NORTH MANCHESTER - Manchester University's peace studies program and Campus Interfaith Board will host events for this year's Peace Week, April 21-27.
On Monday, April 21, international guest speaker Dr. Craig Higson-Smith will address campus on how the challenges of his career-both in his home region of Southern Africa and around the world-have defined his beliefs and work. He will discuss the contemporary international landscape and the role of the United States. The presentation is at 11 a.m. in Wine Recital Hall. It is free and open to the public.
This presentation is sponsored by the Dr. Everett L. Refior Lectureship in Establishing Peace Through Enforceable World Law. Refior lectures at Manchester highlight the efforts of global citizens working together to abolish war, protect rights and freedoms, and solve the problems facing humanity that no one nation can solve alone.
Higson-Smith began his career as a human rights defender as an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa in the 1980s, focused on issues of detention and torture. Over the years his activism has ranged through ending military conscription, peacebuilding and violence prevention, labor rights for health workers, and prevention of gross human rights violations, notably torture.
The Environmental Club will host an Earth Day art exhibit on Tuesday, April 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. on the first floor of the Academic Center.
The annual Empty Bowls event, organized by the Peace Studies Institute, Campus Interfaith Board, Student Life, Dining Services, and Make It Your Own Art!, is Sunday, April 27, from 12:30 to 3 p.m. on the Mall. Enjoy a warm bowl of soup in a handmade bowl painted by a Manchester student. Donations will go to the New Community Project's Two Million Tree Campaign. Suggested donations are $5 for children and students, and $10 for faculty, staff and community members.
Afterwards, join Dave Good, former head of grounds at MU, from 3 to 4 p.m. as he shares stories of the trees that call the North Manchester campus home.