The conference is hosted by the (PJSA), dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice and social听change.

“PJSA is an important bi-national alliance for peacebuilding research, scholarship, training and activism,鈥� says , executive director of 贰惭鲍鈥檚 . 鈥淚t is a great honor that so many CJP and 91短视频 faculty, staff and graduates will be featured in prominent conference roles this year, and allows a rare opportunity to highlight our distinctive contributions to the peacebuilding field.”

Those 鈥渄istinctive contributions鈥� include both conceptual and practical dimensions to the fields of , , , peace and justice studies pedagogy and the pedagogy of practice within the field, experiential education, reflective pedagogy and the arts and peacebuilding.

Catherine Barnes offers keynote address

Dr. Catherine Barnes, affiliate professor at CJP, will share from more than 30 years of experience working with deliberative dialogue processes in places as varied as the UN General Assembly Hall to village gathering places. Her address is titled 鈥淓ngaging together: exploring deliberative dialogue as a path towards systemic transformation.鈥�

鈥淒eliberative dialogue鈥� is a process that can empower participants to foster collaborative relationships and perceive the underlying mental models that maintain the status quo with the goal of fostering new approaches to complex challenges.

For the past seven years, Barnes has been working in support of transitional processes in Burma/Myanmar. She has worked and lived in more than 30 countries as a teacher, trainer, researcher, policy advocate and consultant with the focus of helping civil society activists, diplomats and politicians, and armed groups to build their capacities for preventing violence and using conflict as an opportunity for addressing the underlying causes giving rise to grievance. Barnes has worked with numerous peacebuilding and human rights organizations, including Conciliation Resources and Minority Rights Group International.

Focusing on education

贰惭鲍鈥檚 on peace and justice guides its educators, many of whom are sharing their pedagogical practices and discussing ways to educate future peacebuilders in the 鈥渆ducator鈥檚 strand,鈥� designed for personal and professional development of K-12 teachers, undergraduate and community educators. Themes include pedagogy, curriculum development, building a culture of peace in your classroom or school, alternative education programs, and restorative听practices.

On the undergraduate level, professor , who leads the in the department of applied social sciences, leads a roundtable discussion for faculty and administrators of peace and justice studies programs.

, the with CJP鈥檚 , joins professor and graduate students in a session on mentoring student peacebuilders and the importance of those mentors being experienced practitioners themselves.

Restorative practices are highlighted by professors and in a 鈥渞elational justice鈥� workshop on how mindful teachers can prepare and prime 鈥渢heir best selves鈥� in preparation for inviting students into models of restorative justice. Mullet also joins , professor of education at Bridgewater College, for a workshop on relational literacy in multicultural K-12 classrooms.

Cheree Hammond, professor of counseling, leads educators in a workshop on contemplative pedagogies and the cultivation of a just and peaceful self.

Restorative justice, trauma healing, playback theater featured

The conference offers an opportunity to highlight 贰惭鲍鈥檚 unique peacebuilding initiatives. The brings together practitioners from 91短视频 and JMU, as well as local law enforcement. Collaborators in the initiative will speak: , co-director of the; education professor ; Harrisonburg Police Department lieutenant Kurt Boshart; , restorative justice coordinator at the ; and , director of JMU鈥檚 Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices.

Another definitive CJP program, (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience), will be introduced in a workshop by professor and program director .

troupe co-founders and lead a workshop on playback theater as qualitative research. Vogel is a professor of theater; Foster instructs in the applied social sciences department and with CJP. The applied theater method invites dialogue and healing through community-building, as audience members share stories and watch as they are 鈥減layed back鈥� on the stage. Among other settings, Inside Out has performed on campus with college students returning from cross-culturals, among international peacebuilders and in workshops for and research about trauma and sexual abuse survivors.

, professor of applied social sciences, speaks about social capital networks as forms of resistance among battered undocumented Latinas, sharing just one strand of a .

, assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding, leads a discussion on the film 鈥淰ision is Our Power,鈥� a film about black youth ending violence in all its forms. The documentary was created by four young filmmakers participating in a multi-year arts and leadership Vision to Peace Project led by Turner; the film debuted in 2008 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

And more鈥�

, professor of English, presents on life narratives and identity issues in the Balkans with his wife Daria, a CJP graduate who teaches in the counseling department at JMU. The two lived and taught in the Balkans.

, professor of philosophy and theology, explores the recent work in philosophy and science on theory of emotion.

, a new faculty member coming to 91短视频 next semester after concluding his PhD research at American University, participates several panels, with a diversity of topics including transnational solidarity and police brutality and racism in the contested areas of Palestine and Ferguson, Missouri. Seidel is a board member of PJSA.

Among the alumni presenting: Vesna Hart, Sue Praill and Tom Brenneman join a panel discussion on justice and the nature of human nature. Ted Swartz presents the satire with Tim Ruebke and JMU professor of theater Ingrid DeSanctis.

View the . Registration听fees will be covered for attendees听from the Shenandoah Valley who are affiliated with or sponsored by Bridgewater College, James Madison University, 91短视频, or Mary Baldwin College. For more information, click .

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine a better first case,鈥� said , the facilitator who led the meeting between the two men. 鈥淭his person could have been charged with a felony.鈥�

Instead , the offender and his employer were able to speak frankly about their needs, agree on a restitution plan and reconcile the matter in a mutually beneficial way outside of the criminal justice system.

The new program, the first of its kind in Virginia and more than two years in the creation, was announced at a press conference today [March 19, 2015] in Harrisonburg. Emphasizing the collaborative partnership, HPD Chief Stephen Monticelli stood alongside members of the steering committee, including representatives of local law practices and the Commonwealth’s attorney, the , and restorative justice practitioners from 91短视频 (91短视频) and James Madison University (JMU).

Among those endorsing the program and expressing support were Marsha Garst, Rockingham County Commonwealth’s attorney, 91短视频 president Loren Swartendruber and JMU president Jonathan Alger.

Garst, who spoke of her reputation for being “hard” on crime, said that restorative justice should not be misinterpreted as being “soft on crime.” The victim-offender meeting is a difficult and emotionally challenging task for both parties, she added, but the process offers the offender the possibility of moving back into a positive role in our community.

鈥淲e kind of get to the point where we believe that the criminal justice system is the only thing that鈥檚 going to work,鈥� said HPD Lt. Kurt Boshart, a 26-year veteran of the force who led the initiative from within his department. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exciting to see where this program could go. I can foresee it catching on pretty quickly.鈥�

Backed by veteran officer

The idea began several years ago, when Sue Praill with the Fairfield Center first proposed it to the HPD. Praill directs restorative justice services at the Harrisonburg nonprofit, which has been offering them in the community for nearly 20 years.

Eventually, a broader advisory group began meeting with Boshart to plan the program in more detail. In addition to Praill, the group included Fairfield Center Executive Director Tim Ruebke and Bacon 鈥� an associate dean of students at James Madison University who has overseen wide implementation of restorative justice practices on that campus. Also participating have been , co-director of the at 贰惭鲍鈥檚 (from which Praill and Ruebke hold master鈥檚 degrees, and where Bacon has also taken graduate-level coursework) as well as defense attorneys, a representative from local prosecutor鈥檚 office and other community representatives

鈥淚t鈥檚 been exciting to have partners from the police department who are so committed to [the program],鈥� said Praill.

More effective, affordable possibility

While change can be a slow process within the protocol-bound world of law enforcement, Boshart said reaction to the new program within the HPD has been generally positive. So far, five officers have taken a restorative justice training. By this summer, he hopes that most or all of the department鈥檚 94 sworn officers will be trained to identify specific crimes or conflicts that might be best handled through a restorative approach that focuses on victims鈥� needs and holds offenders accountable to meeting them.

One of the larger challenges facing the new program is communicating the fact that restorative justice emphasizes offender accountability, and isn鈥檛 simply a get-off-easy approach to criminal justice. Boshart said that as people learn more about restorative justice concepts, they understand how it can offer police more effective and affordable ways of dealing with some crimes than the traditional criminal justice system.

