2020–2021 Annual Report
The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies www.juniata.edu/pacs
From the Director
Editorial content for the 2020–2021 Annual Report of The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies was written and produced by Stacia Fleegal (Baker Institute Program Coordinator), Kaitlyn Granger (PACS ’21, Baker Institute ’20–’21 Juniata Associate), and Shanna Menendez (PACS ’22, Baker Institute summer ’21 intern). Layout and design by Juniata’s Marketing team.
ON THE COVER: Top: Zoom gallery, by Chris Montgomery via Unsplash (Creative Commons license). Middle: Painted rocks by Juniata students, by Shanna Menendez. Bottom: Peace is Everybody’s Business, by Marta Daniels, provided by Baker Institute staff.
For more information on The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) program at Juniata College: www.juniata.edu/pacs Email and sign-up for our newsletter: bakerins@juniata.edu Follow us: Facebook Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies Twitter @JuniataPAX Instagram /JuniataPAX
POLLY O. WALKER, PH.D. Director, Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies.
W
e entered the 20–21 academic year facing a global pandemic, the ravages of climate change, and violence engendered by systemic racism. In planning for the year, we chose to work within a complex systems framework designed to understand central aspects of the context within which contemporary conflicts arise, and to support the emergence of more constructive patterns. To enhance campus-wide efforts to address systemic racism, The Baker Institute hosted a virtual dialogue with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi in conversation with Dr. Daniel Welliver and Dr. Territa Poole regarding transforming systemic racism on campus and in the broader community and nation. In collaboration with Provost Lauren Bowen, The Baker Institute hosted dialogue skills training through the highly regarded Essential Partners for staff, faculty, and students, with the intent of enhancing campus community members’ ability to productively discuss conflictual issues.
During the spring semester, I was on sabbatical and played a supporting role to Dr. Welliver, Acting Director of the Baker Institute, and Professor Daniel Bryan, Director of the Pachaysana Institute in Ecuador, a Baker Institute Fellow who taught PACS courses for the semester. During my sabbatical, I developed a course for the PACS program titled Native Nations: Conflict and Diplomacy. For more on our research and professional development activities, see p. 8–9. It is with both gratitude and nostalgia that I write this message. I am stepping down as director of The Baker Institute. I will miss being an active part of its impactful work, and I will miss the dedicated PACS students, alums, staff, and faculty members who are powerful and visionary peacebuilders. Throughout this academic year, I heard from several seminal Peace and Conflict Studies scholars who commented on The Baker Institute’s legacy of significant contributions to transforming conflict and building peace. At the International Peace Research Association (IPRA) Conference in January, The Baker Institute received special recognition for its research, practice, and collaborative endeavors. I would like to express my gratitude to those who created and funded the Institute and to the courageous and passionate peacebuilders affiliated with the Institute.
peace is everybody’s business
The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies: Goals, Sponsorships, and Reach Our mission is to apply the resources of the academic community to the study of warfare and deep-rooted conflict as human problems and to the study of peace as a human potential.
We provide an excellent undergraduate education in Peace and Conflict Studies to students of Juniata College including emphasis on both practical and theoretical knowledge and on preparation for graduate education and useful careers. We offer continuing adult education and community outreach in conflict management and war/peace studies through seminars, conferences, public lectures, and workshops.
We provide leadership in the development of Peace and Conflict Studies as an academic program through research, curriculum development, consultation, and education. We initiate and support cooperation among existing programs and institutions to strengthen Peace and Conflict Studies in content and methodology, enhance its legitimacy, and develop its constituency both in and out of the academic community.
“We acknowledge that we are living and working on homelands of the Onyata’a:ka, the People of the Standing Stone, the Oneida Nation, who had a village here at the time of colonization.” —The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies Staff | THE BAKER INSTITUTE
PHOTOS: (LEFT) MEGAN BRENNEMAN, (RIGHT) MARIAH DORSEY ’20
On campus, The Baker Institute supports a vibrant and engaged community of learners, and a curricular and co-curricular academic program that asks students and faculty to stretch and challenge themselves as they address war, peace, and justice.
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Advisory Board 2020–2021
Strategic Plan 2016–2020:
Uma Ramakrishnan, Ph.D.
Institute will demonstrate excellence in the Undergraduate Program.
Chair, The Baker Institute Advisory Board Chair, Environmental Science and Studies
Anne C. Baker
Trustee Emerita, Juniata College
Jim Borgardt, Ph.D.
