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Contact: Barbara Watkins, KU Continuing Education, 785-864-4790.

Program focuses on how Nobel prize winners struggled to achieve peace

LAWRENCE -- An October series in the "KU for Lawrence" community education program is particularly timely in light of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.

The series, titled "War, Peace, and the Nobel Peace Prize: Examining a Century of Conflict," will look at some of the most famous Nobel Peace Prize winners, the problems they combated, and struggles for peace in the last century.

Classes will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. on four Mondays during October at the University of Kansas' Continuing Education, 1515 St. Andrews Drive, Lawrence. The series will cost $40.

The year 2001 marks the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize, the most famous attempt to raise awareness of the issues of war and peace. The prize has honored the International Red Cross, Desmond Tutu, Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Kissinger, UNICEF, Martin Luther King Jr., Elie Wiesel, and Mikhail Gorbachev.

Following are summaries of each session.

 • The History of Peace-Making / Oct. 1: The first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 grew out of a long history of agitation against war, some of it insightful and effective, some of it sadly idealistic. The prize has been both vigorously attacked and enormously influential. This session will look at the history of the prize and the movement that led Alfred Nobel to create it. Taught by Carl Strikwerda, KU professor of history and associate dean, KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

 • 20th-century Attitudes toward War /Oct. 15: At the beginning of the 20th century, war was regarded by many as a glorious endeavor that would improve the quality of the human species. By the end of that century, war between major powers had, for some, become a distant memory. This session will explore the roots of that transition. Taught by Philip Schrodt, KU professor of political science.

 • Is It Peace If They Keep Fighting? / Oct. 22: The Arab-Israeli conflict has been one of the most intractable international challenges of the past 100 years. In 1978 and 1994, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to individuals who had attempted to resolve this conflictÜyet interactions between Israel and the Arab states remain strained. This session will discuss why. Taught by Deborah Gerner, KU professor of political science.

 • Peace as Social Change / Oct. 29: This session will explore Martin Luther King Jr.'s understanding of active nonviolence and its applications to meaningful social change. It will include consideration of the "revolution of values" necessary to achieve "blessed community" or to build the "world house," and why historian Vincent Harding said King was America's "inconvenient hero." Taught by Robert Shelton, KU ombudsman and associate professor of religious studies.

Besides the four-session series, KU is sponsoring two free public presentations.

 • "Peace-Making: The Power of Nonviolence" will be the topic of a talk by JosŽ Ramos-Horta of East Timor, winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize, at 8:00 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Kansas Union Ballroom at the University of Kansas.

 • "The Nobel Peace Prize and Peace Studies Today" will be the subject of a talk by Pieter van den Dungen of the Peace Studies Institute, University of Bradford, Great Britain, at 8 p.m. Nov. 16 in the Jayhawk Room of the Kansas Union.

To register for the Nobel Peace Prize series, call (785) 864-4790 or go to the KUCE Web site at www.kuce.org.