GWC Peace Studies

Golden West College Global Studies Program invites you to a special call with Hardy Merriman on Tuesday, December 6 at 1:30 pm PT. Click here to register for this event.
https://cccd-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtf--tqjsrEtWKLN6ufjZO2cyf1DUp2ABK

Fighting for Democracy: The Importance of Civil Resistance at Home and Abroad

Democracy is currently threatened worldwide. Over the last 16 years, authoritarian governments have become more powerful and coordinated, as democratic governments have backslid.

But there is another side to this story—ordinary people in diverse countries are also increasingly fighting back, and this provides firm grounds for hope, even amidst setbacks. Many engage in nonviolent civil resistance—using tactics such as strikes, boycotts, and many other nonviolent actions—which historically has played a critical role in defeating authoritarian rule and strengthening democratic resilience. Drawing from scholarly research, and insights from practitioners, Hardy Merriman will discuss how civil resistance works, why it is effective, factors that contribute to movement success, and how greater support for movements can help foster a democratic wave in countries around the world.

Hardy Merriman is President of the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC) and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council. For 20 years, his work has focused on nonviolent civil resistance movements using a range of tactics—such as strikes, boycotts, protests, and acts of noncooperation—to advance human rights, freedom, and justice around the world.

At this event, Dr. Paul Tayyar will read selections of his work about first and second-generation immigrants in the United States, focusing on California’s relationship to the Middle Eastern Diaspora!

In this talk, the Euphrates Institute will present various ways that concerned global citizens can contribute resources to the ongoing refugee crisis. The mission of Euphrates is to inspire humanity to choose peace.

The Euphrates Institute named the Afghanistan Youth Empowerment & Peace-building Organization (AYEPO) the visionary of the year in 2021!

To learn more about the Euphrates Institute, please visit https://www.euphrates.org/

Meet the founder and executive director of Afghanistan Youth Empowerment & Peace-building Organization (AYEPO), Ahmad Shah Karimi! Currently living in Berlin, Germany, Ahmad will share about the myriad difficulties of refugee life in the 21st century.

To learn more about Ahmad Shah and AYEPO, please visit https://ayepo.org/founder-director/

And last, but definitely not least...

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: SARAH OLIVER, Associate Director of Global Programs for Youth Engagement United Religions Initiative - URI, "Building Peace and Resilience for Communities of Change - Perspectives From South Africa"

Based in South Africa, Sarah works to support, connect and inspire young people as interfaith activists and peacebuilders around the world. Sarah has worked in the interfaith sector for the last 10 years, running youth camps, workshops and skills-trainings, both locally and globally. As an experienced facilitator, she is passionate about connecting issues of interfaith dialogue, youth leadership, peacebuilding and social justice.

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: LACY CAGLE

Director of Learning at Ecochallenge.org, Systems-focused leader and Community Education facilitator, LACY CAGLE will be speaking on "The Transformative Power of Seeing Systems."

At Ecochallenge.org, Lacy develops and refines a system of high-quality learning programs that inspire sustainability action and advocacy, and cultivates Ecochallenge.org’s thought leadership on behavior change, systems thinking, and education for sustainability. In addition to her work at Ecochallenge.org, Lacy is a partner at Blackrock Consulting Collaborative, teaches Foundations and Practice of Sustainability at Washington University in St. Louis, is a board member of Au Sable Institute, and serves on several committees for the OneSTL initiative (St. Louis regional plan for sustainable development). Lacy holds a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy with a focus on Leadership in Sustainability Education from Portland State University.

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT!

MICHELE ROMOLINI will be teaming up with BEMMY MAHARRAMLI to discuss Engaging the Public in Advancing Resilient, Vibrant, and Just Communities - A Case Study of a University Center Focused on Urban
Resilience:

MICHELE is the Managing Director of LMU-LA’s Center for Urban Resilience (CURes). She specializes in social scientific research related to urban ecology, with main areas of expertise in environmental governance and green infrastructure. Dr. Romolini leads several CURes research programs, including projects related to tree canopy mapping and prioritization, stewardship networks, and urban parks and greening, working closely with USDA Forest Service scientists and non-profit leaders. Dr. Romolini received her PhD in Natural Resources at the University of Vermont. She teaches courses on both social and ecological topics.

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: BEMMY MAHARRAMLI is the Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives at UCLA Center for Community Engagement. She earned her Ph.D. in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where a central focus of her urban social-ecological research was community engagement. Bemmy was a Senior Pedagogical Fellow at UCI’s Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation, where she developed and led campus-wide pedagogical workshops. She served as a member of the City of Irvine’s Green Ribbon Committee that advises the City Council on sustainability policies and was previously a practitioner in the environmental and international development field.

Thankful and excited to have Bemmy speaking with us next week at the 2021 Peace Conference! RSVP here: bit.ly/peace2021

More sustainable content for your feed... :) Young

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNTlEZGASz9/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

This video explains how I started on the path to creating the Battery Tour & "Project 17" I'm currently working on a Global Goals album, labeled , Project 17, in collaboration with a variety of well known artists to create one song for each of the 17 SDGs. Follow this journey and get plugged-in to the @batterytour #unitednations #sdgs2030 #SDGs #sustainability #utilities #energyefficiency #eco #sustainableartist #batterytour #SDGYoungLeaders #ayyoung #aymusik #

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: AQEELA SHERRILLS

TEDX Speaker, AQEELA SHERRILLS is a Strategist for Californian for Safety and Justice (CSJ), and Chapter Lead for the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) initiative, a nonprofit working to replace justice and prison system waste with common sense solutions that create safe neighborhoods and save taxpayer dollars. Sherrills is the Principal of the Reverence Project, a social profit agency he launched after the murder of his son to develop comprehensive wellness centers in urban war zone introducing those who suffer from high levels of trauma to alternative healing technologies. He consults with violence intervention/prevention agencies locally, nationally, and internationally.

In Aqeela Sherrills' moving and brutally honest talk of personal transformation and his work advancing sustainable peace efforts in urban war zones, he speaks of the need for a new movement. He envisions a Reverence Movement, where love becomes a practice instead of an ideal, where vulnerability and humility become strengths not weaknesses.

Watch the talk here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJGYgoaPyI

Interested in learning more? Visit bit.ly/peace2021 to RSVP for the 2021 Peace Conference & register for your spot to watch Aqeela Sherrills speak live!

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT: AY YOUNG
United Nations Young Leader for the USA | Producer | Singer | Songwriter | Entertainer | Entrepreneur

"With the United Nations, we are working together for the next 2 years to scale my vision, and we have a number of amazing plans, all of them contributing toward the world’s Global Goals."

"Project 17" began with AY's Battery Tour, a concert powered 100% by renewable energy.

"I use the battery tour & music, a universal language, as a way to get the world plugged-in to more sustainable solutions and start thinking of new ways to innovate for the future."

AY was recently appointed as a United Nations 1 of 17 Young Global Leader for the SDGs, the only one from the United States and the only artist.

Click the link to find out more about this amazing speaker who is changing the world, one concert at a time!!!

Interested in learning more? Visit bit.ly/peace2021 to RSVP for the 2021 Peace Conference & register for your spot to watch AY speak live!

AY Young - The Global Goals Project Help me on my mission to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the world. LEARN MORE: https://www.gofundme.com/f/global-goals-projectMy Story is fo...

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