William W. Woolford Professor of Physics Chair, Physics
Lynn Cockett, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Sinead Gallagher
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Lily Kruglak ’11
Reporting and Outreach Coordinator, Resolve Network
Mark J. McKellop, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chair, Psychology
Randall Deike, Ph.D. Trustee, Juniata College
Henry Thurston-Griswold
PRIORITY 1: The Baker
Excellence in the undergraduate program will be established through a number of activities and will be identifiable in a variety of outcomes. The Baker Institute staff seeks to create a vibrant, fully enrolled, academically rigorous Program of Emphasis (POE) in Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) that is visible on campus and in the surrounding community. We expect students to be part of a community of engaged learners that is sustained by a clearly-structured POE. Students are supported in becoming critical thinkers with a high level of expertise in their field. In addition to supporting the needs of PACS students, the curriculum will support a number of other programs and departments and build partnerships for innovative programming within the campus community and beyond.
PRIORITY 2: The Baker
Institute will implement effective Adult Education and Community Outreach Programs. The Institute will support programs that reach beyond the borders of the campus to engage faculty and staff in community development opportunities and projects that develop community-college relations. Of specific interest will be efforts in the nexus between theory and practice and projects that expand the community of people engaged in initiating and sustaining peace processes.
Law: Advocacy and Solidarity Dealing with Transnational and Global Threats
Professor of Spanish Chair, World Languages and Cultures
Daniel M. Welliver
Professor of Sociology Chair, Social Work, Criminal Justice, and Sociology
Student Representatives Kaitlyn Granger ’21
Conflict Intervention and Analysis
Perry Willig ’21
Development
Strategic Peacebuilding Paths
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Cultural Violence and Media Studies
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Violence P Conflict R and Trans
Education
Peace and Conflict Studies
Grace Cook-Huffman ’22
Structural and Institutional Change
A degree in PACS can lead to careers on a diverse spectrum of peacebuilding paths, as shown in this diagram.
Shanna Menendez ’22 International Peace Studies
Adapted from Strategic Peacebuilding Paths by John Paul Lederach and Katie Mansfield, available for download from the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
Dialogue/ Conflict Resolution Strategies
Non-V Social
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Fellows PRIORITY 3: The Baker
PRIORITY 4: The Baker
Institute will further develop and sustain Peace and Conflict Studies in the Academy.
Institute will enhance the legitimacy and impact of Peace and Conflict Studies.
The Baker Institute will provide leadership in the ongoing development of peace studies by making contributions to the field in the areas of research, pedagogy, curricular assessment and development, and program assessment and development.
The Baker Institute will support the institutionalization of Peace Studies in conjunction with other Peace Studies programs and organizations by working to foster cooperation among those programs and institutions, which will raise the profile and credibility of Peace Studies as an academic endeavor.
Transitional Justice
Violent Change
Jerry McCann is a licensed civil and structural engineer in the State of California and senior advisor to Build Up, which works with civic activists to find and apply innovative peacebuilding practices.
Baker Institute Fellows offer the campus community a range of opportunities, including: intensive, non-credit bearing seminars; mentoring; public lecturing; guest lecturing in classes; informal small-group dialogue; and networking.
Trauma Healing
Humanitarian Action
Government and Multi-Lateral Efforts
Kitche Magak is vice chancellor and professor of literature with Maasai Mara University, Narok, Kenya.
What is Peace and Conflict Studies?
Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS) is an interdisciplinary field that begins with the perspective that war and violence are not inevitable aspects of the human condition and that there are more productive and lasting means for addressing human conflicts. PACS draws from political science, sociology, history, anthropology, psychology, and philosophy, among other disciplines.
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Prevention, Response sformation
Daniel Bryan is an artist, activist, educator, and executive director of the Pachaysana Institute in Quito, Ecuador, and resident director of BCA Study Abroad.
Caecilia van Peski is a Dutch diplomat, a licensed psychologist, and an authority in the field of peace and security, democratization, elections and human rights, whose achievements have received national and international recognition.
Restorative Justice
Justice and Healing
The following peacebuilders’ terms as Fellows of The Baker Institute were extended through 2021:
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2020–2021 Sponsorships The Baker Institute supported the following projects and institutions through sponsorship: PEACE & JUSTICE STUDIES ASSOCIATION The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) serves as a professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies. PJSA is dedicated to bringing together academics, educators, and activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change. Baker Institute Director Polly Walker is an elected board member of PJSA. For the 2020 PJSA conference, she facilitated as part of a featured online panel: “The Roots of Our Resistance: Indigenous Peacemaking and the Current Crisis.” Unlike previous years, all conference sessions were streamed online and made free to members and students. As part of an institutional membership with the PJSA, The Baker Institute presented Juniata students with the opportunity to virtually attend and livestream these sessions. The 2020 conference took place over the course of three months with events held in September, October, and November.
