Job opening: Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Swarthmore College

Revised 10/28/2014: The Peace and Conflict Studies program is no longer accepting applications for this position.  

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The Peace and Conflict Studies Program of Swarthmore College invites applications for a full-time three-year position at the assistant professor level, beginning Fall 2015. Swarthmore College is committed to excellence through diversity in its educational program and employment practices and actively seeks and welcomes applications from candidates with exceptional qualifications, particularly those with demonstrable commitment to a more inclusive society and world. Racial minorities and others from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

Candidates should have expertise in peace and conflict studies and either conflict analysis and transformation / conflict resolution and / or social justice studies. The successful candidate for the position will be expected to teach five courses in our interdisciplinary undergraduate program, one of which will include the program’s introductory course, and assist in the coordination of the program. We seek a candidate with strong teaching and research skills and a knowledge and passion for peace studies that will support student advising and contribute to the development of a dynamic program. We also seek a candidate who is committed to fostering an inclusive classroom environment. A Ph.D. in peace and conflict studies or in another discipline accompanied by extensive intellectual and professional engagement in the field of peace and conflict studies is required.

Consideration of applications will begin on October 10, and we expect to begin interviewing candidates in early November. Candidates should send a cover letter, curriculum vitae, writing samples, and three letters of recommendation.
(The cover letter should address teaching philosophy, experience, and research agenda.) Please apply at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/4550. If unable to submit online [due to lack of access to the internet], send your materials to: Anna Everetts, Peace and Conflict Studies Program, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 19081-1397 peacestudies @ swarthmore.edu. Direct inquiries to the program coordinator, Lee Smithey, at lsmithe1 @ swarthmore.edu

 

 

 

Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Chan Khong, and Alfred Hassler

Screening of “The 5 Powers” film to celebrate the International Day of Peace

The 5 Powers

A film about the transnational peace work of Thich Nhat Hanh, Sister Chan Khong, and Alfred Hassler.

Thursday, September 18, 2014
7:00 – 8:45 p.m.
Swarthmore College
Lang Performing Arts Center Cinema (directions)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Download a flyer and help advertise the event.

Each year, we mark the International Day of Peace at Swarthmore College as part of Peace Day Philly.

This year, we will screen a new documentary film, “The 5 Powers” about the transnational peace work of Thich Nhat Hanh,  Sister Chan Khong, and Alfred Hassler during the Vietnam War.

Sister_Chan_Khong_ccDiscussion  with the producers of the film (Anthony Nicotera, Gregory Kennedy-Salemi, and Stuart Jolley), Laura Hassler ’70, and George Lakey (who worked with Alfred Hassler of the Fellowship of Reconciliation) will follow the screening.

The 5 Powers film is organized around central tenets of Buddhist philosophy and features a captivating mix of comic book style animation (by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame), live interviews, archival audio, photos, and documents, some of which were procured from the Peace Collection at Swarthmore.

Read more about the film and view the trailer here:

http://vimeo.com/92386876

Sponsored by Peace and Conflict Studies, Film and Media Studies, the Religion Department, Asian Studies, the Swarthmore College Libraries, the Peace Collection, and Alumni Relations

5 Powers cover lo res

 

For parking:  See the campus map at http://www.swarthmore.edu/campusmap/ Enter campus at the NORTH ENTRANCE and follow the drive, Whittier Place, to the first large parking lot on the right. For drop-off, continue to follow Whittier Place, turning right at the corner of the parking lot.  The drive will proceed around the back of several buildings to a circular turn around at the Lang Performing Arts Center.  For more information about accessibility at the Lang Performing Arts Center, visit http://bit.ly/1uKd9uR For those parking in the large lot, walk to the corner of the lot, cross the street, and proceed diagonally across the quad to the Lang Performing Arts Center. The cinema is located just to your left as you enter the main lobby.

Welcome back and new PCS courses for Fall 2014

Opposition to Vietnam War
Welcome back to all staff, students, and faculty! We are off and running, having completed the first week of classes, and we look forward to an exciting semester.

As students will know, the first two weeks of class constitute the drop-add period during which you can change your schedule. That means there is still time for us to announce two new courses to be added to the list of courses that may be counted toward a peace and conflict studies minor. Spots remain open in the following two courses. Check them out!

First-Year Seminar: Revolution and Revolt
English ENGL 009J
Professor Lara Langer Cohen

This course investigates the literature of rebellion from the late eighteenth century’s “Age of Revolution” to the Occupy movement. By taking such a long historical view, we will explore how the revolutionary past of the Atlantic world has helped—and might still help—renegades, outcasts, and dissidents imagine its revolutionary futures. We will read the work of not only famous revolutionary leaders but also infamous and obscure ones, including radical abolitionists, communists, anarchists, feminists, student activists, and more. Throughout the class, we will ask: How do writers define revolution? How do they measure its successes and failures? How do they interpret the memory of previous uprisings and envision possibilities beyond them?

Music and War
Music MUSI 105
Professors Micaela Baranello and Barbara Milewski

For centuries, and across different cultures, music has both served war and illustrated its victories and terror. Music has also provided powerful commentary on war, articulating human pain and protest in equal measure. In this seminar we consider these functions in key works of art and popular music of the 20th century—a century of two world wars—with excursions into previous periods and our own contemporary experience with the war in Iraq. We will discuss music of war; about war; against war; and in the shadow of war.

