The Peace and Conflict Studies Department is pleased to present this lecture by Dr. Esther Mombo of St. Paul’s University, Kenya.
Date: Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Time: 4:30 – 6:00pm
Location: Intercultural Center, Sproul Hall Room 201 (Dome Room)
Cosponsored by: Black Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Global Studies, History, Political Science, Religion, Sociology and Anthropology, and the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility
The Peace and Conflict Studies Department is pleased to present this lecture by Dr. Charles Hirschkind of UC Berkeley.
Date: Monday, September 25, 2023
Time: 4:30 – 6:00pm
Location: Kohlberg Hall, Scheuer Room
Cosponsored by: Global Studies, History, Islamic Studies, Political Science, Religion, Sociology and Anthropology, Spanish, and the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility
In 1958, an intrepid crew of (mainly) Quakers attempted to sail the small ship the “Golden Rule” to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, to try to “get in the way” of massive nuclear tests the United States was planning there. They were arrested in Honolulu, but they left a lasting legacy connecting peace and environmental justice concerns. Now, a new crew from Veterans for Peace is using the same ship to campaign against the MAD-ness [Mutually Assured Destruction] of nuclear weapons. Read more about the campaign in the Global Nonviolent Action Database at Swarthmore College.
The Golden Rule, a 34-foot wooden ketch, will visit the Delaware Valley May 9-14, 2023 as part of a 15-month voyage around the eastern half of the USA, making 100 ports-of-call.
The Peace Collection at Swarthmore College is the archival repository of the Golden Rule project and will join the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies and the VFP Golden Rule Project to co-sponsor a program by the crew when they arrive in our region. Members of the crew and other guests will offer a presentation, and archival material and memorabilia from the collection will be on display for visitors to explore.
When: Thursday, May 11, 2023, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.
Where: McCabe Library (Lib Lab) Room 104 at Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore, PA 19081 (Google Map)
This event is open to the public. See a map with parking details here. Drop off and accessible parking spots are available at the turnaround circle outside McCabe Library. Primary parking is available at Ben West House and in the North Lot.
Obviously, the Golden Rule is now sea worthy and under sail, but these short videos offer a brief history of the original Golden Rule project, its renovation, and its contemporary educational mission.
Here is a schedule for a range of related events in the Philadelphia area May 7-13. Download and share a copy.
Sponsors: Veterans for Peace Golden Rule Project, the Department of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, and the Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Contact: Department of Peace and Conflict Studies 610-328-PEAC, peacestudies@swarthmore.edu
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It is the last week of classes. Peace and Conflict Studies students (and those interested in majoring or minoring) are almost there! Of course, the exam period follows, but it is traditional for us to take a moment to catch our breath together during the reading period. You deserve it!
Let’s gather together on Monday, May 1, to catch up, enjoy some ice cream, and hopefully bask in some fine May weather. Bring a frisbee or beach ball or board game if you like. See you then! (Details below)
The Peace and Conflict Studies Department is pleased to be a co-sponsor of this talk, featuring Iraqi Novelist and Poet Sinan Antoon, taking place at Swarthmore College.
Title: Iraq Afterwar(d)s: Epistemic Violence and Collateral Damage
Speaker: Sinan Antoon, Iraqi novelist and poet.
Date & Time : April 25th, Tuesday, 4:30 – 6:30 pm
Location: Kohlberg Scheuer Room
*This event is open to the public.
This talk will address the genealogy of the destruction of Iraq and its ongoing effects. While most accounts begin in 2003, the talk will trace it back to the first Gulf War of 1991 and throughout the economic sanctions (1990-2003). In addition to material destruction, the talk will discuss the epistemic violence of U.S wars and its effects on knowledge production in and about Iraq.
Sinan Antoon is a poet, novelist, translator, and scholar. He was born and raised in Baghdad where he finished a B.A in English at Baghdad University in 1990. He left for the United States after the 1991 Gulf War. He earned a doctorate in Arabic literature from Harvard in 2006. He has published two collections of poetry and five novels. His most recent wok is The Book of Collateral Damage. Sinan returned to his native Baghdad in 2003 to co-produce and co-direct a documentary film about Iraq under occupation entitled About Baghdad. His essays have appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, al-Jazeera and various Arabic-language outlets. His scholarly works include a book on the pre-modern poet, Ibn al-Hajjaj, and articles on Sa`di Youssef, Sargon Boulus, and Mahmoud Darwish. He is an Associate Professor at New York University and co-founder and co-editor of Jadaliyya.
Sponsored by: the Arabic Section of MLL, the Islamic Studies Program, the Lang Center for Civic & Social Responsibility, the Department of Peace & Conflict Studies, and the Department of Sociology & Anthropology.
