After two years in the making, CJP’s 25+1 Anniversary is in the history books. Read on for a quick overview of presenters and their topics. Then visit www.emu.edu/cjp/anniversary to view the recordings and full biographies.
Two special events highlighted CJP’s past and helped us look ahead to the future.
CELEBRATE AND REFLECT: Oral history/storytelling with CJP’s influential contributors. A delightful collection of informal interviews focus on key moments and themes in CJP鈥檚 history:
- Approval of CJP’s Program (1:20) with Anne Hershberger and Vernon Jantzi (starting at 1:20)
- Development of the Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR) and Women鈥檚 Peacebuilding Leadership Program (WPLP) with Jan Jenner and Carolyn Yoder (10:41)
- Village STAR, with Elaine Zook Barge and Vernon Jantzi (21:22)
- Iraq UNDP Project, 2015-16, with Daryl Byler and Alma Jadallah (31:12)
- Peacebuilding as a fad?, with Anne Graber Hershberger and Vernon Jantzi (45:44)
- Joy and Grief, with Janelle Myers-Benner and Margaret Foth (50:38)
- A Visit with CJP’s First Student, with Jim Hershberger and Vernon Jantzi (1:03:20)
- Fulbright Scholars and Little Books, with Howard Zehr and Ruth Zimmerman (1:10:36)
- Live Q and A hosted by Patience Kamau (1:18:19)
CELEBRATE, REFLECT AND DREAM: Where does CJP go from here?
The closing ceremony included a multitude of voices joining together. Highlights include:
- Welcome with Jayne Docherty, executive director, followed by a loving kindness meditation with Monti Datta (through 14:30)
- Reflections on major landmarks of recent years, including past welcoming of and departures of faculty and staff members, the development of two new degree programs, the MA in restorative justice and the MA in transformational leadership programs, and core values that remain as guidestars to the future (14:30-45:04)
- A art activity inviting reflection on the “Dream” theme: what does the journey of fully standing for justice look like? (45:04-52:00, small group sharing follows, not recorded).
- Conclusion (56:43).
Session Presenters
listed alphabetically
Talibah Aquil, CJP alumna and adjunct faculty, shares her journey of self-discovery and healing in a multidisciplinary artistic presentation of poetry, music, dance and video. Her performance resonates richly with themes of identity formation and identity, story, history and legacy. Read more about Aquil’s journey in this Peacebuilder coverage.
sujatha baliga, senior fellow at ImpactJustice, reflects on various perspectives of peacebuilders and others working for change in a session titled 鈥淎re we climbing the same mountain? Journeying to collective liberation.” Listen to learn more of her life journey and a perspective on the question of 鈥渞eform versus revolution.” baliga comes to and into her current work guided by the principles of restorative justice. She has been a Just Beginning Collaborative Fellow, a MacArthur Fellow and a Soros Justice Fellow, among other recognitions.
Alicia Garza, principal, Black Futures Lab, shares lessons she鈥檚 learned from nearly two decades of organizing. Read more highlights of her keynote in this 91短视频 News coverage.
John Paul Lederach, co-founder and the first director of CJP, reflects on three unique 鈥渢hreads鈥� he sees as generating out of CJP and across the work of peacebuilding in the past 25 years: the proximity to practice, the attentiveness to personal and systemic awareness as vehicles for change, and the noticing and nurturing of our mutual humanity.
Sonya Shah explores 鈥淗ow do we walk our talk? Exploring restorative organizational practices鈥� through her journey with The Ahimsa Collective. First developed by Shah as a project in 2016 and now formalized as an organization, the collective responds to harm in ways that foster wholeness for all. Shah explores organizational models, including the 鈥渓iving organism鈥� model, as well as structures that impede progress, developing relationships towards inclusion and collaboration, the development of a guiding ethos, her specific lens, experiences and perspectives of her leadership style, decision-making and more.