huynh have researched
the process of facilitated dialogue in multicultural groups. In
this workshop, participants will learn and practice the skills of
intergroup dialogue that will help promote peace across cultural,
ethnic, racial, national or other boundaries. back
to list
PS10. Peace
Churches: Congregations Involved in Peace and Justice Work
Julie Madden, St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Minneapolis
Sue Tjornehoj, Christ Lutheran Church, St. Paul
Peace is a part of many religious traditions, but it’s not
always a priority in American religious congregations. In this workshop,
participants will learn skills and perspectives that help religious
people make connections between beliefs and behavior. back
to list
PS11. Grassroots
Peacemaking in Southeastern Minnesota
Barb Fix, Rural Peacemakers, Fillmore County
Claire Hall, River Cities Alliance for Peace, Wabasha
Sherry Leveille, Red Wing Peace Group, Red Wing
Joe Mayer, Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers, Rochester
Bill McGrath, People for Peace and Goodwill, Northfield
Phil Steger, Friends for a Nonviolent World, St. Paul
Moderator: Phil Stoltzfus, assistant professor of religion, St.
Olaf College
The war in Iraq has stimulated many grassroots peacemaking efforts
in our own neighborhoods. In this workshop, a panel of Twin Cities
and outstate peace activists will discuss the different origins
and organizing techniques of peace groups in southeastern Minnesota,
sharing ideas about skills and perspectives that result in effective
action. back
to list
PS12.
Making Peace with the Earth at the Local Level
Bruce Anderson, RENew Northfield
Katie Harrod, Peace Coffee
Jenny Howenstine, Just Foods Cooperative
In the long run, sustainable peace requires environmental sustainability.
In this workshop, Northfield activists will discuss the skills needed
to establish the Just Foods Co-op, Peace Coffee and RENew Northfield,
three organizations that point toward a new culture of permanence.
back
to list
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