To wrap up this spring’s Peace and Conflict Studies film series, we will screen The Art of Un-War followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Maria Niro.
Where: Singer Hall Room 033 at Swarthmore College (Parking in Whittier Lot)
When: 4:30 on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.
Pizza, salad, and beverages will be provided!
This event is open to the public.
“The Art of Un-War is an in-depth exploration of the life and work of renowned artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. The film features Wodiczko’s artistic interventions that he creates as powerful responses to the inequities and horrors of war and injustice. Throughout the film, the artist’s powerful interventions become examples of how art can be used for social change and for healing.”
The Art of Un-War
With Director Maria Niro
March 22 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer Hall Room 033 Swarthmore College
Come watch the film (with pizza, salad, and drinks) and stay for the special discussion with Director Maria Niro.
Co-sponsors: Peace and Conflict Studies, Art, Film and Media Studies, Lang Center, Music, Political Science, Sociology and Anthropology, Spanish
The Peace and Conflict Studies Film Series features five films that explore the evolution of militarism; the role of art and personal narratives in overcoming violence, trauma, and conflict; and the potential for building justice through different means.
Please join the Peace and Conflict Studies Department for its Spring 2023 Film Series. Five films will explore the evolution of militarism and the role of art and personal narratives in overcoming violence, trauma, and conflict.
All film screenings will be held at Singer 033 starting at 4:30 p.m. The screenings are followed by debrief discussions with faculty and guest debriefers. Pizza, salad, and drinks will be provided during the screenings! Open to all Trico colleges (Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore).
Print and hang a flyer and share with a friend.
Below are the trailers and synopses for the films included in this Spring 2023 Peace and Conflict Studies film series.
Exterminate All the Brutes EP.3
February 15 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer 033 Swarthmore College
“Exterminate All the Brutes, is a four-part hybrid docuseries that provides a visually arresting journey through time, into the darkest hours of humanity. Through his personal voyage, Peck deconstructs the making and masking of history, digging deep into the exploitative and genocidal aspects of European colonialism — from America to Africa and its impact on society today.”
Dawnland
February 22 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer 033 Swarthmore College
“The feature-length documentary DAWNLAND follows the TRC to contemporary Wabanaki communities to witness intimate, sacred moments of truth-telling and healing. With exclusive access to this groundbreaking process and never-before-seen footage, the film reveals the untold narrative of Indigenous child removal in the United States.”
Coexist
March 1 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer 033 Swarthmore College
“In Coexist, Rwanda’s unprecedented social experiment in government-mandated reconciliation is revealed for the first time through the eyes of a diverse range of survivors: victims, perpetrators, and those who bore witness to the 1994 genocide. What they share is breathtaking, heartbreaking, and inspired.”
500 Years
March 15 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer 033 Swarthmore College
“500 Years tells the epic story that led Guatemala to a tipping point in their history from the genocide trial of former dictator General Rios Montt to the popular movement that toppled sitting President Otto Perez Molina. Focusing on universal themes of justice, racism, power and corruption, 500 Years tells the story from the perspective of the majority indigenous Mayan population, and their struggles in their country’s growing fight against impunity.”
The Art of Un-War
With Director Maria Niro
March 22 (Wed), 4:30 PM
Singer Hall Room 033 Swarthmore College
“The Art of Un-War is an in-depth exploration of the life and work of renowned artist Krzysztof Wodiczko. The film features Wodiczko’s artistic interventions that he creates as powerful responses to the inequities and horrors of war and injustice. Throughout the film, the artist’s powerful interventions become examples of how art can be used for social change and for healing.”
Come watch the films (with pizza, salad, and drinks) and stay for discussions.
This academic year the Aydelotte Foundation launched a program to support the promotion of significant scholarly works by our faculty and staff. We are pleased to co-sponsor the first event that is tied to this initiative:
Transnational Solidarities, Diplomatic Endeavors, and International History: A Roundtable on Researching and Writing Histories that Cross Borders
This roundtable, thematically linked to Professor Megan Brown’s recent book, The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community, will focus on transnational movements, international solidarity, diplomacy, and more.
Event Details:
Location: Scheuer Room
Roundtable: Thursday, February 9th, 4:30-6pm
Reception to follow until 7pm
Panelists:
Dr. Megan Brown is Assistant Professor of History at Swarthmore College, specializing in modern Europe with a focus on France. Her book, The Seventh Member State: Algeria, France, and the European Community (Harvard), was published in 2022.
Dr. Cindy Ewing is the Assistant Professor of Contemporary International History at the University of Toronto. She specializes in histories of decolonization and the Cold War in South and Southeast Asia. Her in-progress book examines how Asian and Arab diplomats imported indigenous ideas about rights and sovereignty into the burgeoning international human rights system at the United Nations.