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September’s PJSA conference sessions revolved around the theme of restorative justice, and opened with keynote speaker, David Hooker. His presentation, entitled: “Can (Restorative) Justice transform historical harms or dismantle present day systematic (syndemic) oppressions?” explored the long standing debate as to the capacity of restorative justice to effectively address issues of historical harms and present structural racism.
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October’s events followed up with the theme of storytelling and social justice, featuring a talk on “Shrapnel Maps: Stories Seeking Peace & Justice in Israel-Palestine.” Keynote speaker, Philip Metres, reflected on how storytelling and poetry can offer other ways of engaging seeking justice and peace, through the transformational work of the moral imagination. Finally, November’s event on polarization concluded with a featured keynote: “Many Sides of Silence: Polarized Narratives as Blockades to Justice and Healing” by Brandon Brown. In this talk, Brown explained that “…silence can be a mechanism of oppression and dehumanization for people in prison, those reintegrating back into society, or those in various marginalized communities.” Brown draws on his own personal experience of being incarcerated for over a decade, alongside conducting ethnographic research inside of a maximum-security prison.
WAGING NONVIOLENCE Waging Nonviolence is an independent, non-profit media platform dedicated to providing original reporting and expert analysis of social movements around the world. IMPACT PROJECT A collaboration between the Peacebuilding and the Arts Program at Brandeis University, The Baker Institute, and Maseno University in Kenya, IMPACT designed an infrastructure to strengthen the ecosystem of arts, culture, and conflict transformation (ACCT).
peace is everybody’s business
The Reach of The Baker Institute Ibram X. Kendi joined Juniata College faculty for a virtual Q&A on March 3, 2021. Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. Kendi is the 2020–2021 Frances B. Cashin Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University.
brontë velez, a Black-Latinx transdisciplinary artist, designer, educator, and creative director of Lead to Life, hosted a virtual workshop titled “Black Feminist Prophetic Attention.” velez’s organization, Lead to Life, is a Black and Queer collaborative reimagining guns, objects, and sites of violence into the otherwise and exploring the prophetic practice of alchemy as a medium to reimagine justice. This presentation was a multimedia exploration of Lead to Life’s praxis, exploring its roots in abolitionist eco-theologies.
Educator, activist, artist, and Baker Institute Fellow Daniel Bryan served as a visiting assistant professor of Peace and Conflict Studies for the spring ’21 semester. Bryan specializes in the use of participatory theatre as a means of education, empowerment, development and knowledge-creation. Originally from the United States, he has lived the last 19 years in Ecuador, where he directs the non-profit organization, the Pachaysana Institute (Fundación Pachaysana). Bryan is a lecturer at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and holds an MA in Education from the University of Tulsa and an MFA in Theatre from UCLA.
The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies at Juniata College hosts peace scholars, artists, activists, and practitioners for speaking engagements and residencies, and sends students out into the world through conference, study abroad, and internship opportunities. Here is ‘where we’ve been,’ and some places where we had collaborations, during the 2020–2021 academic year.
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To view an interactive version of this map, visit www.juniata.edu/pacs and click on Baker Institute.
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Research and Professional Development POLLY O. WALKER, PH.D. Director, The Baker Institute Elizabeth Evans Baker Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Polly O. Walker, Ph.D., served on the boards of several international organizations focused on building peace, addressing justice initiatives and transforming conflict. These roles supported The Baker Institute goals of A.) Providing leadership in the field of Peace and Conflict Studies as an academic program through research, curriculum development, consultation, and education. B.) Initiating and supporting cooperation among existing programs and institutions that will strengthen Peace and Conflict Studies in content and methodology and will enhance its legitimacy and develop its constituency both in and out of the academic community.
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Publications:
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Brigg, M. & Walker, P. (in press). Indigenous Approaches to Peace. In O. Richmond & G. Visoka (Eds.). The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies (PEPCS). Palgrave.
Walker, P. (in press). Review of S. Wilson, A. V. Breen & L Dupré (Eds.) Research and Reconciliation: Unsettling Ways of Knowing Through Indigenous Relationships. New Mexico Historical Review. University of New Mexico.
Walker, P. Restoring Balance and Harmony to Peace and Conflict Studies: Engaging Indigenous Paradigm Research in Collaborations of Integrity. In H. Devere, K. Te Maiharoa, Ligaliga, M. Decolonizing Peace and Conflict Studies through Indigenous Research. Routledge.
Director Polly Walker engages with PACS students.
