2008 Woodie Awards
University promotes education in peace through conflict minor
By: Tim Sampson
Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: Campus
The whole thing may have started with a conversation between a former University President and a faculty member at the site in Hiroshima, Japan where the first atomic bomb was dropped.
The origins of the University's new peace and conflict studies minor and this week's Conference on Media, War and Conflict Resolution designed to celebrate it, can be traced back to a conversation between the minor's original organizer, the late Fuji Kawashima, and former University President, Sidney Ribeau.
"They were at the site of the atomic bomb drop and Dr. Ribeau asked, 'How many classes do we have in war? Now how many classes do we have in peace?'" said associate political science professor Marc Simon, who is in charge of the new minor.
It was that moment, Simon said, when Kawashima garnered serious administrative support for the creation of the peace and conflict minor, which officially began this fall after four years in the making.
And to celebrate the start of the minor, faculty members have organized the conference, which begins today and runs through Friday in order to examine how the media coverage affects war and peace throughout the world.
Highlighted at the conference will be two keynote addresses and a panel discussion held on each successive night in Union 206.
Tonight, journalist and author Richard Rhodes will be presenting a speech entitled, "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World." A host and correspondent of PBS's "Frontline" and "America Experience," Rhodes has written extensively about the development of nuclear weapons, including the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."
Tomorrow night will see a speech from Chris Hedges, an author and journalist who specializes in American and Middle Eastern politics. The author of several books, including "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America," Hedges will be addressing the "illusion of neutrality" in covering war and conflict.
The origins of the University's new peace and conflict studies minor and this week's Conference on Media, War and Conflict Resolution designed to celebrate it, can be traced back to a conversation between the minor's original organizer, the late Fuji Kawashima, and former University President, Sidney Ribeau.
"They were at the site of the atomic bomb drop and Dr. Ribeau asked, 'How many classes do we have in war? Now how many classes do we have in peace?'" said associate political science professor Marc Simon, who is in charge of the new minor.
It was that moment, Simon said, when Kawashima garnered serious administrative support for the creation of the peace and conflict minor, which officially began this fall after four years in the making.
And to celebrate the start of the minor, faculty members have organized the conference, which begins today and runs through Friday in order to examine how the media coverage affects war and peace throughout the world.
Highlighted at the conference will be two keynote addresses and a panel discussion held on each successive night in Union 206.
Tonight, journalist and author Richard Rhodes will be presenting a speech entitled, "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World." A host and correspondent of PBS's "Frontline" and "America Experience," Rhodes has written extensively about the development of nuclear weapons, including the Pulitzer Prize winning "The Making of the Atomic Bomb."
Tomorrow night will see a speech from Chris Hedges, an author and journalist who specializes in American and Middle Eastern politics. The author of several books, including "American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America," Hedges will be addressing the "illusion of neutrality" in covering war and conflict.
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