FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World Peace Week at San Diego State University October 20-27
CONTACT: Jack Beresford, (619) 594-5204
SAN DIEGO, Friday, Oct. 13, 2000 - World Peace Week is the celebration of peace and reconciliation on both a global and community level. This event promotes world awareness and sensitivity about the dynamic of peace at work in our world. The Hansen Institute and SDSU will offer a series of panel discussions and several unique events. For more information please visit the World Peace Week web site at, http://advancement.sdsu.edu/peaceweek/
World Peace Week Events:
Visual and Performing Arts
Alfredo Jaar: Waiting
University Art Gallery
October 21 and 23-26 - Noon - 4 p.m.
(619) 594-5171, No tickets requiredWaiting is a major piece from The Rwanda Project, a series of artworks based on Jaar's four-year investigation into the atrocities of ethnic genocide in Rwanda. Completed in 1998, Waiting consists of a 24-foot-long panoramic photograph of 37 Rwandan refugees waiting to cross the border between Rwanda and Zaire (now called Congo).
Lysistrata
Don Powell Theatre
Friday October 20 - 8:15 p.m.
October 21, 26 and 27 - 8 p.m.
Sunday, October 22 - 2 p.m.
(619) 594-6884, Tickets requiredPeace is the theme of this timeless comedy by Aristophanes (411 BC). Tired of war, women devise a way of resolving conflict. By using their wits and solidarity, they compel their husbands to end the Peloponnesian War by going on a sex strike. Lysistrata is performed by SDSU students under the direction of Peter Larlham, Ph.D.
Amazwi Omoya (Words of the Wind)
Don Powell Theatre
Saturday, October 21 - 2 p.m.
October 23-27 - 11 a.m.
(619) 594-6884, Tickets requiredThis children's play is a complex mix of mime, physical acrobatics, dialogue and audience participation performed by two outstanding artists from South Africa, Ellis Pearson and Bheki Mkhwane. Their intercultural theatre is a powerful educational tool for all ages at this crucial stage of reconciliation and nation building in South Africa.
"Miles Gloriosus" (The Braggart Soldier)
Experimental Theatre
Monday, October 23 - 8 p.m.
(619) 594-6884, FreeIn this rollicking farce by the Roman comic playwright, Titus Maccius Plautus, a slave must outfox a pompous mercenary soldier who holds him hostage. This staged reading of Miles Gloriosus, directed and performed by undergraduates and faculty of SDSU, offers a generous helping of lowbrow silliness; yet, at the same time, the play points out (somewhat subversively) that "peace dividends" are best acquired by aggressive campaigning.
The Happiest Girl in the World
Don Powell Theatre
October 24 and 25 - 7 p.m.
(619) 594-6884, FreeA musical version of Aristophanes' classic comedy, The Happiest Girl in the World, debuted on Broadway in 1961, with lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and music by Jacques Offenbach. Harburg, who was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, uses this age-old tale to denounce imperialism and champion the power of women. Set to the delightful music of Offenbach, this staged reading is performed by SDSU students under the direction of Rick Simas, Ph.D.
Zasha
Smith Recital Hall
Friday, October 27 - 7 p.m.
(619) 594-1696, Tickets requiredThis production of South African dance and music will be presented by an ensemble consisting of students and professionals from South Africa. Their aim and aspirations are to educate young and old, South Africans and others, about South Africa's culture through history, present thought and future dreams as expressed in its musical traditions.
Panel Discussions
Conflict and Peacemaking in Africa
Casa Real at SDSU's Aztec Center
Monday, October 23 - 6 p.m.
(619) 594-0932, No tickets requiredAs the Western world basks in unprecedented prosperity driven by technology and higher education, for many parts of the world the future looks bleak. This panel will look at the world of ethnic violence and despair with special reference to Africa. Panelists include William S. Reno, Ph.D., noted political scientist at Northwestern University, specializing in Sierra Leone, and Joyce Neu, Ph.D., director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, University of San Diego. This panel discussion will be moderated by David Johns, Ph.D., professor of political science at SDSU.
The Origins of Social Violence
Casa Real at SDSU's Aztec Center
Tuesday, October 24 - 6 p.m.
(619) 594-0932, No tickets requiredAre humans predisposed to violence? How do we account for genocidal behavior? The issue will be discussed by Mary Clark, Ph.D., a noted biologist, professor emeritus, SDSU and George Mason University; Anser M. Haroun, M.D., professor of psychiatry, pediatrics, and law, UCSD School of Medicine; and Christopher Clague, Ph.D., professor emeritus, Department of Economics, University of Maryland. This panel discussion will be moderated by Mathew D. McCubbins, Ph.D., professor of political science, UCSD.
Women and Conflict in South Asia
Casa Real at SDSU's Aztec Center
Wednesday, October 25 - 6 p.m.
(619) 594-0932, No tickets requiredAlthough men start most episodes of mass violence, women are the prime victims of national and international conflicts. In this panel, two distinguished scholars from one of the most potentially explosive parts of the world will discuss the role of women in the South Asian conflict. Panelists include Saba Khattak, Ph.D., director of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute in Islamabad, Pakistan, and Ritu Menon, co-founder of Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house. This panel discussion will be moderated by Patricia A. Huckle, Ph.D., professor of women's studies at SDSU.
International Peace Village Celebration
Montezuma Hall at SDSU's Aztec Center
Friday, October, 27 - Noon - 3:00 p.m.Presented by SDSU's International Student Center, this event celebrates the University's vast global network and rich cultural heritage. Meet people from around the world sharing their music, dance, food, traditions and fashions; explore and discover how, in so many ways, we are all one world, one people.
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