The theme of the conference is “Peace in practice: What does it look like when our theories become action?”

“Lisa’s example of聽field work with local, international, and systems-based conflicts is inspirational for college students,” says Christine Baer, a conference co-organizer and a senior and major.

Schirch and other speakers will focus on building peace at all levels, from local to international, and integrating this work into art and other forms of community engagement.

91短视频 Lisa Schirch

In her role at the Alliance for Peacebuildling, Schirch connects policymakers with global civil society networks, facilitates civil-military dialogue, and provides a conflict prevention and peacebuilding lens on current policy issues.

Schirch is also a research professor at .

She has conducted conflict assessments and participated in peacebuilding planning alongside local colleagues in more than 20 countries, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Kenya, Ghana, and Fiji.

Schirch works primarily with small local NGOs and civil society organizations. Schirch also has worked as a consultant on conflict assessment and peacebuilding planning for large entities, such as the , the World Bank, several branches of the U.S. government, the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, and many other international organizations.

She holds a BA in international relations from the University of Waterloo in Canada and an MS and a PhD in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University.

Drama that entertains and informs

“I’d Like to Buy an Enemy” will be performed by on Friday, Jan. 31, at 8 p.m., in the MainStage Theater in University Commons.

The play, starring Ted Swartz, MDiv ’92, and Tim Ruebke MA ’99 (), allows audiences to laugh at themselves while raising important questions about the place of the United States in the world, confronting the fear that is such a large part of contemporary culture, and exploring ways to honestly work for peace and justice in this country.

Tickets are $8 for general audience and $5 for 91短视频 faculty and staff. 91短视频 students and conference attendees are free, if they show their identifications.

Ted and Company will also host university chapel on Friday at 10 a.m.

Organizers

The Intercollegiate Peace Fellowship Conference is sponsored and organized by , a student organization that organizes campus-wide activities, regular space to share meals and discussions, and special speakers to spark meaningful dialogue. For more information about the conference or Peace Fellowship, contact the applied social sciences department.

Conference details

The program will open on Friday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., and end on Sunday, Feb. 2, at 1 p.m. Participating schools include Bluffton University in Ohio; Conrad Grebel College in Canada; Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania; Goshen College in Indiana; Hesston College in Kansas; and Messiah College in Pennsylvania.

Workshops will be offered on a wide range of topics, including 鈥淎 Subversive Shalom: Enacting Radical Peace” with and ; “Home Front: the Untold History of Radical Veteran Peacemaking” with ; and “: Promoting Personal Growth and Community Well-Being” with Philip Fisher Rhodes and Ron Copeland.

Other topics to be covered range from “The Relationship Between Islam and Peace” and “Restorative Justice in Our Schools” to “Arts, Theater, and Peacebuilding.”

Most sessions will be held in of the seminary building and seminary classrooms.

Creating connections

“We expect this conference to be a time of sharing stories and experiences at all levels, with many practical applications of peacebuilding,” said Krista Nyce, an 91短视频 senior major and conference co-organizer. “We have heard a lot in the classroom about theories and have debated concepts; thus we hope this can be a time to build on those with realistic accounts of speakers鈥� varied involvements from local organizations to experiences of national organizing, from art to restorative justice to education.”

and a is available . is also available.

For more information on the conference visit or email: emupeacefellowship@gmail.com.

The one-night interactive event blends laughter and thoughtful dialogue and “peace pies.” The evening includes a hand-crafted pie auction where 100 percent of pie sales will go toward the support of local peace and reconciliation work.

Ticket prices are $12, $10 for students and seniors (60+), and children ages 6 and under are free. Proceeds from ticket sales will benefit the and the .

The tour kicked off in spring 2012 with six shows across eastern Pennsylvania and the Midwest, surpassing expectations of organizers. Volunteers donated almost 300 pies and the total amount raised for peace exceeded $30,000.

Peace, Pies and Prophets unpacks issues of justice and through humorous and poignant storytelling. It gives participants an opportunity to engage in the ongoing story of God鈥檚 restorative work in our world and our neighborhood – speaking across denominations, generations and backgrounds, for people who aim to be the change we seek, according to the Ted & Company website.

A and a is available on the Ted & Company website. Contact Center for Interfaith Engagement at 540-432-4674 or email gretchen.maust@emu.edu for more information.

PARKING ALERT: Parking on campus will be extremely limited this night due to a local public high school graduation ceremony in the University Commons. Please find a spot in any lot on campus (you will not be ticketed for illegal parking). We trust your walk to the building will be well worth the effort!

The play, starring Ted Swartz and Tim Ruebke, allows audiences to laugh at themselves while raising important questions about the place of the U.S. in the world, confronting the fear that is such a large part of contemporary culture and exploring ways to honestly work for peace and justice in this country 鈥� and just maybe in the larger world!

Sketches include: “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy,” “Why Can’t I Get My Money Back?”, 鈥淭he Reptilian Brain Speaks: We鈥檙e late! We鈥檙e late 鈥� are we late?” and 鈥淵ou Started it! 鈥� a treatise on the cycles of violence.鈥�

Tim Ruebke will lead a discussion following the play.

Ted Swartz is a writer and actor who has been mucking around in the worlds of the sacred and profane for over 20 years. He is the creator or co-creator of over a dozen plays, including “FishEyes,” “Creation Chronicles,” “DoveTale,” “What Would Lloyd Do?” with Trent Wagler, “Tattered and Worn” and” Just Give 鈥楨m the News” with Jeff Raught, “I鈥檇 Like to Buy an Enemy,” “Excellent Trouble” with Ingrid de Sanctis, “Live at Jacob鈥檚 Ladder” and others. Ted is a theologian of a different sort. Both theater and seminary trained, he has found a unique, and entertaining, discovery: at the intersection of humor and biblical story is often a greater understanding of the text. Or, at the very least, a different understanding.