鈥淔or us to turn our head from that is a disservice to our community,鈥� he said.

While the program remains a work in progress, its broad parameters have been established by the advisory group. After police officers refer cases, a committee from the advisory group will screen them to ensure they鈥檙e appropriate for the program. Depending on a case鈥檚 specifics, facilitation would be handled either by the Fairfield Center or staff from Bacon鈥檚 office at James Madison University.

One of the main benefits of restorative justice is the way in which it humanizes both victim and offender, giving each a better understanding of how and why one hurt the other. Praill points out that under the new HPD program, officers who refer cases for restorative justice will participate in the group conference and benefit from this humanizing process as well.

鈥淣obody calls the police and says, 鈥楬ey, we鈥檙e having a great time,鈥欌�� said Boshart.

Improved relationships for all

Instead, officers generally show up when things have gone wrong and often interact with people during their not-finest moments. By being a part of the restorative justice conference, he hopes officers will be able to see these same people in better light. At the same time, people whose interactions with law enforcement are often negative will have new opportunity to develop better relationships with police officers.

For now, these conferences will be led on a volunteer basis by trained facilitators like Bacon, Praill or others from 91短视频. If the caseload grows beyond volunteers鈥� capacities, the program may need to find new sources of funding. At this point, however, all involved are concentrating on laying the foundation for a successful, sustainable program.

鈥淧art of the idea is to go slowly enough that the program is organic to this area, and so that there鈥檚 confidence in the community that this is a good program,鈥� said Ruebke.

As that happens, and as the caseload grows, figuring out funding 鈥渃an be a good problem to have later,鈥� added Boshart.

Off to good start

Later will come later; for now, the new program is off to a remarkable start. During the conference for the first case, the offender told the employer he鈥檇 stolen from about the desperate circumstances in his life that had encouraged him to steal.

The employer, in turn, talked about how he鈥檇 once found himself in a very similar situation. After he committed a similar crime, though, there wasn鈥檛 this sort of alternative. He was convicted of a felony, served time in jail, and after getting his life back in order, didn鈥檛 want his employee going down the same path. They agreed on a plan for restitution. The employee was paired with a mentor. The employer volunteered to become a mentor for someone else in the community.

鈥淭his process allowed for the victim and the perpetrator to come together and tell their stories, said Bacon. 鈥淣one of this it would have happened if it just went through the normal criminal process. I was just blown away 鈥� It鈥檚 why I love doing restorative justice.鈥� In his opening remarks at the press conference, Bacon credited 91短视频’s 鈥� who is known internationally as the “grandfather of restorative justice” (and who will be honored at a ) 鈥� for mentoring Bacon when he took courses at 91短视频 and began implementing restorative justice practices at JMU.

Organizers, including CJP founding director John Paul听Lederach, sociology professor Vernon Jantzi, and 贬颈锄办颈补蝉听Assefa, a mediator in conflicts around the world, invited friends and colleagues to talk and think about the cutting edges of practice and theory in international peace work. Some uncertainty surrounded the launch of CJP itself, Jantzi recalls, and the organizers of the Frontiers conference didn鈥檛 have any particular plans to make it an annual event.

And they surely didn鈥檛 imagine that 20 years later it would be thriving, would have brought 2,800 people from 121 countries to 贰惭鲍鈥檚 campus and would have directly inspired the creation of at least 10 other short-term peacebuilding institutes in Africa, Asia, the South Pacific and North America. Nor could Lederach, Jantzi and Assefa have imagined that they would remain involved to varying degrees ever since, though Assefa is the only one has taught every year at the summer institute.

鈥淭here was so much energy generated,鈥� Jantzi recalls, of the first conference. 鈥淧eople were so eager to share their experiences.鈥�

Participants found that simply being together at a week-long peacebuilding conference was tremendously beneficial and inspiring for their work, and the response was enthusiastic. During the following academic year, CJP received its accreditation, had three students in the master鈥檚 program and admitted a dozen more to begin in the fall of 1995, and had hired its first full-time administrative staff member, Ruth Zimmerman. Things were heading in a good direction, and CJP organized a second Frontiers in International Peacebuilding conference in the summer of 1995.

