Spring seminar on changing course with Iran

WHAT:
A JustPeace Seminar: “Grassroots opportunities for making a difference.” This is the third in the series “Changing Course in Iran.”

WHEN:
April 5, 2008 from 8:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. (Note change from original March 15 date.)

WHERE:
LVD Concert Hall, at the Old Bag Factory, 1100 Chicago Ave., Goshen, Ind.

PROGRAM:
Keynote address, “Recent Developments In U.S.-Iran Relations,” by David Cortright, president of Fourth Freedom Forum and research fellow at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

Small-group topics: contextual implications of the keynote address; Mennonite Central Committee and other church programs; networking with local organizations; Iran issues in the U.S. presidential campaign; our local Iranian-American community; the oil-energy factor; ways to be heard in press, Internet and media.

General discussion: “Setting a New Course for the Future.”

COST:
$15 for participation, materials and refreshments. Students $3. Payment at the door. Optional post-seminar lunch at own cost.

REGISTRATION/INFORMATION:
By phone at (574) 533-3014 or e-mailing johnjf@goshen.edu. By phone at (574) 533-3014 or e-mail johnjf@goshen.edu. Early registration ensures stated choice of small-group topic.

SPONSORS:
Seniors for Peace and Goshen College Peace, Justice & Conflict Studies Department

BACKGROUND:
In 2006, JustPeace Seminars began offering programs about Islam, focusing in recent months on the dangerously strained relations between the United States and Iran. By the fall of 2007, the administration in Washington, D.C., was hinting at “the military option,” while Tehran issued its own grim statements and both sides abetted tentative provocations. By now, the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate has itself been rendered controversial. And the partisan dynamic of presidential campaigns in both countries promises to intensity the crisis atmosphere. An urgent need for a peaceful change of course with Iran continues.

Media contact: Paul Shetler, paulbs@goshen.edu

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu.