Making Peace: Meditations On Activism

Past speakers have included:

• Carl C. Bell, M.D. and Anne Parry - Children and Violence

• Rev. Alison Buttrick Patton, Samuel Fleischacker, Umnia Khan, Jack Lawlor and Khalilah Worley - Religion as a Source for Activism.

• Andrea Wenzel - Global Anti-Violence Initiatives: Ghana.  Andrea spoke about her work with Ghanian activists and media professionals to increase public dialogue about sexual violence and self-defense.

• Reverend Susan Brooks Thistlethwaite, Ph.D. presented a talk entitled, "If Rapists are the Shock Troops, Batterers are the Army of Occupation:  What Women's Experience of Violence has Taught us about Non-Violent Direct Action in Making Peace."

• Jane Bohman and Gary Gauger hosted a joint event examining the death penalty.

• Martha Thompson, Mehrdad Azemun, Jeff Edwards, Chris Inserra & Moises Villada discussed their personal and political experiences as activists.

• Renate Schneider, from the University of Fondwa, Haiti, spoke of efforts that address the root causes of poverty and violence in Haiti.

• Nancy Peddle, who has worked in areas such as Sierra Leone, Palestine and Israel, and the Balkans, led us in an exploration of the possibility of forgiveness in the face of brutal betrayals.

• Scott Portman, of the Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Human Rights, who helped us explore the logic and meaning of torture.

• Andrea Wenzel, who spoke about her recent experiences in Hyperabad, India, training Muslim and Hindu community organizers and youth to produce stories for the radio.

• Ann Tyler & Connie White, who presented an evolving body of work called "Looking at Lynching."

• Michael Terrien, co-founder of Play For Peace

• Aliza Becker & Saffiya Shillo, Chicagoans deeply involved in creating and sustaining dialogues towards a peaceful resolution of the Israeli and Palestinian conflict.

• Guerra Freitas, the founder and CEO of SHAREcircle.

• Kathy Kelly, one of the co-founders of Voices in the Wilderness.