The big picture on nonviolent resistance and global peace

A couple of interviews that address the big pictures of nonviolent action, militarism, and peace praxis have appeared online.  See them here!

Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan, the authors of the award-winning book, Why Nonviolent Civil Resistance Works were interviewed on NPR on August 21, 2014

Peace researcher Jan Oberg recently conducted a half-hour interview on RT.

Note from Lee Smithey: There is lots of useful thought here, though his labeling the Ukrainian resistance in Kiev a Western coup is unlikely and unsubstantiated in the interview.

 

Gratitude for Ann Yasuhara

We have learned that one of our Swarthmore alums, Ann Yasuhara, passed away on June 11,2014. Ann, a Quaker, had become a strong influence in the direct action organization, Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT), working to end mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia. Friends lovingly referred to her as their “Mountain Woman”. EQAT recently honored Ann as one of their Elders at a special ceremony at the Friends Center on Cherry Street in Philadelphia.

Others gathered for a memorial service and outdoor reception in Princeton:

EQAT's 2014 07July Ann Y Memorial album on Photobucket

We encourage you to read all of the obituary published in Princeton’s Town Topics, but we offer a few excerpts here:

A logician and computer scientist, she was known for combining her Quaker faith with action focused on peace, social justice, racial equality, and the environment. Her life balanced her love for the sacredness of all life, the compassionate concerns of a Quaker activist for the world and the local community, her delight in music, gardening, and art, and her generosity to friends and family. Ann Yasuhara belonged to the living tradition of Quaker spirit-led peace and justice activists. Unflagging in her resistance to war and violence, she studied the philosophy and methods of non-violent resolution of conflict with George Lakey, the noted Quaker peace activist. In turn, she led training groups for inner city children.

Most recently she enthusiastically supported — and went on protests with — the nonviolent direct action group, Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT), which works to end mountaintop removal coal mining. On her 79th birthday she protested on a strenuous mountain climb in West Virginia mining country. In January, just before she was diagnosed with cancer, the Philadelphia-based group honored her as one of its outstanding “wise elders.”

“Ann was a leader in the Quaker faith and an inspiration to all of us. She set the bar very high and gave us confidence to fight for a better world,” says Janet Gardner, a documentary film maker at the Gardner Group and a member of Princeton Friends Meeting.

We appreciate Ann for her profound influence on so many pursuing peace and justice.

Ann_Yasuhara_EQAT

Dr. Vincent Harding to speak at Pendle Hill on Monday, May 5, 2014

Pendle Hill First Monday Series: Vincent Harding, former distinguished visiting faculty member at Swarthmore 1985-86, Honorary Degree Swarthmore 1987, speaks on “Loved into Life: An Autobiographical Reflection”

May 5, 2014
7:30-9:00 pm
The Barn at Pendle Hill
338 Plush Mill Road, Wallingford, PA

Free and open to the public; no reservations required.
Vincent-Harding-from-On-Being_1.jpgDr. Harding will be introduced by Professor Keith Reeves, Swarthmore College, Department of Political Science.

Join activist-teacher-historian Vincent Harding in an evening of dialogue and exchange about what it means to be loved into life — how the call to love one another speaks to our deepest humanity and draws us forth to stand against injustice and all that diminishes our world community.  Vincent Harding has returned to Pendle Hill to work on his memoirs after a lifetime of teaching and activism.  He invites you to join him as he shares reflections on how he has been loved into life — and to share your stories of how you have responded to love’s call.

A native of New York City, Vincent Harding holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago. Harding and his late wife, Rosemarie Freeney Harding, worked as full-time teachers, activists, encouragers, and negotiators in the Southern Freedom Movement in the 60’s and were Friends and co-workers with such leaders as Martin Luther King Jr., Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer. (Harding provided the initial draft for King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in New York City.) He chaired the History and Sociology Department at Spelman College in Atlanta for several years, and in 1968 became the director of the Martin Luther King Memorial Center and chair of the nationally televised CBS Black Heritage series. Harding was one of the organizers and the first director of the Institute of the Black World, founded in Atlanta in 1969. After holding several research positions and visiting professorships (including two years on the staff of Pendle Hill), he served as professor of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver for nearly a quarter of a century and is now professor emeritus and a trustee at Iliff.

For more information, contact John Meyer at 610-566-4507 ext. 129.

Directing II Night of Scenes (5/6 – 5/7)

WE ARE NOT STRANGERS HERE
Two Projects From the Advanced Directing Workshop (THEA 055)

Directed and Written by Patrick Ross ’15
with Ensemble: Jocelyn Adams ’15, Anita Castillo-Halvorssen ’15, Hannah Kosman ’14

and

Directed by Tyler Elliott ’15
with Ensemble: Simon Bloch ’17, Gibson Cook ’16, Casey Ferrara ’14, Michelle Johnson ’16, Alessandra Occhiolini ’17

May 6 & 7, 2014
8 PM
Lang Performing Arts Center
Frear Ensemble Theater
Free and Open to the Public without reservations.

More info: lpacevents@swarthmore.edu