April 3, 2003
Campus groups discuss war, peace
As the war in Iraq moves into a third week, the UW community continues to grapple with the meaning and impact of the conflict.
One group, Campus for Peace, has organized daily lunch-time vigils near the HUB and a brown bag series examining the war. The UW administration is planning a day of reflection on April 23.
Janelle Taylor, an assistant professor in anthropology, helped organize the daily lunch-time vigils. The events, she hopes, will shed light on aspects of the war that people may not have otherwise considered.
“There is wisdom out there,” she said. “There’s knowledge and information that should be shared to help give perspective to what’s going on.”
The gatherings start at 12:15 p.m. every day and last about 30 minutes. About midway through, someone will give a brief presentation. Those talks range from information on counting casualties to humanitarian aid.
The brown bag series is intended to inform without necessarily taking a position on the war.
“I think it’s really important to provide a forum for people that isn’t selective,” said Kimberly Swayze, who helped organize the series. “We wanted to make it open in nature and comfortable for anyone with an interest, regardless of their point of view.”
The first brown bag lecture was yesterday, a consideration of what’s next for the peace movement now that the war has started. The next lecture, which will examine activism, is set for Wednesday, April 9, from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. in 258 Mary Gates. The April 16 lecture will look at previous examples of U.S. intervention abroad.
Taylor hopes the vigils will continue through the spring quarter. She’s encouraging faculty to look at their scholarly traditions for what they might offer to the vigils.
“We come from a lot of different fields,” she said. “Someone from public health might share that perspective. Someone from statistics might share that perspective and someone from literature can share something else. This is partly a matter of bringing together the resources from our different fields. But it’s also about being a daily visible presence on campus and about building community.”
For more information go to the Campus For Peace Web site at http://www.campus4peace.net or send e-mail to campus4peace@campus4peace.net.
