March 2017 update from The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies  
Kitche Magak: Scholar in residence March 11-26
Kenyan peacebuilder Kitche Magak will cap off his March residency by a lecture on March 22, 7 PM in Sill, titled "The Dehumanized 'Other': The Arts as a Counterforce to 'otherization' in Kenya."

Magak says:  One of the biggest challenges facing conflict resolution and peacebuilding in Kenya is the idea of “the other,” which is prevalent in politics, economics, culture, ethnicity, social status and education, among others. Magak will argue that Kenya’s colonial and post-colonial history has institutionalized otherization to the point where it has become a subconscious national culture. The 2007/08 post-election violence in Kenya was a brutal manifestation of this institutionalized  otherization . How the concept of the other has been theorized and practice in Kenya has made it a bane to conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Conversely, the arts, individually and collectively, provide an enduring powerful counterforce that has a huge potential to humanize the narrative of "the other.” 

We hope you can attend Magak's lecture.
New web features on The Baker Institute site
Our website has two fun new features that we think really help to tell the story of the relationship between the PACS program and The Baker Institute. 

First, check out our landing page, where you will see, front and center, the Prezi created by 2016 PACS Juniata Associate and grad Ashley Pinamonti. Take a few moments to click through this presentation, which we plan to update every year or as needed.

Also, the main Baker Institute page now features what we're calling an "impact map," a world map with pins that represent the geographic locations of our guest speakers, scholars and artists in residence, last year's Acting Together conference attendees, and more. We intend to add pins for students studying or interning abroad, too. The map is a work-in-progress, intended to reflect the reach and impact of The Baker Institute around the world.
SAVE THE DATE: Sasha Abramsky salon, dinner, lecture 3/16
The Baker Institute will host Sasha Abramsky for a PACS salon and dinner in the Oller Center on March 16, to precede a 7 PM lecture in Neff. The opportunity to have Abramsky on campus is a new development, so invitations and more are forthcoming.

Abramsky is a freelance journalist and activist who speaks on a variety of social justice issues. On 3/16, he will be focusing on his newest book The American Way of Poverty: How the Other Half Still Lives for his public lecture. The topic of his salon talk will be "Sustained Moral Resistance."

PAX-O President Savannah Parson and Vice President Rebekah Ford coordinated Abramsky's visit and his talk will be the Calvert Ellis Memorial Lecture. 

The photo of Abramsky appears courtesy of http://www.sashaabramsky.com, where you can read more about him.
Notable for April: Guest speaker David Radcliff, 4/12
The Baker Institute is supporting a student-organized lecture by David Radcliff on Wednesday, April 12, at 7 PM in Good 302. 

Radcliff is director of New Community Project and leads learning tours to the Arctic and Amazon, Nepal, Myanmar, South Sudan, the DRCongo, and to the Dineh (Navajo) reservation in New Mexico. His talk is called "When Worlds Collide: native vs. capitalist" and will explore how native groups from the Great Plains, the Southwest, the Amazon, and the Arctic protect the earth and promote a different worldview. Photo of Radcliff (left) courtesy of the Church of the Brethren website.
PAX-O activities: An update from President Savannah Parson
PAX-O recently elected the following officers for the 2017-18 academic year:

President: Savannah Parson

Vice President: Rebekah Ford (Fall) and Alice Urvanova (Spring)

Treasurer: Rebecca Baron (Fall) and Kelley Appow (Spring)

Secretary: Dominic DeFelice 

PAX-O will be sponsoring the FEAST Dinner that occurs on the concluding day of Genocide Awareness and Action Week. The dinner is on Friday, April 7, 7 PM at the Stone Church. The theme is Native American dishes, and Polly Walker will be our guest speaker at the meal. Following the dinner will be a candlelight ceremony featuring the church choir, and Dave Witkovsky will provide closing remarks on GAAW on the steps in front of Founders.

Genocide Awareness and Action Week 2017 is April 3-7.

Learn more about PAX-O events by visiting their webpage.
PACS alums return to share career wisdom
Dawoon "Donna" Chung (PACS '03) returned to campus Feb. 16 to speak to current students about her professional life after Juniata. Her evening lecture took place in Good 402 and was well-attended despite a packed campus calendar.

Chung's talk explored how an undergraduate degree in PACS prepared her for a career at the United Nations, where she has worked in various capacities for nearly a decade.

Thanks, Donna!
Ashley Pinamonti (PACS '16) participated in the 2017 campus Career Day on Feb. 24 (photo shows student Joanna Shin, left, and Pinamonti) and then led a small, informal talk with current PACS students about her work with AmeriCorps Vista and an organization called New Sun Rising. Thanks, Ashley!
The Baker Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies | 814-641-3464| bakerins@juniata.edu