Lander University hosted a Peace Studies Conference sponsored by the Greenwood and Lander chapters of People to People International (PTPI), on Friday, March 19.
The conference, part of PTPI's three-day "Passport to Peace" program featured discussions on peace and the financial environment, domestic violence, role of the environment in conflict, teaching nuclear non-proliferation and other topics. Presenters included faculty members from Lander, Warren-Wilson College in North Carolina, and the University of North Carolina-Asheville, and representatives of the Greenwood County Sheriff's Office. The program also included original peace poetry readings.
Lander president Daniel Ball and Greenwood Mayor Welborn Adams were special guest speakers at the conference luncheon in Lander's Centennial Hall. Connie Edwards, president of the Greenwood People to People International Chapter, and Lander First Lady Marge Ball are served as co-chairs of the event along with Lander faculty members Daniel Pardieck, associate professor of Environmental Geology, and Lucas McMillan, assistant professor of Political Science.
Edwards was instrumental in starting the Greenwood chapter last year and helped organize the Lander chapter, which was formed a year ago. The conference will conclude with a pinning ceremony for the Lander chapter, conducted by Joyce Wood, president of PTPI in Saginaw, Mich.
The Greenwood chapter has established a "Peace Studies Scholarship" at Lander, and there was a scholarship fundraising reception at Orde's of England in Greenwood beginning on the evening of the conference.
President Dwight Eisenhower created PTPI with the idea of enhancing international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities. The focus is on the exchange of ideas and experiences among people of different countries and diverse cultures.
There are chapters in 134 countries, and they support several projects including a global landmine initiative, which involves the dangerous task of finding and disarming mines left over from wars and other conflicts in a number of countries.