Dr. Kesewa John is a historian of Caribbean radicalism and intellectual history particularly interested in the intersections of Black feminist and Black radical histories of early twentieth century Caribbean activism. Dr. John is a Lecturer in Caribbean History in the Institute of the Americas at University College London and the current Chair of the Society for Caribbean Studies, the UK’s only learned society focused on promoting scholarship about the Caribbean and its diasporas.
Moderator:
Dr. Angela Zimmerman is professor of history at George Washington University. She is the author of Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South (Princeton, 2010) and the editor of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Civil War in the United States (International Publishers, 2016). She is currently writing a history of the Civil War as an international anti-slavery revolution with roots in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. It will be called “A Very Dangerous Element.”
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Sponsored by the Aydelotte Foundation and the Swarthmore College Libraries.
Co-Sponsored by the Asian Studies, Black Studies, French, Global Studies, History, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Political Science Departments at Swarthmore College
We are thrilled to welcome our former colleague and Lang Professor, George Lakey, back to campus to help launch his latest book, a memoir, Dancing With History: A Life for Peace and Justice. Join us for this public TriCollege book talk sponsored by departments at Swarthmore, Haverford, and Bryn Mawr Colleges. A reception and book signing will follow.
Date: January 31, 2023
Author-Student Meet-and-Greet Time: 4:30 p.m.
Location: Lib Lab in McCabe Library at Swarthmore College
Public Lecture Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Science Center, Cunniff Hall (Room 199) at Swarthmore College (Parking in Whittier Lot in Google Maps) (Walking directions to Cunniff Hall)
Download an event announcement flyer and share!
George Lakey is a scholar, writer, activist, trainer, and formerly a Lang Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College, where he founded the Global Nonviolent Action Database. He has taught or trained at all three Trico colleges (Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Swarthmore). Since the age of 19, he has been a tireless leader in peace, justice, and civil rights movements, studying and engaging in nonviolent campaigns for social change. A prominent Quaker, Lakey founded Training for Change here in Philadelphia, and his work can be traced across the anti-Vietnam War movement, gay liberation, Movement for a New Society, Men Against Patriarchy, Jobs with Peace (a labor coalition), climate justice movements, and more.
A prolific author throughout his career, his book include Toward a Living Revolution; How We Win; and Viking Economics. Copies of Dancing with History are available in the Campus Bookstore and can be purchased at the event.
Whet your appetite for this event by watching a trailer from a film about George’s life that is in development as well as the endorsements below.
George Lakey is a national treasure, whom I met when I was 22. Dancing with George was a blast. His unstoppable, thoughtful, contagious approach to democratic action has inspired my life’s work.
Frances Moore Lappé, Director, Small Planet Institute.
In his memoir, George Lakey recollects his past and current experiences, layer by layer, narrating a life of building peace and justice through one’s actions.
George Lakey’s memoir is an important book, for Friends and for the wide radius of activist groups his life of witness has influenced. It is a testament to the adage that the personal is political, and the political is personal. One can hear eighty years of American culture pulsating through his body and spirit – not simply as unreflected zeitgeist, but as spiritually discerned and focused by a resilient concern for actionable analysis and strategy for a more peaceful, just, and sustainable world.
Doug Gwyn, author of A Sustainable Life: Quaker Faith & Practice in the Renewal of Creation.
Co-sponsors: Peace & Conflict Studies (Swarthmore); The Peace Collection and Friends Historical Library (Swarthmore); Swarthmore Friends Meeting; Peace, Justice, & Human Rights (Haverford); Peace, Conflict, & Social Justice Studies (Bryn Mawr); Sociology and Anthropology Department (Swarthmore); The Lang Center; Gender & Sexuality Studies
We are excited to be a co-sponsor of this event featuring Dr. Juan Masullo, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University. Read more about the event below, and we hope to see you there.
REFUSING TO COOPERATE WITH ARMED GROUPS:
Civilian Agency and Nonviolent Resistance in the Colombian Civil War
Thursday, 1 December 2022
4.15-5.30 pm, Science Center 199
Swarthmore College (directions)
How do communities living amidst violence activate their agency and organize nonviolent resistance to protect themselves from armed groups’ violence and rule? In this talk, Dr. Masullo will explore the conditions that led ordinary and unarmed civilians in Colombia to collectively refuse to cooperate with heavily armed groups.
Juan Masullo is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University. He is also a co-editor of Qualitative & Multi-Method Research, the biannual publication of APSA’s Qualitative and Multi-Method Research Section, and associate editor of the International Studies Review.
Sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Latin American and Latino Studies, and the Peace and Conflict Studies Department.