Conference presentations:
Invited Plenary Panel: Indigenous Women and Peace, with Bernadette Muthien and Rauna Kuokkanen, International Peace Research Association Conference: Peace Technology, Nairobi, Jan. 11–15, 2021.
Invited Speaker: Ethical Practices, UNESCO’s Art Lab Research Project: The imperative of cultural justice: The transformative potential of arts and cultural work to advance human rights. Dec. 10, 2020.
Invited Panel: Decolonizing Peace and Conflict Studies, with Kelli Te Maiharoa and Heather Devere, International Peace Research Association Conference: Peace Technology, Nairobi, Jan. 11–15, 2021.
Invited Panel: The Roots of Our Resistance: Indigenous Peacemaking and the Current Crisis. IPRA/PJSA collaboration at the Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference, Sept. 21, 2020.
Invited Plenary Panel: Collaborations of Integrity in Kenya in Arts, Culture and Conflict Transformation, with Susan Kilonzo, Kitche Magak, David Ongarera and Juliet Odouo, International Peace Research Association Conference: Peace Technology, Nairobi, Jan. 11–15, 2021.
peace is everybody’s business
PHOTOS: (LEFT) JASON JONES, (RIGHT TOP) MEGAN BRENNEMAN, (RIGHT BOTTOM) COURTESY OF DANIEL P. BRYAN, (FAR RIGHT TOP) MEGAN BRENNEMAN, (FAR RIGHT BOTTOM) BARRY GRUBB
Chair, Social Work, Criminal Justice, and Sociology Interim Director of The Baker Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies, spring ’21
Co-moderated (with Dr. Territa Poole, Psychology) March 3 Zoom Q&A with renowned antiracism scholar and professor Dr. Ibram X. Kendi Participated in two-day January ’21 faculty dialogue skills training through Essential Partners Facilitated two-day February ’21 student dialogue skills training through Essential Partners DANIEL P. BRYAN Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
In October, coproduced a fourpart Webinar/ Workshop series called “Storytelling for Social and Planetary Change” with Fundación Pachaysana and Counterpoint: Navigating Knowledge. This series was sponsored by the Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab at Florida International University. Guest lecturer and workshop facilitator on the topics of Epistemic Justice, Theatre and Conflict Transformation and Education for Social Action In Fall with University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina—Asheville, Brown University, Juniata College, and ISEEN (Independent Schools Experiential Education Network)
In Spring with the Asheville City Schools Foundation and Wesleyan University
Organized Workshop-Presentation for The Baker Institute with brontë velez of Lead to Life on “black feminist prophetic attention”
Panel Presentation at the Third International Symposium on Indigenous Languages and Cultures of Latin America (ILCLA) called “Pukllay Pampa (the playground) of epistemic justice: our stories as a liberatory ceremony” in March 2021
Organized guest lectures with Gender and Conflict course at Juniata
Developed course, “Critical Interculturality and Decolonizing Education” with the Andean community collective, Pintag Amaru, and students from Wesleyan University. It is currently being workshopped as a graduate course with Providence College Designed “From the Cracks” a virtual fair-trade, decolonial education program. This program was carried out at Wesleyan University and honored as a finalist for “Most Innovative New Program” in education abroad by GoAbroad.com Co-produced the online intercultural theatrical presentation “Journey to God’s Face” with the Quito Eterno Foundation for the online production company Aguas Arts Ink Coordinated an online English-tutoring program between TEFL students at varios universities in the U.S. and Indigenous youth from the A’í-Cofán Nation of the Ecuadorian Amazon. A 2-part series of Unlearning Workshops with The Ohio State University (sponsored by The Center for Latin American Studies) in fall and spring “Epistemic Justice” in fall “Storytelling for Social Change” in spring
Alice Markham-Cantor spoke on Witch hunts and Gender Justice brontë velez spoke on women of color feminism and ecofeminism Belen Noroña spoke on Indigenous feminism Chelsea Viteri spoke on embodying gender justice
Affiliated Faculty UMA RAMAKRISHNAN, PH.D. Professor of Environmental Science and Studies
Ramakrishnan served as chair of The Baker Institute Advisory Board and led a small group of affiliated faculty and board members in compiling data to support the hiring process for a new director. LYNN COCKETT, PH.D. Professor of Communication
Cockett organized and led a May 2021 retreat with the intent to redesign and revitalize the PACS curriculum. The retreat brought new faculty into the conversation about the impact of PACS on campus, and reenergized longtime supporters of the program. | THE BAKER INSTITUTE
DANIEL M. WELLIVER
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peace is everybody’s business Law: Advocacy and Solidarity
Restorative Justice
Dealing with Transnational and Global Threats
Guests of The Baker Institute: 2020–2021 PACS Alumni Panel
Development
Structural and Institutional Change
Five accomplished women participated in a fall 2020 Zoom panel of alumni who spoke to current PACS students about life and career after Juniata.
