Peace Studies at RU

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Bill

Peace Studies is an interdisciplinary effort aiming at the prevention, de-escalation, and solution of conflicts. It involves political science, economics, psychology, communication, sociology, international relations, history, anthropology, religious studies, gender studies, and other disciplines. The Peace Studies course at RU can be taken for General Education International Studies credit.

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Nobel Peace Prize winners say US must lead global peace efforts

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Bill

CHICAGO (AP) April 23, 2012  — Poverty, a lack of education and arms proliferation present daunting obstacles, yet peace can be achieved if world leaders are more willing to talk and young people are encouraged to get involved, Nobel Peace Prize winners said Monday at their annual meeting.  MORE (Washington Post) 

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Virginia Tech anniversary events

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Bill

Memorial events at Virginia Tech, including noon to 2:30 p.m.: Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention open house; second floor of Norris Hall.

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Preventing Holocausts – April 18

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Bill

The Program in Peace Studies and the Scholar-Citizen initiative are sponsoring a talk in honor of World Holocaust Remembrance Day:

Dr. Glen T. Martin – “How to Prevent Holocausts”
Wednesday, April 18, 7-8:30 PM,  Hurlburt 248

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Steve Vetter on water & poverty Tuesday 2-3

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Bill

Tuesday, March 13, 2012, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., Hurlburt 248 (Combo Room), the Environmental Center will sponsor a talk by Mr. Stephen Vetter, Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.  The focus will be on the environment (specifically water) as a factor in international development and poverty alleviation efforts.  Mr. Vetter will also address what you as a volunteer can do.  All are welcome.

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Occupy RU meeting

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Bill

Occupy RU is holding its  first public event Friday Feb 17: State of the Nation: Videos and Discussion:   6-8 pm. Heth 014.  The club is showing three short videos.  Discussion after each.  Refreshments served.   All welcome.  The purpose is to increase awareness of justice and peace issues the country is dealing with right now.  These are the Videos for our event on Friday the 17th.

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5kHACjrdEY – Citizens UNited v. FEC; a short video detailing with the system this ruling has created.
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx_LWm6_6tA – Crisis of Credit; 11 min video about the housing bubble, its collapse, and the processes involved.
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9ZqV5RMzTU – TYT U; A short news broadcast on the discussion of what Occupy has done for college students and their participation in activism.

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Alternative spring break ideas

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Bill

Mountain Justice
Mark your calendars to join us by helping others this Spring Break (March 4th-11th) to be part of Radford University’s 2012 Alternative Spring Break Trip.  Applications are now being accepted at:  https://survey.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3Jft9Cd9KMZxDU0.  Priority will be given to those applications received by February 10th.  We will be going to a rural community to far southwest Virginia to work with Mountain Justice in order to meet and support the people working to build a better future for Appalachia while we build our own skills as organizers and change agents.

Build a better future for yourself and others!  Apply for this trip at: https://survey.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3Jft9Cd9KMZxDU0

Astin A. Altenburg (aaltenbur at radford.edu)
Interdisciplinary Studies
Sociology and Special Education Concentrations

Timothy L. Filbert ( tfilbert at radford.edu )
Office of Community Engagement

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Peace Studies club meets Jan 31 @ 4:30

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Bill

An organizing meeting of the new Peace Studies Club will take place on Tuesday, January 31st (tomorrow) at 4:30 pm in Peters Hall, Room A041.

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April 17, 2012 – Global Day of Action on Military Spending

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Bill

On April 17, 2012, people all over the world will join together for the second Global Day of Action on Military Spending. We urge you to join us!

The economic crisis has put pressure on the world’s governments to reduce spending on critical human needs: confronting climate change, battling deadly diseases, achieving the MDGs. But most national governments continue to waste enormous resources on the military…$1,630 billion per year – and rising. If spent differently, this money would go a long way to resolving the real challenges facing our planet. For more information see this  Call for Participation (PDF):

Regional perspectives:     Jan. 20 column in Roanoke Times about military spending 

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Classroom Wars

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Bill

Dwight Simon, a middle-school history teacher, reflects on the seductive stories of mankind’s battles.

As a teacher of history, as a teacher of wars, imagine the knotting of  stomach and tightening of chest that occurred when I encountered, seven years late, Drew Gilpin Faust’s article ‘“We should grow too fond of it’: why we love the Civil War.” Faust writes:

War is, by its very definition, a story. War imposes an orderly narrative on what without its definition of purpose and structure would be simply violence. We as writers create that story; we remember that story; we provide the narrative that by its very existence defines war’s purpose and meaning. We love war because of these stories. But we should ask ourselves how in the construction of war’s stories we may be helping to construct war itself.  (Faust, Drew Gilpin, “We Should Grow Too Fond of It”: Why We Love the Civil WarCivil War History – Volume 50, Number 4, December 2004, pp. 368-383).

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Peace video from Governor’s School, summer 2011

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Bill

[youtube="http://youtu.be/KFFmxLknb2M"]

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