Havel Symposium

The Vaclav Havel Civil Society Symposium

The Scholar-in-Residence program brings to the Twin Cities a well-known scholar for a week-long visit to engage students, church and community in a consideration of the importance of strong community groups in maintaining and furthering democracy, and to involve them in society building.
Activities include:

Classroom presentations at the University of St. Thomas and adult education programs at the House of Hope Church
Public presentations at the University of St. Thomas and the House of Hope, including a sermon at the House of Hope
Outreach to the community suitable to the interests and experience of the scholar-in-residence
Work with faculty involved in developing or carrying out service-learning projects

October 10-13, 2010

Scholar-in-Residence: Dr. Lisa Schirch

Lisa Schirch is a professor of peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

A former Fulbright Fellow in East and West Africa, Schirch has worked in over 20 countries as a trainer, consultant and facilitator in peacebuilding programs such as inter-ethnic dialogue and reconciliation, peace processes, and media-based programs. For several years, Schirch has worked in Afghanistan and Iraq with civil society organizations.

She is the Director of the 3D Security Initiative at www.3Dsecurity.org, which promotes civil society perspectives on conflict prevention and peacebuilding in US security policymaking.

Schirch has written five books and numerous articles on conflict prevention and peacebuilding. Her current research interests include civil-military dialogue and the intersection of security and climate change, sustainable development, the media, and conflict prevention.

She is a frequent public speaker and has TV and radio experience discussing U.S. foreign policy. She holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and a M.S. and Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University.

A schedule of Dr. Schirch's appearances will be posted here in the coming weeks.

A TIMELY ARTICLE. Dr. Schirch writes for the Huffington Post regarding the 10 aid workers, her colleagues, who were murdered in Afghanistan in early August. Click here to read the article.

BOOKS:
Little Book of Dialogue on Difficult Subjects
Little Book of Strategic Peacebuilding
Ritual and Symbol in Peacebuilding
Civilian Peacekeeping: Preventing Violence and Making Space for Democracy
Women in Peacebuilding: Resource and Training Manual, Parts 1 & 2

For more information: http://www.emu.edu/personnel/people/show/schirchl

Background of the Havel Symposium :

The Havel Symposium is a partnership between the University of St. Thomas and the House of Hope Presbyterian Church in cooperation with the Minnesota Czech and Slovak communities.

The Statement of Common Purpose developed by the founding organizations states that the symposium was inspired by the desire "to cultivate a sense of joint destiny and responsibility, to find unity in diversity, to find spiritual common denominators and to establish commonly held human rights."

The inaugural guest in 1999 was His Excellency Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic, for whom the Symposium is named. He was followed in 2001 by the Honorable Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State: and Dr. Benjamin Barber, Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland in 2003. Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum visited in 2005. Ambassador Martin Palous of the Czech Republic was the guest speaker in 2006. The 2007 scholar-in-residence was Dr. Thomas Gouttierre of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The Scholar-in-Residence program seeks to build on this distinguished history by bringing scholars and practitioners to visit for a more extended period.

The Concept of Civil Society:

In a Civil Society, many groups, institutions, and processes exist and function independently of government. A vibrant civil society has a multitude of voluntary associations in which citizens come together to pursue common purposes. Strong and independent voluntary associations in a society support democracy by providing a channel through which citizens can work together to pursue policy goals and other interests. Such groups moderate conflict, teach democratic principles and enable citizens to impact government by peaceful and legitimate means, whch can be used by ordinary citizens to participate in politics and government.

Previous Symposium Speakers

Vaclav Havel 1999
Madeleine Albright 2001
Dr. Benjamin Barber 2003
Nobel Laureate Rigoberta Menchu Tum 2005
Martin Palous 2006
Dr. Thomas Gouttierre 2007
Martin Bútora 2008
Zora Bútorová 2008
David Bornstein 2009

Nominate a Scholar-in-Residence

The Havel Civil Society Symposium invites nominations for future Scholars-in-Residence. We are looking for individuals who can engage the campus and church communities and offer insights and inspiration for strenthening the fabric of civil society and democracy. To submit a nominee, plese fill out the form below.