Justice and Healing
Violence Prevention, Conflict Response and Transformation
Education
October 8, 2020
Transitional Justice
Dialogue/ Conflict Resolution Strategies
Non-Violent Social Change
Trauma Healing
Humanitarian Action
Government and Multi-Lateral Efforts
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF ALUMS
STEPHANIE FARFAN ’15
ASHLEY PINAMONTI ’16
SAVANNAH PARSON ’18
Peace and Conflict Studies
International Politics and Conflict Resolution with a Secondary Emphasis in Spanish
Social Organization and Change
Miami, Fla.
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Stephanie Farfan is a foreign policy and international disability policy professional. She was previously the Spring Fellow for LCWINS, where she created multiple trackers that assess whether or not the Biden administration fulfilled their promise to nominate an equal number of men and women to senior positions. Before joining LCWINS, Stephanie was the Policy, Practices and Latinx Outreach Associate at RespectAbility, a nonprofit that advocates for people with disabilities in the United States. There, she worked on employment policy as well as led the creation of a Spanish-language toolkit for immigrants with disabled children. Her work was featured on CNN en Español. She was also previously an intern for Win Without War, where she focused on the intersection between immigration and militarization. Stephanie has an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University, where her final project was analyzing disability policy in Ecuador. In this project, she had the opportunity to interview lawmakers in Ecuador.
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Washington D.C.
Ashley Pinamonti is a Learning Assistant with the U.S. Agency for International Development Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI), which provides fast, flexible, shortterm assistance to promote peace and democracy in countries experiencing conflict and instability. Prior to joining OTI, she served as a Youth Development Promoter with Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Before Peace Corps, Ashley supported New Sun Rising, a business incubation and community development nonprofit organization, as an AmeriCorps VISTA.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
While at Juniata, Savannah created her own POE by combining Peace and Conflict Studies and Sociology with a Secondary Emphasis in Gender Studies. After graduating, Savannah completed two service years with Repair the World Pittsburgh, where she was an Education Justice Fellow. Savannah now works for The Fair Housing Partnership of Greater Pittsburgh where she holds the role of Enforcement Coordinator.
SARAH ULLOM-MINNICH ’18 International Politics and Conflict Resolution with a Secondary Emphasis in Spanish Moundridge, Kan.
NORA CONNORS ’17 Conflict Studies and Social Justice Saco, Maine
Nora Connors is a secondyear medical student at the University of New England. She graduated from Juniata College after studying conflict and learning more about healthcare disparities, which inspired her to become a doctor to underserved populations. Since then, she has done public health work in Burma and Thailand.
Sarah joined the PACS program after completing a year of Brethren Volunteer Service working with Spanish-speaking families experiencing homelessness in Chicago. After graduation, she worked with a nonprofit in rural Kansas, called Steps to End Poverty of McPherson County, assisting with organizational site expansion. She then joined the Peace Corps as a Community Organizational Development Volunteer in a minority Serb community in post-conflict Kosovo. Sarah is currently pursuing an MPP in Global Affairs at Yale University’s Jackson Institute as a Coverdell Fellow in New Haven, Conn.
peace is everybody’s business
Speakers DAVID J. SMITH
November 18, 2020 Educator, Consultant, Career Coach PHOTO: COURTESY OF DAVID J. SMITH
David J. Smith is an educator, consultant, and career coach focusing on the fields of conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and humanitarian action. He gave a virtual lecture titled “Career Strategies for a Life Committed to Peace and Social Justice” on November 18, 2020, to a group of Juniata College students. Smith is the president of the Forage Center for Peacebuilding and Humanitarian Education, Inc., a 501c3 not-for-profit that offers experiential learning opportunities for students and professionals. He was formerly a senior program officer and manager of national outreach at the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has taught at Goucher College, Towson University, Georgetown University, and currently at the School of Education at Drexel University and the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the University of Tartu (Estonia) teaching peace studies and alternative dispute resolution. David is a recipient of the William Kreidler Award for Distinguished Service to the field of Conflict Resolution given by the Association for Conflict Resolution.
Visit our website at www.juniata.edu/bakerinstitute for info about future events sponsored by The Baker Institute.
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Smith has authored Peace Jobs: A Student’s Guide to Starting a Career Working for Peace (Information Age Publishing, 2016) and edited Peacebuilding in Community Colleges: A Teaching Resource (USIP Press, 2013). David is an official member of Forbes Coaches Council. He is a graduate of American University (BA), George Mason University (MS, conflict resolution), and the University of Baltimore (JD).
