Marquette Center for Peacemaking

Spring Retreat: Finding Our Place In the Web of Life

April 13 l 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. l AMU Chapel of the Holy Family

New discoveries of the vastness of the universe have reshaped our sense of place and purpose as humans living on this one small planet in one of billions of galaxies. From the first "Flaring Forth," a monumental act of creation has been taking place through everything-including us.

At the same time as we make these discoveries, we are encountering ecological crises across our planet that are threatening the future of life, and they, too are becoming our teachers, revealing us to ourselves.

We will explore these dynamics and what they tell us about this moment of transition, the implications for the journey of faith and how we see the meaning and mission of the human at this point in time. All creation is one community where everything is connected to everything else. In our search together, we will explore the implications of that truth in our own lives and the witness of our communities.

Margaret Swedish was director of the Religious Task Force on Central America and Mexico in Washington D.C. (1981-2004), a national organization founded by Catholic religious leaders that addresesed issues of human rights and U.S. military economic policy in the region. Since 2006, her work has been focused on the ecological crises now confronting humanity, offering presentations, workshops and retreats through her project. Her book, "Living Beyond the 'End of the World:' A Spirituality of Hope," published by Orbis Books (2008), addresses connections amoung the various environmental, economic and cultural trends that are leading towards ecological collapse.

The retreat is sponsored by Catholics for Peace and Justice and the Center for Peacemaking. To register, visit Catholics for Peace and Justice. Contact Jim Gill for more information via email or at (262) 547-6555 ext. 306. There is no charge, but free-will offerings will be accepted. There will be a one-hour break at noon for participants to get lunch on their own.

Teaching About/for Ambivalent Forgiveness in Troubled Societies

April 16 l 7:00 p.m. l AMU Ballroom D

Dr. Michalinos Zembylas will share his reflection on a vignette of ethnographic research on forgiveness in a troubled society-his home country of Cyprus. The vignette will highlight the complexity of forgiveness and provide a specific instance where traditional models of interpersonal forgiveness may fail or, at the very least, need to be expanded to account for the socio-political or inter-group dynamics. The presentation ends with a discussion of the pedagogical implications of the notion of ambivalent forgiveness for troubled societies.

Dr. Michalinos Zembylas is a professor of education at the Open University of Cyprus. He is researching how politics influence social justice, peace, citizenship and intercultural education. He has written five books and has explored different topics relating to the role emotion in education.

This event is co-sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Peace, College of Education and Office of International Education.