Conference becomes 鈥淪PI鈥�

For its third year, CJP gave its one-week peacebuilding conference a new name: the Summer Peacebuilding Institute, or SPI. Word was spreading, interest was growing, and SPI was about to begin growing quickly in size, scope and length. By 2002, SPI attracted around 150 participants from about 50 countries and offered 20 classes over a two-month period.

One of the major early emphases at SPI 鈥� and CJP more generally 鈥� was grounding the academic curriculum and classroom instruction in practical, on-the-ground application of peacebuilding and conflict resolution. Early in SPI鈥檚 history, outside funders helped bring participants from different sides of several major conflicts around the world, including groups of Catholics and Protestants from Northern Ireland and members of the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups from Rwanda and Burundi.

This created a rich and challenging environment at SPI, adding a heavy dose of real-life experience from difficult, violent conflicts 鈥� sometimes involving opposing sides of the same conflict 鈥� to complement the theory-based aspects of the curriculum.

鈥淚n the classroom, that was pretty powerful,鈥� says Tim Ruebke, who attended four years of SPI before earning his master鈥檚 degree from CJP in 1999.

Rich experiences outside classroom

Many report that the most powerful moments at SPI, though, occurred during informal, social times away from the classroom. Ruebke recalls an evening gathering at a home in Harrisonburg where participants from Northern Ireland shared stories, songs and dancing with each other and the rest of their classmates.

While the daily sessions focus on the cerebral, 鈥渉ead鈥� aspects of peacebuilding, these informal, social times in the evenings get at its emotional 鈥渉eart.鈥� This aspect of SPI, Ruebke says, mirrors the reality of many real-life peace negotiations, where the hard work of compromise, connection and understanding between parties often occurs in relaxed, social settings before being finalized at the formal negotiating table.

鈥淎 lot of stuff that happens here is informal and relational,鈥� says Jantzi. 鈥淲e think it鈥檚 very significant.鈥�

And as SPI participants often discover, the emotional aspects of peacebuilding aren鈥檛 always happy times of singing and dancing. One of the early SPI sessions included visitors from the former Soviet republic of Georgia as well as Abkhazia, a disputed region within Georgia over which a civil war was fought in the 1990s. One evening, an SPI professor had planned a discussion about this conflict and began by displaying a map of the region.

Ruebke was in the audience, and remembers that one of the parties was upset in some way by what was (or perhaps, what wasn鈥檛) portrayed on the map. This immediately and badly derailed the session, and by the time things had been patched up and discussion about the conflict was able to proceed, the importance of the 鈥渇elt鈥� aspect of peacebuilding had been brought home to Ruebke in a memorable way.

鈥淓ven though we were a peacebuilding program, people brought their stuff with them,鈥� remembers Ruth Zimmerman, who says that these sorts of conflicts would periodically flare up between participants. 鈥淲e had a great learning ground for using some of those [conflict resolution] skill sets over the years.鈥�

At the very beginning, the Frontiers in International Peacebuilding conferences and SPI were simply opportunities for professional development and learning. Before long, however, participants and graduate students in CJP began lobbying for an academic credit component to SPI. Though hesitant to accept the constraints of a pre-planned curriculum, CJP added a credit component to provide students with more flexibility in earning degrees through the program.

Some core courses have been offered year after year, including ones dealing with conflict analysis, restorative justice and trauma healing, and others that focus on practical peacebuilding skills like negotiation and reconciliation. Yet SPI stays true to its roots by exploring the field鈥檚 frontiers and updating its course offerings to reflect emerging themes in peacebuilding. Examples of new courses in 2014 include ones on media and societal transformation, playback theater, trauma-sensitive peacebuilding, mindfulness, and architecture as a peacebuilding tool.

Things ran on the skinniest of shoestring budgets in the very first years of SPI, when CJP professors opened their homes to participants after the day鈥檚 sessions had ended, while their spouses pitched in to help with meals. Volunteers filled many support roles. This contributed to the organic, intimate atmosphere that remains an important aspect of SPI to this day. But it was an exhausting and, in the long run, unsustainable way to run the event that itself led to conflicts between overworked staff members.

