LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Campus organizers want people to give peace a chance and are marking the United Nations’ International Day of Peace with a Sept. 21 free, public Showcase of Peace, Justice and Sustainability Initiatives at the University of Louisville.
The Belknap Campus activities will run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., primarily in Ekstrom Library and the Quadrangle outside the library; the showcase leads off the campus Week Without Violence observance.
The day’s events are intended to inform people about ongoing efforts to develop a UofL certificate program in peace, justice and conflict transformation – including more than 150 classes offered now in 16 academic areas – and about other options such as a Liberal Studies concentration in peace studies, a minor in social change and the Louisville IDEALS sport-related program. Other activities will highlight peace-related community groups and campus service programs ranging from the Sustainability Council to the Cultural Center.
The event schedule includes:
—Information tables for community groups and student organizations working for peace, justice and sustainability issues, Quad, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
—Student Collin Sage filming interviews for his documentary “Peace Cam” around Ekstrom Library, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
—Drum circle march led by the Percussive Arts Club from the School of Music to Ekstrom Library, 10:50 a.m.
—Presentations on academic and other campus programs related to peace studies, along with entertainment by spoken-word artist Gary Brice and the showing of a segment of the “Peace One Day” documentary, Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
—Panel on peace and violence in Guatemala, organized in conjunction with the annual Latin American Film Festival, Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, 1:30 p.m. (There also will be a 4 p.m. screening of “The Other House,” a film in Spanish with English subtitles, at the Cultural Center.)
—“Peace Postcards: A Public Art Project,” discussion by activist and Louisville attorney Allan Weiss, Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library, 3 p.m. Students and other audience members will be encouraged to create their own art-filled postcards expressing their vision of peace. More than 7,500 postcards from all over the world have been sent to Weiss, and many of them will be displayed outside the auditorium and on the first floor.
—Opening reception for “Nazi Persecutions of Homosexuals 1933-1945,” a traveling exhibit from the U.S. Holocaust Museum, first-floor study room, Ekstrom Library, 7 p.m.
—Downtown showing of the documentary “Peace One Day,” 7 p.m., and panel discussion, 8:30 p.m., Muhammad Ali Center, 114 N. Sixth St.
For more information about the event or UofL peace-related studies, contact Russ Vandenbroucke at 502-852-8448 or r.vandenbroucke@louisville.edu or check the schedule at louisville.edu/artsandsciences/events/peace-justice-and-conflict-transformation-program.ics