9/23/2015
JCCC to host Peace Building Conference, Oct. 30-31
Media Contact: Tyler Cundith, 913-469-8500, ext. 3122, tcundith@jccc.edu
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Park University and Johnson County Community College will host a two-day conference on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 30-31, that will explore the role of education in peacebuilding.
The event, free and open to the public, is titled “Teaching Peace: Education as an Essential Peace-building Tool”. It will begin with a half-day academic conference at Park University from 1 p.m.-4 p.m., featuring four paper presentations by leading academics and peace-builders: Dr. Judi Estes, assistant professor Park University; professor Dawn M. Gale, Johnson County Community College; Gary Bachman, associate professor of social work, Park University and Ira Harritt, Kansas City program coordinator, American Friends Service Committee.
The second day of the conference will be held at JCCC from 9 a.m.-3:15 p.m., in Hudson Auditorium, located on the second floor of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Arts, and at the nearby Regnier Center.
David J. Smith, an internationally recognized peace-building speaker, trainer and writer, will give the keynote address: “Peace-building and Education: A Critical Nexus to Ensuring 21st Century Prosperity, Engagement and a Better World.
The conference will also feature a presentation on film as an educational tool, powerful stories from those who have used education as an essential peace-building tool and six afternoon breakout-out seasons.
Among the presenters will be representatives from Medical Missions Foundation, the United Nations Association-Kansas City, the Center of Global Peace Journalism at Park University, nursing students and faculty from JCCC, Research College and Rockurst University. They will share their peace-building experiences in Uganda.
Information from those groups and other will be available for anyone interested in joining them in their peace-building efforts. The conference will be geared toward students, faculty, community members and others who are interested in international relations, journalism, healthcare in developing world, social justice and peace/conflict studies.
Among the presenters at the conference will be representatives from Medical Missions Foundation, the United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City, the Center for Global Peace Journalism at Park University and nursing students and faculty from JCCC, Research College and Rockhurst University.
Information on these groups and others will be available for anyone interested in joining them in their peace-building efforts. The conference is co-sponsored by JCCC, Park University, Rockhurst University and Medical Missions Foundation.
A free lunch is available to those who register in advance. Go to www.jccc.edu/conferences/peacebuilding and click the Register online.
For more information, contact Janette Jasperson, coordinator of International Education at JCCC, jjaspers@jccc.edu or Steven Youngblood, director of the Center of Global Peace Journalism at Park University, steve.younglbood@park.edu.
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