April 6, 2000
“Respect and Social Action” to be the Topic of
Annual Peace Symposium at Middlebury College on April 13-15
Dr. Bernard Lafayette, Former Executive Assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
to Give Talk and Lead Workshop
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—The fifth annual Middlebury College Peace Symposium will take place from Thursday, April 13 through Saturday, April 15. Symposium events—a lecture, workshop, movie screening, and panel discussion—will focus on this year’s topic, “Respect and Social Action.” All events are free and open to the public.
Student organizer Jonathan Reiber said, “The focus of this year’s symposium is to deepen our understanding of the importance of respect and a reverence for life in all relations. This understanding affects how we perceive and treat each other as well as the environment in which we live. The symposium events will also provide participants with a series of systems and practices of ethical social action.”
The Peace Symposium will begin with a lecture titled “Respect” by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, the Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. The talk will take place on Thursday, April 13 at 4:30 p.m. in Mead Chapel on Hepburn Road off College Street (Route 125). For her discussion, Lawrence-Lightfoot will draw on her book by the same name, which addresses issues of respect in human relations. In her book, she tells the story of six people, each embodying a different aspect of respect. Through an exploration of these individuals and the six professions to which they have devoted their lives, she explores six different sides of respectful action?empowerment, healing, dialogue, curiosity, self-respect, and attention. According to Reiber, Lawrence-Lightfoot’s stories and the people she has interviewed convey messages of universal importance to human relations.
The symposium will continue on Friday, April 14, which has been designated by the Gandhi and King Season for Nonviolence as “A Day of Reverence for Life”-a national day of discussion about respect and reverence for life on college campuses across the country.
A lecture and workshop titled “Nonviolence” by Dr. Bernard Lafayette will take place on April 14 from 1-5 p.m. in Ross Lounge in Ross Hall off College Street (Route 125). Lafayette is the co-director of the Gandhi and King Season for Nonviolence and former executive assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His talk will focus on the importance of a reverence for life, and his workshop will teach participants how to practice nonviolence in all human interactions, including community building, environmental response, empowerment, and interfaith dialogue.
Following the workshop, a screening of the video “Respect in the Middlebury Community” will take place at 6:30 p.m. in Room 216 of Bicentennial Hall on Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125). The film was created by Middlebury College student E.J. Cooper in collaboration with several of his fellow students.
At noon on April 15, the final day of the symposium, a luncheon panel discussion titled “Respect and Social Action” will feature Middlebury College professors as panelists, and will take place in the Grand Salon of Le Chateau off College Street (Route 125). No reservations are required for the event, which is open to the public.
For more information, visit the web site http://community.middlebury.edu/~reiber/peace/ or contact symposium organizer Jonathan Reiber at reiber@middlebury.edu or 802-443-4283.
Middlebury College Peace Symposium, “Respect and Social Action,” April 13-15
Thursday, April 13
4:30 p.m. LECTURE: “Respect”
Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, Emily Hargroves Fisher Professor of Education Harvard University Graduate School of Education
Mead Chapel, Hepburn Road off College Street (Route 125)
Friday, April 14
1-5 p.m. LECTURE and WORKSHOP: “Nonviolence”
Dr. Bernard Lafayette, co-director of the Gandhi and King Season for Nonviolence, and former executive assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ross Lounge, Ross Hall off College Street (Route 125)
6:30 p.m. MOVIE SCREENING: “Respect in the Middlebury Community”
A video created by Middlebury College student E.J. Cooper in collaboration with several of his fellow students.
Room 216, Bicentennial Hall, Bicentennial Way off College Street (Route 125)
Saturday, April 15
12 p.m. LUNCHEON and PANEL DISCUSSION: “Respect and Social Action”
Panel of Middlebury College professors
Grand Salon of Le Chateau off College Street (Route 125)
All events, including the panel discussion luncheon, are free and open to the public. No reservations are necessary. For more information, visit the web site http://community.middlebury.edu/~reiber/peace/ or contact symposium organizer Jonathan Reiber at reiber@middlebury.edu or 802-443-4283.