UPLIFTING and inspirational dialogues surrounding peace and civic engagement return with the Second Annual Peace Summit, hosted by the Yavapai College Respect Campaign and the Justice Institute. Like last year’s program the event is a two-day symposium that joins disparate voices from throughout the various constituencies within the college and wider communities: professors, students, community members and professionals working to help others. Once again the goal is to reunite in a way that strengthens the bonds between us as people and move away from divisiveness.
In our digitized world it’s increasingly rare to access opportunities that encourage us to simply come together: to occupy the same location simultaneously, enjoy the physical presence of others, and engage in dynamic conversation face-to-face. In this respect the Peace Summit offers a space for meaningful convergence, where we can sit with one another companionably and consider how peace can operate as lived experience and a component of our social fabric, rather than a distant abstraction or passive concept.
The scheduled sessions are interdisciplinary in scope and incorporate a multitude of perspectives complementing the multifaceted definitions of what it truly means to live and operate in a place of peace. What small, everyday actions do each of us undertake to perform and perpetuate these definitions? In what ways do these actions and a mindset of peace reverberate outward? Answers to these questions, and sources for inspiration, will derive from conversations that focus on peace, gratitude and positivity, not politics.
An important component of the Peace Summit will be artistic expression, highlighted in a session with Meg Bohrman and a display of community artwork. Creativity establishes the opportunity for direct community engagement in an active way, as peace is conceptualized, witnessed, shared and felt. This kind of experience, whether creating or experiencing, empowers, which can be like a balm when so many of us are feeling powerless or lost.
For those in the community who’d like to participate in the summit by submitting artwork for consideration, please visit the Yavapai College Art Gallery website by Friday March 13. After the summit this exhibit will travel out to Gallery 214 in Prescott’s NoCo District. That show will run April 11-24, with a closing reception during the 4th Friday Art Walk.
With peace constructed as a daily local practice and as a series of participatory acts of genuine care for one another, we can rise to the occasion and the challenges of our times to collaboratively construct the type of community that is strong, kind, safe, healthy and happy. To this end the Peace Summit offers a shared moment carrying the potential to affect the lives of our neighbors, friends, fellow students, colleagues and ourselves. We coexist, speak, listen and love within, or despite, our loud, fragmented world.
The Peace Summit is one of many events organized in a cooperation between the Yavapai College Respect Campaign and the Justice Institute. The overarching goal of both organizations is to bring people together to promote the values of respect, mutuality and open-minded curiosity. Through the Respect Campaign’s ten-year tenure this endeavor has proven to be both worthwhile and rewarding, and we are privileged to serve the college and the wider community through our efforts.
We hope to see you at the summit!
The summit will take place on the Yavapai College Prescott campus in Building 3, Room 119. All sessions are free and open to the public.
For more information please contact Brandelyn Andres (brandelyn.andres@yc.edu; 928-717-7739) or Jerald Monahan (jerald.monahan@yc.edu; 928-776-2184).
Peace Summit Agenda
Thursday April 2
9am: Opening Remarks by Dr. Brandelyn Andres, Professor of Art History and Chair of the Respect Campaign
9:15–10:15am: Manifesting Peace in a Challenging World, Dr. Brandelyn Andres and Jerald Monahan, Director of the Yavapai College Justice Institute and Professor of Administration of Justice
10:30–11:30am: Compass Change Charting a New Pathway for Real Peace in America, Bobby Kipper, Actively Caring for People
11:30–12:30: Lunch provided by the Respect Campaign and the Justice Institute; please register in advance.
12:30–1:30: Distinguished Guest Lecture Series: Creating a Resonant World: Deep Listening and Authentic Expression for the Revolutionary Peacemaker, Meg Bohrman, community music therapist, performer and activist
1:45–2:45pm: What's in the Box? History’s traumas and peaceful self-care, Dr. Chris Harrison, Professor of History and Political Science
3:00–4:00: Young Leaders and Reflections on Peace, Yavapai College Student Panel
6–8:30pm: Movie Night featuring The Best of Enemies, with popcorn and drinks! Sponsored by the Yavapai College Film and Media Arts Program
Friday, April 3
9–10am: Good Trouble Every Day, Robert Shegog and Jim Helbing, MLK Peace and Justice Committee
10:15–11:15am: Peace Starts at Home – and Then into the Community, Jerald Monahan
11:30am–12:30pm: Peace Exhibit artists talk
12:30–12:45: Closing remarks by Dr. Brandelyn Andres
