Monthly Archives: March 2013

Peace and Conflict Studies

GunCrisis.org: Seeking Solutions to Gun Violence in Philadelphia with Digital Journalism

A public lecture sponsored by our friends at the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility

“GunCrisis.org: Seeking Solutions to Gun Violence in Philadelphia with Digital Journalism”

Jim_MacMillanTuesday, April 2nd, 2013

4:30-5:30 p.m.

Scheuer Room


Swarthmore College

Maps and Directions


Download a flyer

Jim MacMillan

Former Journalist-in-Residence for War News Radio and Manager of Media and Social Responsibility for the Lang Center, Founder, GunCrisis.org Current Assistant Director for the Center for Public Interest Journalism at Temple University

How do we address the epidemic of homicide by gunfire in America? What is the future and impact of journalism in response to epic changes in information delivery? How can social media be put to use for positive social change? On average, at least one person has been murdered in Philadelphia every day over the last 25 years, and more than three-quarters of them have been killed with a gun.

The Gun Crisis Reporting Project is a non-profit independent journalism organization intended to fill the gaps in gun violence reporting, and to help seek solutions.

Visit: GunCrisis.org.

Sponsored by the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility.

guncrisis_web_3-26-13

Peace and Conflict Studies

How Do We Measure Peace?

Intro PCS students, check out this event next week at U. Penn. since you’ve read the U.S. Global Peace Index report. See the announcement at The Peace Day Philly site.

How Do We Measure Peace?

Thursday, March 28th

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Location: Carriage House/LGBT Center

3907 Spruce St. (Walkway to the Center heads north from Spruce st.)

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC!

How Do We Measure Peace? The Pillars of Peace and the Global Peace Index

While the drivers and impact of violence receive widespread attention, there is comparatively little research on the factors that create and sustain peaceful societies. Michelle Breslauer will present the work of the Institute for Economics and Peace to measure and map national peacefulness and to identify the attitudes, institutions, and structures most closely associated with peace.

To download the Flier for this event, CLICK HERE

This special event is co-sponsored by: Peace Day Philly, the Institute for Economics and Peace, African Studies Center & Middle East Studies Center, Center for East Asian Studies & the South Asia Center, University of Pennsylvania and the UNA-GP

The Institute for Economics and Peace is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit research organization dedicated to shifting the world’s focus to peace as a positive, achievable, and tangible measure of human well-being and progress. IEP produces the Global Peace Index, national peace indices such as the US Peace Index, the Pillars of Peace framework, and analysis of the economic impact of peace.

About the Speaker:

Michelle Breslauer represents the programs of the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) in the Americas, including IEP’s US-focused research. Michelle has significant experience managing complex communication strategies on an international scale, including a 5-year tenure at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center. She has also consulted for various humanitarian initiatives, advising on strategic planning and external affairs for both public and private clients. She presents frequently to groups working in academia, policy, and international development. She has completed research around social capital and urban development for her master’s degree from The London School of Economics. She also holds a bachelor’s in International Affairs from the American University of Paris.

 

For more about the Institute for Economics and Peace, please visit theirWEBSITE

For their sister site, Vision of Humanity, and more about the GPI, CLICK HERE

Video overview video for the GLOBAL PEACE INDEX

Video overview for the U.S. PEACE INDEX

Peace and Conflict Studies

Nimesh Ghimire ‘15 Awarded Davis Project for Peace Grant to Establish ‘Peace Innovation Camp’ in Nepal

Congratulations to Nimesh Ghimire ‘15 for winning a Davis Project for Peace Award.  Here is the organization’s press release:

106-year-old philanthropist renews Projects for Peace grants for college students

 Swarthmore College Student Project to Provide a Wireless Internet Network and Runs a Week long ‘Peace Innovation Camp’ in Rural Nepal

 MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – College students across the country are once again being challenged to design and undertake “Projects for Peace” around the world, thanks to philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis. Now 106 years “young” Davis launched Projects for Peace on the occasion of her 100th birthday in 2007 and has renewed her commitment every year since. In 2013, over $1.20 million will be awarded in $10,000 grants to students submitting the winning proposals for projects to be completed over the summer of 2013.

Davis is eager for motivated young people to come up with effective building blocks for peace-building in the world, and she is providing the money to make their plans a reality. Projects that address conflict resolution and reconciliation, foster understanding, provide opportunity, and build community are among the many successful endeavors to date.

Undergraduates at 90 partner schools of the Davis United World College Scholars Program (see www.davisuwcscholars.org), as well as those at International Houses Worldwide, Future Generations, the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and the University of Maine are invited annually to submit plans for Projects for Peace. Winning proposals selected from competitions at all these campuses are funded through Davis’ generosity.

“Competition is keen and we congratulate the students whose projects have been selected for funding in 2013,” said Philip O. Geier, executive director of the Davis United World College Scholars Program, which administers Projects for Peace. “Kathryn Davis feels a great urgency about advancing the cause of peace in the world, and she is investing in motivated youth and their ideas in order to accelerate efforts for peace in the 21st century.”

nimeshSwarthmore College student, Nimesh Ghimire ‘15 proposes to use the Davis Projects for Peace grant to direct and establish a wireless internet network and run a week long ‘Peace Innovation Camp’ at Shree Gyanodaya Higher Secondary School in Sahilitar, a rural village of Lamjung district in western Nepal. The wireless network project will introduce a new world of technology to the village and the Peace Innovation Camp will allow the students with the creative freedom to design new, interesting projects to solve local peace-building challenges in their local communities. Both programs of the project will also strengthen the recently started Peace Innovation Lab (www.tinyurl.com/peaceinnovationlab) – Nepal’s first local peace innovation hub, located at the proposed school – as a resource hub to create, promote and sustain inclusive peace building efforts in Sahilitar village in Lamjung district. The project will start at the beginning of June and conclude in August, 2013.

“I want to use my birthday to once again help young people launch some initiatives that will bring new energy and ideas to the prospects of peace in the world,” said Davis. “My many years have taught me that there will always be conflict. It’s part of human nature. But love, kindness and support are also part of human nature, and my challenge to these young people is to bring about a mindset of preparing for peace instead of preparing for war.”

For more information on Projects for Peace, see www.davisprojectsforpeace.org.