By Dan Nonte, University Relations
Contact: (336) 334-4314
Posted 9-3-08
GREENSBORO, NC – Dr. Johan Galtung, a pioneer of peace studies, will speak Oct. 17 and lead a two-day workshop on conflict resolution that begins the same day at UNCG.
He will deliver his lecture, “The U.S. in Conflict,” at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17, in Elliott University Center Auditorium. The speech will be prefaced by live music starting at 6 p.m. and followed by a reception. The entire event is free and open to the public.
“Peace appeals to the hearts; studies to the brain,” Galtung has said. “Both are needed, indeed indispensable. But equally indispensable is a valid link between brain and heart. And that, in a nutshell, is what peace studies and peace practice are all about.”
The workshop – $50 for students, $75 for non-students – will explore Galtung’s Transcend method of conflict transformation. Participants will meet 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17 and 18, in Elliott University Center.
The program will explore how to transform conflicts at the personal, group or international level, and is designed to benefit faculty and students from a wide range of disciplines, business leaders, teachers, members of international organizations, journalists, psychologists, family therapists, and social workers. The workshop will be highly interactive with lectures, facilitated discussions and exercises in small groups. Participants are invited to contribute case studies from their own experience.
According to Galtung, conflicts can rarely be “resolved” so that they completely disappear, but they can be transformed from being fought with violent means to being conducted by peaceful means. In that sense, conflicts can have a constructive function in helping bring about desirable change. Galtung’s Transcend approach has been used by a wide variety of regional and multilateral organizations including the United Nations and is a good practical introduction to the field of conflict transformation.
The speech and workshop are sponsored by UNCG’s Conflict Resolution Program. Co-sponsors include the Servant Leadership School of Greensboro and several UNCG units: Lloyd International Honors College, the Department of Communication Studies and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
For more information, contact the Conflict Resolution Program at (336) 217-5100.