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Speakers (Continued) BRONTË VELEZ
April 19, 2021 Artist, Designer, Educator PHOTO: COURTESY OF BRONTË VELEZ
brontë velez, a BlackLatinx transdisciplinary artist, designer, educator, and creative director of Lead to Life, hosted a virtual workshop titled “Black Feminist Prophetic Attention” on April 19 via Zoom. velez’s organization, Lead to Life, is a Black and Queer collaborative reimagining guns, objects, and sites of violence into the otherwise and exploring the prophetic practice of alchemy as a medium to reimagine justice.
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From their website: “Lead to Life is an Oakland-rooted (occupied Ohlone territory) and trans-local collective led by Black and Queer artists, healers & ecologists devoted to embodying Mark Anthony Johnson’s prayer that ‘Black wellness is the antithesis of state violence.’ Bridging racial and environmental justice through ceremony and art practice, we explore a commitment to decomposing systems of oppression through what we call applied alchemy—wielding alchemy to provoke radical imagination toward justice.”
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This presentation was a multimedia exploration of Lead to Life’s praxis, exploring its roots in abolitionist eco-theologies. Lead to Life is asking, “How can Black eco-feminist public ritual, grieving, clearing, melting weapons together and transforming them into ritual objects and tools to heal and repair ceremony and land, shift our relationship to matter, memory, place, time, and trauma?”
Reflection: Shanna Menendez, she/her/hers (International Peace Studies ’22) on the virtual presentation by brontë velez: “brontë’s work with Lead to Life was deeply inspiring and opened my eyes to the use of performance, ceremony, and ritual as a space for justice and healing. Prior to this event, the concept of alchemy was a mystery to me and I only understood its meaning in relation to chemistry. Throughout the course of brontë’s workshop, the audience dug deeper into the concept of alchemy and what it means to understand it as a prophetic practice. Understanding it as a way to reimagine justice that works to transform and shift relationships to memory and matter was something that really stuck out to me. I was able to make certain connections between this concept and my PACS classes. This was especially true in terms of my Gender and Conflict class, where I had the additional opportunity to experience multiple classes led by brontë on the topic of Black eco-feminism.”
peace is everybody’s business
DR. IBRAM X. KENDI
March 3, 2021 Author, Professor, Director of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University PHOTO: STEPHEN VOSS
Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. He is the author of many books including Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest ever winner of that award. He also authored three #1 New York Times bestsellers: How to Be an Antiracist;
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds; and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. His newest books are Be Antiracist: A Journal for Awareness, Reflection, and Action; and Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, co-edited with Keisha Blain, which will be out in February. In 2020, Time magazine named Kendi one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
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Ibram X. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the founding director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor. Kendi is the 2020–2021 Frances B. Cashin
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BOOKS BY IBRAM X. KENDI The Black Campus Movement: Black Students and the Racial Reconstitution of Higher Education, 1965–1972 (winner of the W.E.B. Du Bois Book Prize) Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America (winner of the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction) Antiracist Baby (children’s book and a #1 New York Times bestseller) Be Antiracist: A Journal for Awareness, Reflection, and Action How to Be an Antiracist (#1 New York Times bestseller) Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (a remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning, and a #1 New York Times bestseller) Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619–2019 (co-edited with Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire; a #1 New York Times bestseller)
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Stamped (for Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You, co-authored with Jason Reynolds (children’s book and a #1 New York Times bestseller)
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Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book How to Be an Antiracist began a national conversation around the idea of racism and antiracism. In his podcast Be Antiracist, he seeks to continue that conversation. According to his website, the podcast “imagines what an antiracist society might look like and how we can all play an active role in building…a just and equitable world.”
