By David J. Smith, October 24, 2015
October 24, 2015 was the second day of the 3rd Annual National Community College Peacebuilding Seminar. The longest day of the program, it included eight presentations and the showing of a film.
The morning started with activist and educator Colman McCarthy sharing his thoughts on peace and peace education. He talked about his experiences teaching in colleges and high schools. He was followed by Dave Ragland from Juniata College who talked about the Truth Telling Project and his efforts to use dialogue to promote peaceful change.
During lunch, Tsenkani Browne from Montgomery College
shared his approaches to teaching about the Confederate Flag. Cindy Epperson then talked about her approaches to encouraging global awareness with her students and teaching about peacebuilding.
Michelle Breslauer of the Institute for Economics and Peace introduced the participants to the Global Peace Index and explored with them ways that it can used to better understand violence.
This was followed by an alumni panel. Al Carroll from Northern Virginia Community College, Karen Davis from Pasco-Hernando State College, and Maria Bryant from the College of Southern Maryland talked about their approaches to teaching peacebuilding.
The day ended with the showing of the film Beneath the Blindfold, which looks at torture, followed by a Skype conversation with co-producer Kathy Berger.
Tomorrow’s program will start a 9 a.m. with a discussion on ways in which community colleges are teaching about peace and conflict.
David J. Smith Consulting, LLC 