Conrad Grebel University College and Wilfrid Laurier University will welcome hundreds of visitors to Waterloo from across North America and as far away as Africa, Asia, Europe, South America and Japan as part of the 2013 Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) Conference, October 17-19.
Hosted by Conrad Grebel and Laurier, the three-part conference offers a main academic conference on peace and justice, a Teacher’s Professional Development strand run by Laurier’s Faculty of Education and a parallel student conference for Grades 11 and 12 and undergraduate students. The conference concludes with a public performance of the War Requiem by the Grand Philharmonic Choir and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, including singers from the University of Waterloo Chamber Choir, conducted by Professor Mark Vourinen.
The conference will feature many prominent keynote speakers, including Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize winner and anti-landmine activist; Sylvia McAdam, Idle No More co-founder; James Orbinski, Nobel Peace Prize winner as president of Doctors Without Borders, and Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) chair in Global Health; George Roter, co-founder and CEO of Engineers Without Borders; and Rhoda Howard-Hassmann, Laurier’s Canada Research Chair in Human Rights. Howard Zehr, professor of Restorative Justice at Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia and a pioneer in the field of restorative justice, will speak at a pre-conference workshop.
The conference’s Teacher Professional Development strand will feature Deborah Ellis, children’s rights advocate, author and philanthropist speaking on “Children, War and Literature.”
In addition to attending the main PJSA keynote addresses, student conference attendees will enjoy a Friday-night keynote speech and performance by Emmanuel Jal, a South Sudanese hip-hop artist, former child soldier, and humanitarian advocate for social justice and human rights. There will also be addresses by Brigette DePape, Canadian activist, and Shannon Moroney, restorative justice advocate and author of Through the Glass.
More than 250 academic presentations on peace and justice – including a number by Waterloo and Laurier faculty – will cover topics such as Aboriginal residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Aboriginal heritage and the quest for peace and justice; business innovations for peace and justice; science, technology, complexity and innovation for peace; religion and war and peace; and music and protest.
The Teacher Professional Development Strand is open to Kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers from local school boards and will address themes related to peace and conflict resolution within the classroom, and teaching global peace and conflict to children in the K-12 setting.
“Through the conference, we intend to honour the history and accomplishments of the peace and justice studies movement, while seeking new and innovative ways to promote the practice and culture of peace in a divided world,” said Edmund Pries, PJSA conference chair and assistant professor of Global Studies at Laurier.
Laurier and Conrad Grebel are partnering with the Grand Philharmonic Choir and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony for a public performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem on Oct. 19 at the Centre in the Square in conjunction with the conference. Britten, who was a pacifist, composed the War Requiem for the consecration of England’s new Coventry Cathedral in 1962 after the original building was destroyed in the Second World War. A double-sized orchestra and a 250-person choir made up of the Grand Philharmonic Choir and its Children and Youth Choirs, along with the Laurier Singers and the University of Waterloo’s Chamber Choir, will stage the performance.
Artist Jamelie Hassan will present a conference-themed art exhibit, Could we ever know each other....? at the Robert Langen Art Gallery. The exhibit challenges viewers to re-evaluate their perceptions of cultural histories and the importance of civic responsibility.
Waterloo faculty and grad students are invited to register for the main conference, and Waterloo undergraduate students can register for the student conference. For further information and registration links for both conferences, please visit www.peacejusticestudies.org/conference.