鈥淚t was so much work,鈥� recalls Zimmerman, who filled leadership roles at CJP from 1995 to 2007. 鈥淚 used to put in 70-hour weeks.鈥�

Huge logistics behind SPI

In addition to planning courses and lining up faculty to teach them, coordinating the many moving parts of the growing SPI program presented huge logistical challenges. Once, a participant booked a flight to the Dallas, Texas, airport rather than Washington, D.C.鈥檚 Dulles Airport. Another one hopped in a taxi and directed the driver to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 185 miles north of Harrisonburg, Virginia.

In 1998, just after she became one of CJP鈥檚 earliest master鈥檚 program graduates, Pat Hostetter Martin (also a participant in the very first Frontiers in International Peacemaking conference) joined SPI to help relieve the growing crisis of stress and exhaustion the workload was placing on other staff. The following year, Martin became SPI鈥檚 co-director with Patricia Spaulding, and then sole director from 2004 until 2008.

In 2000, William Goldberg 鈥� a 2001 master鈥檚 program graduate of CJP 鈥� joined the SPI staff as the transportation coordinator. He later served as an associate director, co-director and, as of 2013, the director of SPI, which now has two full-time staff members and employs about 10 temporary staff each summer. (Other SPI leaders: Gloria Rhodes in the 鈥�90s, Sue Williams, 2008-鈥�11; Valerie Helbert, 2011-鈥�13.)

As the first Jewish program administrator at 91短视频, Goldberg embodies one of the ways that SPI has affected 91短视频 as a whole by bringing such wide cultural and religious diversity to campus. From the very first Frontiers in International Peacebuilding conferences, CJP leaders wanted faculty to reflect the religious and cultural diversity of the participants 鈥� a desire at odds with 贰惭鲍鈥檚 requirement that all faculty profess a Christian faith. After some discussion, CJP was able to negotiate exceptions to 贰惭鲍鈥檚 hiring practices and hire non-Christian faculty members during the summer, which Jantzi points to as an example of the strong support SPI has generally enjoyed from university administrators since its beginning.

贰惭鲍鈥檚 hospitable community

Support from the university extended well beyond the administration, remembers Jantzi. Cafeteria staff embraced the opportunity, rather than resented the hassle, of serving participants with a variety of religious and cultural dietary preferences, while the physical plant staff went to great lengths to ensure everyone stayed comfortable during their time on campus. Together, the welcoming atmosphere the entire university created at SPI for visitors from around the world became an important part of its success.

As employees and departments outside of SPI pitched in to help it succeed, SPI also tried to build closer ties to the broader university community by making events like the opening ceremonies and the periodic SPI luncheons open to anyone on campus and in the surrounding community. And when these general open invitations didn鈥檛 attract large audiences, Martin found greater success when she started targeting specific people and departments with invitations and paying for their lunches.

SPI staff have also made similar efforts to share the diversity present on campus each summer with the broader community in and around Harrisonburg. As SPI鈥檚 community relations coordinator for about a decade, Margaret Foth worked to connect participants with families, churches and civic groups in the area. She helped form a particularly strong relationship with the Rotary Club of Rockingham County, which hosts a speaker from SPI each year and has helped underwrite an SPI trip to Washington D.C. A close relationship also developed between SPI and Park View Mennonite Church, just down the road from 91短视频, which has welcomed numerous international visitors in Sunday School classes and as participants in worship services.

鈥淲e wanted [participants] to know that it was an area that was welcoming and hospitable,鈥� says Foth. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 just coming for an academic session. They were coming for relationships in a welcoming community.鈥�

From 2000 to 2010, vanloads of SPI participants made connections farther from campus when they attended a peacebuilding conference held each summer by a group of churches in Knoxville, Tennessee, 360 miles southwest of Harrisonburg. (The minister who organized this conference, Jim Foster, is a graduate of Eastern Mennonite Seminary.) By staying with host families, the visitors enjoyed a more immersive experience in American culture; Foth says she could always count on enthusiastic reviews the following Monday, after participants returned to campus.

