This article is from the EMU News Archive. Current EMU new is available at www.emu.edu/news

Peacebuilding Program to Celebrate 10th Anniversary

Hundreds of visitors and local residents will gather in Harrisonburg, Va., the first weekend in June to celebrate the first decade of a program that has grown to be one of the most-recognized peacebuilding centers in the world.

The Conflict Transformation Program (CTP) at Eastern Mennonite University began with the enrollment of two American graduate students in 1994. It has now seen more than 1,500 people from 83 countries take one or more of its courses, with 160 of these earning a masters degree or graduate certificate in Conflict Transformation.

"The unique aspect of CTP is that it starts from the analysis of the self and then goes on to look at communal, societal, organizational, regional, and international conflicts," said Kaushikee, a 2002 masters graduate of CTP and current professor of peace and conflict resolution at a major university in New Delhi, India.

"The program is a beautiful combination of theory and practice. It not only influences our head but touches the heart," she added.

Selam Hussein, a Mennonite from Ethiopia and the chief organizer of the 10th Anniversary Celebration of CTP, said that the three-day event is designed to give visitors a taste of the skills, techniques and theories for which CTP has a worldwide reputation.

The celebration begins at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, with a dinner speech by CTP founding director John Paul Lederach. It continues through a series of 15 classes and workshops on Saturday, June 4, and ends on June 5 with a Sunday-morning sermon on peace by EMU President Loren E. Swartzendruber.

Entertainment is offered on Friday and Saturday nights, with a concert by renowned folk musician John McCutcheon on Friday and a storytelling performance by Israeli-born actress Noa Baum on Saturday.

Celebration participants will include more than 100 students from several dozen countries who will be attending the 2005 session of EMU’s Summer Peacebuilding Institute.

EMU is offering the classes, performances, food and accommodations at cost for the weekend. For example, lodging in an EMU dormitory is available for as little as $24 per night for an adult and even less for children.

"We want to encourage families and friends to hold mini-reunions here, enjoying EMU’s hospitality and the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley in June, while learning about CTP’s work on behalf of peace and justice," said Hussein. "We’re hoping that visitors will return home with renewed hope and with knowledge and skills that they can apply in their own lives."

This occasion will also mark a name change from Conflict Transformation Program to "Center for Justice and Peacebuilding," or CJP.

For more information about the event, visit CTP’s website at www.emu.edu/ctp or phone Selam Hussein at (540) 432-4491. - Bonnie Price Lofton

— article by: Bonnie Lofton; posted March 21, 2005