Guilford College leaders are hoping a peace conference Friday will lead to new approaches to address violence. It’s a way of dealing with conversations and confrontations in response to the Israel and Hamas War.
The conference on Guilford’s campus will examine violence both globally and locally.
While Middle East bloodshed is grabbing the world headlines, Greensboro has had its own problems. Last year saw a record number of homicides in the city.
Guilford College President Kyle Farmbry says the Conceptualizing Peace Conference may lead to new ways of thinking about peacekeeping and conflict resolution.
“There’s been a lot of really unanticipated destruction of many, many lives in the past several months," he says. "And for me, that triggered a lot of questions on not only situations in Gaza and Israel but situations around the world.”
Farmbry says the basic principles of peace-building and intergroup relations aren’t that different for local communities than for other places across the globe.
He says the event is a chance to consider how colleges, including Guilford, can be leaders in long-term peace studies and action.