News Releases

Nov. 15, 2004

Seeking Solutions to Global Conflict: Register Now for International Conference in Seattle

Strong Regional and International Sponsorship and Participation to Mark Event Designed to Address Religious and Cultural Discord

Seattle — Faculty and students from nine universities and colleges throughout the Pacific Northwest will meet with scholars, UNESCO representatives and representatives of diverse communities and religious traditions from around the world at the International Conference on Unity and Diversity in Religion and Culture.

Interested community members are welcome to register for this event, which will take place Jan. 27 to 30, 2005, at the Seattle Center. Conference information and online registration is available at www.networkforpeace.org. The cost to register is $200.

The conference is part of a global effort to develop a network of scholars, organizations, religious leaders and community leaders working collaboratively to address the problem of cultural and religious discord. The conference will foster new ways of understanding and addressing the issues underlying global conflict. Specifically, conference attendees will address issues of identity, human trustworthiness, being in transition, notions of truth, and community. A program related to each issue will involve academic presentations, deep dialogue with skilled facilitators, a focal event and, in some cases, artistic presentations.

Regional and International Sponsors

The sponsoring regional institutions include: Antioch University Seattle (the official host), Central Washington University, Cornish College of the Arts, Fairhaven College/Western Washington University, Pacific Lutheran University, Seattle University, Simon Fraser University, the University of Oregon and the University of Washington (Simpson Center for the Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, Department of English and Department of Comparative Literature, and Jackson School for International Studies).

Other sponsors and partners include: the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research, the United Nations Association of Seattle, the Philosophical and Cultural Research Centre “Eidos” (Russia), Peace Centre Graz (Austria), the International Institute for Islamic Thought, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Washington Association of Churches, the Church Council of Greater Seattle, the Archdiocese of Seattle and The Most Rev. Alexander J. Brunett, Evangelische Akademie (Germany), the World Affairs Council, the Center for Ethical Leadership, Partnow Communications, Inc., FundaMental Solutions, The Ernest Becker Foundation, the Institute of Noetic Sciences and United Religions Initiative.

Highlights of Event Themes

Being in Transition: The focal event will be a discussion on the cultural and religious affects of globalization, moderated by Liubava Moreva, national officer for culture of the UNESCO Moscow Office, and Steven Shankman, director of the Oregon Humanities Center of the University of Oregon. Students and faculty members of the Russian Humanities University in Moscow will participate via a Web-cast link.

Trustworthiness: The capstone of the dialogue will be a workshop on forgiveness conducted by Fred Luskin, director of the Stanford Forgiveness Project. Azim Khamisa, founder and CEO of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation, will share his compelling story of forgiving his son’s murderer. Khamisa is widely recognized for his innovative solutions to prevent youth violence.

Identity: This dialogue will consider issues of cultural, religious and national identity from many different vantage points. The focal event will be a discussion of the changes in consciousness required for humankind to develop a global identity, with Jeffrey Rediger, medical director of McLean Hospital SE, Harvard, and of The Center for Psychology and Social Change.

Notions of Truth: Academic presentations and structured dialogue will be combined with artistic presentations, which demonstrate how art offers both a model and practical techniques for working past barriers of communication based on competing notions of truth. Speakers include James Wellman of the University of Washington, on Negotiating Religious Truths: A Comparative Analysis of U. S. Evangelical and Liberal Protestant Christians, and Tong Xun of China Religion Institute, on Islamic culture in Beijing; and Daniel Lietchy on Mortality, Denial and Truth, Diffusing the Rancor in Conflicting Cultural Worldviews. Regional artists and students and faculty of Cornish College of the Arts and the University of Washington will offer theatrical, visual and musical demonstrations.

Community: This session will focus on building community among conference participants, to help find ways to act in the common interest without diminishing the importance of separate interests and unique gifts. Skye Burn, the project director, is organizing the conference as an associated outreach activity of the UNESCO Chair for Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, Their Specific Cultures and Interreligious Dialogue. The Chair on Comparative Studies is located at the St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research, and is part of the UNESCO Interreligious Dialogue Program under the UNESCO Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue.

Community Concert Tickets Available

In addition to registering for the conference, community members can attend the Unity and Diversity Concert at 8 p.m. Jan. 29, at Benaroya Hall. Purchase tickets ($15 general and $8 for students) through Ticketmaster or the Benaroya Hall box office.

For more information about the concert or other parts of the conference, visit www.networkforpeace.org or contact Skye Burn at skyeburn@onebox.com or 360-527-3006.