One year, a Vietnamese-American lawyer from California made the 12-hour round trip to Knoxville, and ended up staying in the home of a Mennonite pastor who, decades earlier, had fought in the Vietnam War. After they stayed up one night talking about their experience of that conflict, the lawyer returned to SPI and told Foth it had been a moment of great healing.

鈥淚 can still see him running across campus to give me a hug and say it was the best thing to have happened to him,鈥� she recalls.

听

Akin to heaven on earth?

In 2014, a total of 184 people from 36 countries attended SPI 鈥� about the size that SPI has been for the past five years, Goldberg says. As its third decade begins, SPI is as strong and as thriving as ever 鈥� planning for 2015 began before the books had even been closed on this year鈥檚 session.

Those who have been involved with SPI in some way over the past 20 years treasure the many memories and friendships they鈥檝e formed along the way.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 one of the best things that鈥檚 happened for 91短视频,鈥� says Jantzi. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the most exciting things I鈥檝e been involved with here 鈥�. It鈥檚 just a really, really energizing time.鈥�

One year, Jantzi and an Iranian seminary student who came to SPI struck up an intriguing, weeks-long conversation about whether converting other people to their respective religions could be done in a nonviolent, non-coercive way. This man later became a high-ranking diplomat who, years later, returned to the United States as part of an Iranian delegation to the United Nations. He contacted Jantzi and invited himself back to Harrisonburg to give a guest lecture in one of Jantzi鈥檚 sociology classes 鈥� an encouraging indication, Jantzi says, of the high regard this former SPI participant still had for 91短视频.

Goldberg says he鈥檚 often inspired by the great lengths that people will go to so they can attend SPI. In 2014, a group of Syrian participants traveled at least 12 hours each way, through difficult and unsafe conditions, to Lebanon to get their visas to travel to the United States. Then they did it again to catch their flights 鈥� an illustration, he says, of 鈥渢he need that people have for this training.鈥�

And he鈥檚 similarly inspired by the eagerness with which people return to very difficult circumstances in their homes to put that training and learning into practice.

鈥淣o matter how difficult the conflict someone comes from, they want to go back and make it better with the new skills they鈥檝e learned here,鈥� Goldberg says.

More generally, Martin, as well as others interviewed for this story, says one of the most important enduring memories of SPI is 鈥渢he rich diversity of the whole thing. Oftentimes, that came out so well in the opening ceremonies. That just humbled you.

鈥淵ou want heaven to be like this,鈥� she says.

鈥� Andrew Jenner

Ever since, mediation has remained a central focus of the organization. Executive director Tim Ruebke 鈥�92, MA 鈥�99 (), estimates that more than 10,000 cases have been mediated at the Fairfield Center. Thousands of people have been trained to do mediation, seeding conflict-handling skills far and wide in the community.

鈥淥ur mission is to help people interact and listen more effectively 鈥� so that what they鈥檙e facing can be transformed in a positive way,鈥� says Ruebke.

From the very beginning, the center has had close ties to 91短视频. Some of the founding board members 鈥� including Barry Hart, MDiv 鈥�78, Kathryn Fairfield 鈥�70, and David Kreider 鈥�76, MA 鈥�78 (), MA 鈥�09 (conflict transformation) 鈥� first got their heads together after a 1981 conference at 91短视频 on alternatives to incarceration. They were further inspired the following year when Ron Kraybill, then the director of the Mennonite Conciliation Service and later a professor at 贰惭鲍鈥檚 Center for Justice and Peacebuilding from 1995 to 2005, gave a lecture on mediation in Staunton.

When the center opened in 1982, it was the first mediation-focused program in the state. Hart was the center鈥檚 first official director; Sue Hess Yoder 鈥�72 and Margaret Jantzi Foth, class of 鈥�54, also were directors in the late 鈥�80s and early 鈥�90s. Numerous students and alumni have worked, interned or volunteered for the center.

