About the event:

Seventh Annual Barbara L. and Norman C. Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy Forum

Religion, Conflict and Peacemaking

February 20-21, 2013

Following the 9-11 events, the relationship between religion, conflict, and violence became the center of debate among journalists, scholars, politicians, and others. For some time, religion, terrorism, and violence were almost synonymous; if religion could be eradicated, violence would disappear. Such discourse facilitated the need for Western society to rethink its relationship to Islam and the need for Christianity to re-read its past in light of a long history of religious violence.

Another positive, less publicized effect of the post-9/11 discussion emphasizes the role of religion in peacebuilding. Scholars and practitioners are concerned: how can one utilize religious principles as a positive force? How can peacebuilding processes collaborate with religious communities? The University has recently developed two new programs in Religious studies and Peace and Conflict studies and is therefore in an excellent position to address the intricate relationship between Religion and Conflict as well as Religion and Peacemaking. 

Panel Discussion

Officers Club at Fort Douglas
8:00-9:35am: Panel #1: Peace in the Middle East
Moderator:

Hiram Chodosh,S.J. Quinney College of Law

Panelists:

Amos Guiora, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process: A Look Back, A Look Forward

Chibli Mallat, S.J. Quinney College of Law, From Amnesty International to Right to Nonviolence:

a Middle East experience in the Arab Spring

Discussion with Q & A

9:35-9:45am: Break

9:45 – 11:45am: Panel #2: Peacebuilding and Cultural Values
Moderator:

Muriel Schmid, University of Utah

Panelists:

John Carlson, Arizona State University, The American Way of Religion and Violence?

Stacey Horn, University of Illinois, Chicago, Values difference does not always equal conflict:

Emerging adults’ judgments across religious identities

Zeena Zakharia, University of Massachusetts, Boston, Religion, critical praxis,

and peacebuilding: Observations from a Shi'i school in Lebanon

Discussion with Q & A

11:45-12:00pm: Break for lunch

12:00-1:30pm: Religious Intergroup Dialogue Lunch Session

Facilitators: Mark Owens, Chamade; David Derezotes, U of U Social Work

1:30-2:00pm: Break

2:00-4:00pm: Panel #3: Peacebuilding in Practice
Moderator:

Cecilia Wainryb, University of Utah

Panelists:

Laura Bennett Murphy, Westminster College, Contact, Connection, and Community:The role of

religion in healing

Tim Nafziger, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Christian Peacemaker Teams and

Las Pavas: Partnering in nonviolent resistance to displacement

Hiram Chodosh, SJ Quinney College of Law, Mediating Conflict in India

Discussion with Q & A

4:00 –4:10pm: Closing remarks: Thomas Maloney, Director, The Barbara L. and Norman C. Tanner Center for Nonviolent Human Rights Advocacy, The University of Utah

 

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