Spring Break
Nonviolence program offered to help cultivate conflict resolutions
Lindsay Lorenz
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: News
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03/28/07 - The University of Rhode Island Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies will offer a Summer Institute in hopes of cultivating leaders who will one day put their knowledge to use in society.
Facilitated by Bernard LaFayette Jr., the director of the center, the program is geared for students who are "interested in helping to change the world," he said.
The program's focus is on nonviolent conflict reconciliation. Participants will be introduced to principles of nonviolence and exposed to practices in its promotion. In addition, the program will assess and challenge growth personally and within a community.
"Participants will be asked to consider a force more powerful - the active, moral force of nonviolence," LaFayette said.
The program begins with a philosophical approach toward nonviolence.
"We draw from Gandhi, thinkers of the past, Martin Luther King," LaFayette said.
It concludes with ideas for mobilizing peace.
The institute offers two levels of training. Students who complete both levels will be certified trainers in nonviolence, as they have acquired the skills necessary to pass on King's principles to their local communities, with the ability to reconstruct where violence has been commonplace.
The internationally known program has drawn students from all over the world since 1999.
"At the university we've had a number of students finish their Ph.D.s with a focus in nonviolence," LaFayette said.
Nonviolence teachings are applicable in everything from personal relationships to social movements, with an emphasis on justice for all.
LaFayette is an activist for the civil rights movement, a minister and an authority on the strategy for nonviolent social change.
He worked closely with King earlier in his career. LaFayette described the time spent with him as too powerful for words.
"The last thing he told me was that the next effort would be to institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence. Four hours later he was assassinated," LaFayette said.
Facilitated by Bernard LaFayette Jr., the director of the center, the program is geared for students who are "interested in helping to change the world," he said.
The program's focus is on nonviolent conflict reconciliation. Participants will be introduced to principles of nonviolence and exposed to practices in its promotion. In addition, the program will assess and challenge growth personally and within a community.
"Participants will be asked to consider a force more powerful - the active, moral force of nonviolence," LaFayette said.
The program begins with a philosophical approach toward nonviolence.
"We draw from Gandhi, thinkers of the past, Martin Luther King," LaFayette said.
It concludes with ideas for mobilizing peace.
The institute offers two levels of training. Students who complete both levels will be certified trainers in nonviolence, as they have acquired the skills necessary to pass on King's principles to their local communities, with the ability to reconstruct where violence has been commonplace.
The internationally known program has drawn students from all over the world since 1999.
"At the university we've had a number of students finish their Ph.D.s with a focus in nonviolence," LaFayette said.
Nonviolence teachings are applicable in everything from personal relationships to social movements, with an emphasis on justice for all.
LaFayette is an activist for the civil rights movement, a minister and an authority on the strategy for nonviolent social change.
He worked closely with King earlier in his career. LaFayette described the time spent with him as too powerful for words.
"The last thing he told me was that the next effort would be to institutionalize and internationalize nonviolence. Four hours later he was assassinated," LaFayette said.