During its first two decades, the Fairfield Center trained and supported many of the other mediation centers that now exist in Virginia. It also began a long-running peer mediator program in local schools and was instrumental 鈥� particularly through the work of founding board member and local attorney Larry Hoover 鈥� in the establishment of a dispute resolution office at the Supreme Court of Virginia. Hoover鈥檚 work also led to the addition of mediation principles to the state bar鈥檚 official code of conduct manual.

To keep up with evolving needs in and around Harrisonburg, and to maintain its financial viability (as worthwhile as they are, mediations alone don鈥檛 generate enough revenue to sustain a thriving organization), the Fairfield Center now offers services in five areas: conflict resolution, restorative justice, training, civic engagement and business services.

Over the past five years, the Fairfield Center has pursued its civic engagement mission by sponsoring about 20 community dialogues around issues like sustainability, intercultural and interfaith relations, and local economies. In the spring of 2013, it sponsored a dialogue on guns and security and hosted a community conversation on mental health. Intended to promote thoughtful, productive discussion among people with differing views on the issues, the recent dialogues have been hosted in partnership with the Kettering Foundation and James Madison University鈥檚 Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue.

鈥淲e see our role in the community as being a place to reclaim good public ways to talk with your neighbors and to create better community,鈥� says Ruebke. 鈥淲herever we can increase listening and improve how people interact with one another around issues, problems and conflicts, we see us having a role.鈥�

Another ongoing initiative, led by Sue Praill, MA 鈥�10 (conflict transformation), the center鈥檚 director of restorative justice, is the development of a restorative justice partnership with the Harrisonburg Police Department. She hopes this will eventually result in local police referring certain types of crimes 鈥� perhaps vandalism or minor theft 鈥� for resolution through a restorative justice process rather than through the legal system.

鈥淲e have a very dynamic task force in place, and we鈥檙e working on getting things started,鈥� says Praill, who has had productive discussions about the idea with the city鈥檚 police chief.

She also leads a 鈥渧ictim sensitization鈥� program at the Harrisonburg Men鈥檚 Diversion Center, a state corrections facility. Many of the men who participate tell Praill after they complete the program, taught in six two-hour sessions, that they have a new understanding of the ways that crimes, even minor ones, hurt victims.

Shannon Sneary 鈥�93 oversees Fairfield鈥檚 training services. These include sessions for people pursuing state certification as mediators (overseen by the very division of the Supreme Court that the center had a role in creating) and other programs designed for organizations and businesses to improve their communications and effectiveness.

One of Sneary鈥檚 current goals is to expand its Spanish-language training program, in the hope of eventually offering more mediation services conducted entirely in Spanish. The Fairfield Center now has one bilingual certified mediator, giving it some ability to mediate for Spanish-speaking clients.

That growing need for Spanish mediation is a reflection of changing demographics in Harrisonburg, now one of the most diverse cities in the state with more than 14% of its residents born in other countries.

International festival

Since 2010, the Fairfield Center has also served as the institutional home of the Harrisonburg International Festival, first held in 1997. The festival鈥檚 co-chair is David Kreider, one of the founders of the Fairfield Center who is again sitting on its board. The 16th annual festival, in the fall of 2013, was the largest ever, with nearly 9,000 people attending.

Kreider notes that the influx of refugees to Harrisonburg has often brought people from opposing sides of conflicts elsewhere in the world. And while the festival鈥檚 primary intention is simply to celebrate the different traditions represented in Harrisonburg, the practices of dialogue, conflict resolution and restorative justice espoused by the Fairfield Center have been important along the way in improving how these different communities coexist in their new home.

鈥淲hile it has been difficult, it has also been very rewarding to feel we have had a part in helping understanding, connection, and healing to begin to happen,鈥� Kreider says 鈥� illustrating one of the ways in which the Fairfield Center鈥檚 original mission is being applied today in Harrisonburg, to situations the organization鈥檚 founders wouldn鈥檛 have anticipated more than 30 years ago.

鈥� Andrew Jenner 鈥�04

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

“Lisa’s example of听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.

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.听 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.