 |
| _________________________________ |
Particularly during times of international conflict, war is often studied and debated. An upcoming conference at Cal Poly Pomona will shift the focus to peace. ?Creating a Culture of Ahimsa (Nonviolence): Visions and Strategies,? which brings an international roster of scholars and practitioners of nonviolence to the university, will be May 14, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and May 15, 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., in the Bronco Student Center's Ursa Major Suite.
The event is coordinated by the newly established Ahimsa Center in the College of Letters, Arts & Social Sciences. Ahimsa is an eastern philosophy of revering all life and refraining from harm to any living thing. The Ahimsa Center is dedicated to interdisciplinary teaching and learning about nonviolence and its practical applications at various levels: personal, familial, communal, national and international. The upcoming conference will highlight successful experiments in the practical applications of ahimsa.
Major speakers in the conference include:
- T. Ariyaratne — founder and president of Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, Sri Lanka
- Kiran Bedi — civilian police adviser to the United Nations (UN) Department of Peace
- Jack DuVall — president of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict
- Dolores Huerta — co-founder (with Cesar Chavez) of the United Farm Workers of America
- Padmanabh S. Jaini — professor emeritus of Jain and Buddhist studies at UC Berkeley
- Mary Elizabeth King — professor of political science at UN University of Peace in Costa Rica
- Krishna Ahooja Patel — int?l president of Women?s Int?l League of Peace & Freedom, Geneva
- Sulak Sivaraksa — prominent Thai social critic, co-founder of International Network of Engaged Buddhists and Asian Cultural Forum on Development.
For more information, contact professor Tara Sethia at (909) 869-3868 or tsethia@cpp.edu or visit the Ahimsa Center Web site.