CHICAGO (ELCA) -- John Hume and David Trimble, 1998 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, will address the 12th annual Peace Prize Forum, "Striving for Peace: Risk and Reconciliation," Feb. 18-19 at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Students attending the Peace Prize Forum will examine the issue of war with enemies close to home. They will consider topics on religion and peace.
Hume and Trimble were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for undertaking the process that culminated in the Belfast Agreement enacted on April 10 (Good Friday), 1998. The agreement established a process for resolving long-standing differences over the national sovereignty of Northern Ireland and its relationship with the island of Ireland, and the union with Great Britain -- a process that is still being played out today.
Hume currently leads the Social, Democratic and Labour Party, the second largest political party in Northern Ireland, and is a member of the European Parliament in Brussels. Trimble is the First Minister of the new government in Northern Ireland.
Other forum speakers include Paul Arthur, professor of politics at the University of Ulster, Ireland; Sissela Bok, an associate of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; J. Bryan Hehir, professor of religion and society at Harvard Divinity School and faculty associate at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs; and Janet and John Wallach, founders of Seeds of Peace, an internationally recognized conflict-resolution program.
In addition to plenary sessions, the Peace Prize Forum will include concurrent seminars on a variety of topics designed for college students, faculty, staff and others. Seminar topics range from religion and politics in Northern Ireland to women in the Middle East.
A new feature of the 2000 Peace Prize Forum is student-led sessions. One session will be a moderated discussion for students to address three questions in response to the forum's theme: "What actions are students and groups currently planning on their respective campuses? What important issues should be addressed by students? How can students from different colleges maintain communication among each other?"
The Peace Prize Forum rotates annually among five Midwestern colleges of the ELCA with Norwegian heritage: Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.; Luther College, Decorah, Iowa; and St. Olaf.
Held in cooperation with the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo, this series of forums was created to offer an opportunity for Nobel Peace Prize laureates, diplomats, scholars, young people and the general public to come together in expression of their personal commitment to peace.
Editor's note: Registration information on this year's Peace Prize Forum
is available online at www.peaceprizeforum.org=20
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
