The day’s programming provides ways for students and others to get involved in the community, shows them that individuals can make a difference and lets them know that peace not only is about stopping war and violence, but also is about doing positive acts, said Russell Vandenbroucke, director of the undergraduate certificate program in Peace, Justice and Conflict Transformation.
Along with a day filled with free hugs and random acts of kindness, UofL’s PeaceDay programming includes a drumming circle, volunteer fair, documentary film showings and a local band concert designed to inspire peace.
Here’s the schedule:
- Cards in the Community Service Fair
11:30 a.m., West Plaza, outside the Red Barn. Some 60 organizations will provide volunteer information. The fair starts with a drum circle.
- “Pray the Devil Back to Hell”
1 p.m., Floyd Theatre. Documentary on peacemaking efforts of Liberian women. Leymah Gbowee led the women and subsequently won the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize.
- “Four Little Girls”
2:30 p.m., Floyd Theatre, Student Activities Center. Spike Lee’s documentary on the Sept. 15, 1963 bombing of a Birmingham, Ala., church which killed four young girls.
- “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin”
5 p.m., Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library. Documentary on one of the 1963 March on Washington organizers, Bayard Rustin, who had to stay in the background because he was homosexual. Sponsored by the LGBT Center.
- Adam Dahmer, Zachary Todd, The American Dream and the Bamboozle Crew
7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Besides music by these four local bands, expect free food and drinks, and more information about volunteer and study abroad opportunities related to peace studies.
- “Soaring towards a Better Tomorrow in Northern Ireland,” an art display of dove drawings by teens in that country.
All day, inside the Red Barn.
The United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Peace since the 1980s and officially sanctioned it in 2001. UofL’s celebration is jointly produced by the Peace, Justice and Conflict Transformation undergraduate certificate program and the Student Activities Board.