peace is everybody’s business
Reflections “Dr. Ibram Kendi’s talk about how to be an antiracist was extremely insightful during this time where racism is a constant and evolving discussion. Kendi brought a perspective to the word racist that has never been addressed in conversations I have had in the past. The word racist needs to have the negative implications removed in order for people to be able to point out when something said is racist so it can be corrected. This conversation has enlightened and empowered me to bring this perspective into situations and dialogues where racism needs to be addressed.” —Melanie Thorn ’23 (she, her, hers)
“It was exhilarating to co-moderate the live session with Professor Kendi. My co-moderating partner, Dr. Territa Poole, and I were entrusted to deliver the questions that so many Juniata staff, faculty, students and alumni had thoughtfully prepared from their encounters with Dr. Kendi’s book. The adrenaline was flowing for me that evening. Dr. Kendi was poignant and animated in his reactions to our questions. I felt so grateful that his clear analysis of racism and anti-racism was being made so accessible to the full spectrum of Juniata participants who were tuning in that night. At the conclusion of the event, I had a sense of assurance that Professor Kendi’s analysis would inform and guide the anti-racism work that we are slowly coming to acknowledge needs to be done at Juniata. It was the preparation process leading up to the event that was most meaningful for me. My own anti-racist spirit and my commitment to antiracist action were reawakened and deepened from reading Dr. Kendi’s book; discussing implications for anti-racism work at Juniata with faculty colleagues; and working closely with Dr. Poole in selecting and formulating the questions for Dr. Kendi that might elicit what we all needed to hear, understand and act upon.” –Dr. Daniel Welliver, Chair, Social Work, Criminal Justice, and Sociology
And on that night, we had the unprecedented opportunity to ask some of the most difficult questions one could imagine about racism, antiracism, and equity, in general, and then to turn the lens on ourselves, both as individuals and as an institution, and talk truth in a way that was perhaps uncomfortable but also reassuring—reassuring in the sense that we have choices about who we want to be and become, and that there are paths forward to help us make Juniata a more equitable place. Again, this kind of opportunity doesn’t come along very often, and I think the value it holds for the Juniata community is enormous, as we were able to gain deep insight about concepts that may have been unfamiliar, while also holding up the mirror and challenging ourselves to think about who we’ve been, who we are at the present time, and who we want to be in the future as a community.” –Dr. Territa Poole, Assistant Professor of Psychology
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It doesn’t happen very often that one is invited to engage in a public dialogue with one of the most prolific antiracism scholars and activists. So needless to say, it was an honor and a pleasure to take part in that most important conversation. And what was it like? Well, as a woman and scholar of color, the conversation had a particularly weighty salience; I found it to be simultaneously enlightening and validating. So much of the lived experiences of people of color have been historically ignored and overlooked, often because we have not had the appropriate language and theoretical framing to discuss and examine it— something that Kendi has marvelously achieved through his research and writing.
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peace is everybody’s business
Student Involvement with The Baker Institute: 2020–2021 Class of 2021 Perry Willig Redwood City, Calif. Peace and Conflict Studies Kaitlyn Granger Wernersville, Pa. Conflict Intervention and Analysis
Baker Institute Student Employees Juniata Associate: Kaitlyn Granger ’21 Student Assistant: Shanna Menendez ’22
Baker Institute Advisory Board Student Members
Jules Slater Pittsburgh, Pa. Communication and Social Advocacy
Kaitlyn Granger ’21 Perry Willig ’21 Shanna Menendez ’22 Grace Cook-Huffman ’22
Alexis Jones Middletown, Pa. Communication and Social Advocacy
Conferences Attended Remotely
Evelyn McCammon Acton, Mass. International Studies & French
PEACE & JUSTICE STUDIES ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE (PJSA) September–November 2020
The 2020 PJSA Digital Conference invited peace and justice scholars, students, and community-based practitioners to join the conversation in subjects concerning restorative justice, storytelling and social justice, and polarization. Access to this virtual conference was made available to PACS students. Polly Walker facilitated the event ‘The Roots of Our Resistance: Indigenous Peacemaking and the Current Crisis.’
| Juniata College
Members of the Juniata College community gather to remember the eight lives lost in Atlanta, GA, on March 16, 2021, and to pay respects to the countless lives impacted by yet another senseless act of gun violence.
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peace is everybody’s business
Student Research and Achievements THE 2021 JUNIATA COLLEGE BAILEY ORATORICAL AWARDS MARCH 2, 2021
Many Peace and Conflict Studies students participated in the early rounds of this competition, with two PACS students making it to the final round. Both Olivia Simmons ’22 (left) and Jules Slater ’21, centered their speeches on the social injustice present in the country and in our local communities. Their emotional and powerful speeches discussed how we can persevere and strive towards change, through collective action.
Olivia Simmons ’22 (above) delivers a strong Bailey speech, but Jules Slater ’21 (right) placed first and took home the trophy.
Senior Communications and Social Justice Advocacy student Jules Slater ’21, (right) took home the prestigious first place award.
PROJECT CAUSE: USING AN ANTIRACIST IDEOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE TO EXAMINE AND ADDRESS DISPARITIES Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua ’23
Sophomore PACS student Cruz Contreras-Amezcua spent the spring semester researching the experiences of BIPOC students in higher education. The retention and graduation rates for BIPOC students are disproportional lower than white students. Using an anti-racist approach, Project CAUSE highlighted Strategic Mentoring and Equity Literacy in the First Year Experience as action steps to improve sense of belonging and increase retention rates for BIPOC students. This research will be submitted for publication soon.
