McMaster helps pave road to peace

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/gandhi1.jpg” caption=”Mahatma Gandhi “]It has been 60 years since two major events in the history of war: the end of the Jewish holocaust, and the dropping of atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. If education is to help us create a culture of peace, then Hamilton is becoming a hot spot for peace this fall.

McMaster will join Hamilton as it celebrates the 13th annual Gandhi Peace Festival & Peace Walk at City Hall on October 1 at 10 a.m. In years past, countless members of the greater Hamilton community have attended this celebration and mobilization of the growing peace movement in the region.

Mayor Larry DiIanni will sign the Mayors for Peace document at this year's festivities; a program began in 1982 by Hiroshima, Japan Mayor Takeshi Araki. The program is an act of solidarity with many other cities in the world who wish to work towards total abolition of nuclear weapons.

The festivities also include a peace walk through downtown, an information fair, entertainment, and a free vegetarian Indian lunch.

McMaster is hosting many events in the week surrounding the Gandhi Peace Festival, dubbed “Mac Peace Week”. Running from Monday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Oct. 2, more than a dozen events will be hosted by various McMaster-affiliated organizations – and unprecedented amount of events compared to previous years.

Events include a social justice fair, film screenings, practical workshops, a theatrical production, and more. Events are hosted on and off campus – for a complete listing of events, visit the Mac Peace Week website at www.macpeaceweek.ca.

The Centre for Peace Studies at McMaster will present the ninth annual Mahatma Gandhi Lecture on Non-Violence, featuring Sulak Sivaraksa.

Sivaraksa has been a leading Thai intellectual for more than 20 years and is internationally known for his role in the movement for a socially engaged Buddhism.

Through his numerous writings, and through the many organizations he has created – such as the International Network of Engaged Buddhists and the Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development – he has challenged economic exploitation, religios intolerance and environmental destruction, while championing alternative, humane ways of living. He has been a visiting professor of numerous universities in Asia and the West and in 1995 was awarded the prestigious Right Livelihood Award.

With an introduction by John Ralston Saul, the lecture takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Health Sciences Centre Rm. HSC 1A1. A reception will follow in the Eward Angus Centre foyer.

Later in the fall, McMaster will host the Fourth Annual Peace Education Conference in Canada. This national conference will be held from Nov. 21-28, and includes a week-long agenda of workshops, speakers and discussions with peace educators from all sectors of society.

The theme of this year's conference is “educating peace educators”, under the premise that anyone, not just teachers, can be a peace educator in their business, spiritual, and personal lives. Early-bird registration for the conference is Oct. 31, 2005.

For inquiries about the Gandhi Peace Festival, Mac Peace Week, or the Fourth Annual Conference on Peace Education in Canada, call 905- 525-9140 at ext. 27519, or visit www.pacss.ca.