Tim Ruebke is executive director of the Fairfield Center in Harrisonburg. Since 1992, he has extensive experience mediating and facilitating general community, family, workplace, group/multi-party, and criminal circumstances. He is certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia as a mentor mediator and trainer and has been an adjunct faculty member for James Madison University and 91短视频. He earned a BA degree in social work and an MA degree in conflict transformation from 91短视频.

Admission is $10at the door.聽 For more information, contact the SPI office at 540-432-4653.

For more information on Ted & Company, contact: agent@tedandcompany.com or call 540-421-1716.

Ted Swartz (l.) and Trent Wagler in a scene from Ted & Company TheaterWorks’ original play, “I’d Like to Buy An Enemy.”

The play, starring Ted Swartz, Trent Wagler and Peter Nelson with original music by Wagler, is both hilarious and poignant. It allows us to laugh at ourselves while raising important questions about the place of the U.S. in the world, why fear is such a large part of our culture and asks the question: How can we honestly work for peace and justice in this country … and just maybe in the world?

Sketches include: “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy,” “Why Can’t I Get My Money Back?”, “The Reptilian Brain Speaks: We’re late! We’re late … are we late?” and “You Started it! – a treatise on the cycles of violence.”

CJP representatives will lead a discussion after the play.

Ted Swartz lives in Harrisonburg when he’s not on the road presenting workshops, sermons, solo shows or performing with the variety of actors that make up Ted & Company TheaterWorks. Perhaps most well-known for finding the humor and humanity in biblical stories (“Fish-Eyes,” “Creation Chronicles” and “DoveTale”), created with Lee Eshleman during their 20-year partnership, Swartz has recently begun creating plays about peace and justice (“I’d Like to Buy an Enemy”), the meaning of church and faith (“What Would Lloyd Do?”) and acting with Ingrid De Sanctis, Trent Wagler, Jeff Raught and others.

Trent Wagler is a freelance actor and musician from Harrisonburg. He has recorded four full-length albums and toured across the country with his band, The Steel Wheels and in duo performances with Jay Lapp. Wagler has played the role of Gabriel in Ted & Lee’s “DoveTale” show and worked with Swartz to create “What Would Lloyd Do?” and “I’d Like to Buy an Enemy.”

Pete Nelson is a 2008 graduate of 91短视频.

Tickets are available at the door only (no advance tickets will be sold) for $12/adults; $6/students. Call 540-574-4877 for more information.

For those who’ve asked, “What Would Lloyd Do?”, some possible answers to this not-so-rhetorical question are provided in a new play with music written by and starring Ted Swartz and Trent Wagler, that will premiere homecoming and parents weekend.

In the two-act, 90-minute play, a struggling inner-city church recruits a new pastor, Mike (Swartz), and music director, Jeff (Wagler). Coming from different generations, the two discover conflict and commonality – well, some commonality.

As their relationship grows, they wrestle with issues of doubt, disappointment and hope. On top of all this, they take over a tired radio show that must be broadcast each Sunday morning.

The cast includes special guest artist Jay Lapp from Goshen, Ind., and Wagler’s band, The Steel Wheels, along with local acappella groups Shekinah and Sons of the Day.

“The play has great original music and lots of humor as it examines important themes for life and the church,” Swartz noted. The director is Ingrid De Sanctis, who has worked previously with Swartz and the late Lee Eshleman (Ted & Lee). She has rejoined the theater department at 91短视频 and also teaches part time at James Madison University.

Ted Swartz

Swartz has been experimenting with the intersection of humor and faith ever since his seminary days – when he thought his search would lead to a pastorate. Instead, his journey led him to creating and performing dramatic plays that tell the biblical story for more than one quarter million people across the U.S. and into Canada, Kenya and Japan.

The first 20 years of this work included the creation of Ted & Lee TheaterWorks with Lee Eshleman and development of plays such as “Armadillo Shorts,” “Fish-Eyes,” “Creation Chronicles,” “Live at Jacob’s Ladder” and “DoveTale” (with Ingrid De Sanctis).

Ingrid De Sanctis

De Sanctis is a freelance director, actor and playwright. She spent four years as an associate director of drama at Willow Creek Community Church, creating, performing and directing. In 2006-07, she served with AmeriCorps in Apopka, Fla., using the arts to empower young Hispanic students and their families.

De Sanctis has created edgy, challenging plays on such topics as refugees in the Balkans (“Torba”), survivors of violent crime (“A Body in Motion”) and stories of faith created with inner city youth (“WhaChaGonnaDu?”).

Trent Wagler

Wagler, a freelance actor and musician, has recorded three full-length albums and a DVD and has toured extensively with his band, Trent Wagler and the Steel Wheels or in duo performances with Jay Lapp. His studies in theater and justice, peace and conflict studies took him to Palestine where he taught English, theater and music in a secondary school in the Gaza Strip.

Wagler currently works at a Sexual Assault Crisis Center in Harrisonburg, where he integrates theater and music into the education and prevention programming of The Collins Center.

Swartz, Wagler and De Sanctis are all theater graduates of 91短视频.

“What Would Lloyd Do?” will be presented 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10-11, in 91短视频’s Lehman Auditorium. Persons do not have to attend homecoming weekend activities to see the play.

Tickets are $7.50 for adults and $5 for students and are available in advance at Red Front Super Market and at the door.