Contreras-Amezcua presents Project CAUSE research in Alumni Hall during the 2021 Liberal Arts Symposium.
| THE BAKER INSTITUTE
PHOTOS: (LEFT) CANDICE HERSH; (RIGHT TOP) CANDICE HERSH; (RIGHT BOTTOM) CANDICE HERSH; (FAR RIGHT) SARAH WORLEY
The Bailey Oratorical stands as the oldest ongoing tradition of academic excellence at Juniata College. This year, students were asked to think about who they are when they answer the prompt, “What did we learn from the challenges of 2020 that we can use in the future?”
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peace is everybody’s business
Student Involvement Continued THE ART OF WAR EXHIBITION APRIL 15–MAY 15, 2021 Kaitlyn Granger ’21
This exhibition took Peace and Conflict Studies theories and topics and applied them to the museum field. The exhibition explored the Juniata College Museum’s collection of art made in Germany and the United States during World War I and World War II. The exhibition centered art as a tool to understand, process, and explore the violence of war and mass atrocity. The research project combined the disciplines of Museum Studies and Peace Studies and was open to the Juniata College and Huntingdon communities.
Senior PACS and Museum Studies student Kaitlyn Granger ’21 took her spring semester to research, plan, and execute an exhibition in the Juniata College Museum of Art.
| Juniata College
Students gather on the quad to reflect on and share their reasons for voting in the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.
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Melanie Thorn (PACS ’23) enjoys Mountain Day ’20 festivities on the quad.
peace is everybody’s business
CAN INTERNATIONAL TRANSBOUNDARY WATER LAW PREVENT WATER CONFLICT? SARAH BORGARDT ’22
As climate change intensifies, water resources are becoming more scarce and more contentious. This has produced several multilateral conventions attempting to enhance cooperation on international river basins. This project examined these conventions through the lens of international politics and conflict intervention. A COMMUNITY’S SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSE TO A RACIST INCIDENT: THE CASE OF THE ANONYMOUS EMAIL JULES SLATER ’21
In the summer of 2020, a small liberal arts college community was faced with an anonymous email filled with words and ideas that undermined the community’s ideals and the values of a community in which all are treated equally. This study discerns certain ways in which this small college’s community used social media to respond to this incident. ABOUT LIFEMOVES
PERRY WILLIG ’21 SUMMER ’20 INTERNSHIP
Bay Area-based housing non-profit LifeMoves has 23 shelters along California and is responsible for changing many lives that have been affected by the wealth gap in California. Willig taught two groups of high school students about homelessness in California and beyond, as well as about privilege and the productive things we can do with it. This internship provided a leadership opportunity for Willig, as well as preparation for service work after Juniata and a distraction from the relentlessness of COVID news over the summer of 2020.
Juniata students share messages on painted rocks urging the campus community to take necessary precautions against COVID-19.
Reflection: Perry Willig’21, he/his/ him (PACS ’21) on the 16-hour dialogue skills training through Essential Partners: “I think the dialogue training was useful and easy to learn. I say this as someone who has taken classes in conflict resolution, but I think the workshop’s leaders were clear in their goals for us and helped us get to them, such as how to facilitate dialogue, what makes a good subject for dialogue, and how to defuse situations. I think training Juniata students in this material is very helpful for creating action that responds to violence against groups, but more importantly prevents it. In class we learn about how transformative dialogue can be for exposing ourselves to different perspectives to create mutual understanding, and that’s what this workshop was all about. From a PACS student perspective, the workshop was kind of a review of material, which if anything is a testament to the PACS program, So overall, I think the training is much more useful for students who don’t find themselves in classes like Intro to Conflict Resolution, but still have a desire to prevent conflict on campus. Another big part of the training was actually creating groups on campus to facilitate dialogue, which was very exciting and something you don’t necessarily get out of a PACS class.”
| THE BAKER INSTITUTE
PHOTOS: (LEFT TOP) COURTESY OF KAITLYN GRANGER; (FAR LEFT BOTTOM) CANDICE HERSH; (LEFT BOTTOM) OLIVIA MARIE ’23; (RIGHT BOTTOM) SHANNA MENENDEZ ’22; (RIGHT TOP) COURTESY OF PERRY WILLIG ’21
PACS Student Research
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PHOTO: COURTESY OF KAITLYN GRANGER
From left: Perry Willig ’21, Director Polly Walker, and Kaitlyn Granger ’21 gather with other PACS students for the first time in a year to bid farewell to Walker before her retirement from Juniata.
1700 Moore Street Huntingdon, PA 16652 www.juniata.edu/pacs 814-641-3464