2008 Midwest Peace and Justice Summit

 
2008 Midwest Peace and Justice Summit

The Fourth Annual Midwest Peace and Justice Summit will take place in Indianapolis on Friday, April 4, 4:30 - 9:30 p.m. at the
IUPUI Campus Center, Michigan and University Blvd. and
Saturday, April 5, 8:00 a.m - 8:00 p.m. at the IUPUI Informatics Building, Michigan and West.

There will be more than a dozen free workshops, panels and lectures as well as three plays, an art exhibition, and a public peace demonstration (see schedule below).

Numerous peace and justice organizations will be tabling about their ongoing activities.

Discussion sessions will include: "Next Steps to End the War in Iraq"

A featured event is Prof. George Wolfe of Ball State University speaking on Saturday at 6:30 pm on "Non-Violence as a Spiritual Path: How to Become More Dangerous Dead than Alive." Wolfe was the target of Fox news pundit David Horowitz, who accused him and the Ball State Peace Studies program of being anti-American and supporting terrorism.

For more info, visit http://mpjs.org

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SCHEDULE FOR 2008 PEACE AND JUSTICE SUMMIT

FRIDAY, April 4, 2008

4:30-5:30 pm: Statewide Peace Rally in front of the Federal Building (Corner of Pennsylvania and Michigan)

7:30-9:30pm: The Summit will host two dramatic presentations. The first is "Theatre of Social Change" from the Novox Theatre Group. The second is "The Nobodies: Stories of the Child Soldiers in Uganda," performed by a Butler University student group. The performance will be followed by a Q&A session where cast and others involved in the productions will discuss the role of theater in the movements for peace and justice. (These performances are tentative scheduled for the new IUPUI Campus Center Building on the comer of Michigan Street and University Blvd.)

SATURDAY, April 5, 2008
(All held in the IUPUI Informatics Building at the corner of Michigan and West streets.)

8:00 - 9:00 am: Registration; a light breakfast will be offered.

9:00 - 10:30 am: The first Summit plenary session will be held discussing the "Next Steps to End the War in Iraq."

10:45 - 11:45 am: The first workshop session will consist of four different workshop options: "The Need for a Department of Peace" by Kathryn Hessler," "The Tao of Peace" by Jim Wolfe; "Democracy in Burma" by Kim Overdyck.; and "The Iraq Refugee Crisis," by Charlie Wiles.

12:00 - 1:00 pm: A free lunch will be offered at the summit. This will also be an opportunity for informal reports and commentary from activist groups

1:15 - 2:45 pm: The Summit's second plenary session will discuss "The Role of Progressive Activism in the 2008 Elections."

3:00 - 4:00 pm: The second round workshop sessions will consist of four different options: "Human Rights Activism" by Debby Peddie of the Indiana Information Center for the Abolition of Capital Punishment and Amnesty International; "Indiana Healthcare Initiatives" by Julia Vaughn, Mark St. John and Eric Wright; "Indiana Clean Elections," by Nick Hess; and "Socialism is the Only Answer to All of Today's Problems" by Ronald Haldeman.

4:15 - 5:15 pm: The third workshop session will consist of four different workshop options: "Sustainable Economics" by Greg Buck; The Justice for janitors Campaign for Socioeconomic Justice" by Leslie Mendoza-Kamstra; "The Peak Oil Crisis Is Now" by David Pilbrow; and "Fair Mart vs. Mall Mart: True Security in a Violent Culture" by Jim Goetsch.

5:30 - 6:15 pm: The Summit will be hosting a pizza dinner on-site.

6:30 - 8:00 pm: The Plowshares Keynote Lecture. This year's distinguished lecturer will be Professor George Wolfe of the Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. The title of his address is "Non-Violence as a Spiritual Path: How to Become More Dangerous Dead than Alive."