Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, a nationally recognized teacher, writer, public speaker, and activist committed to nonviolent social change, will deliver the keynote address at the 30th annual MAYDAY! Peace Conference at Gustavus Adolphus College. This year’s conference will take place Wednesday, April 28 and is themed “Imagining Peace.”Nelson-Pallmeyer is an assistant professor of justice and peace studies at the University of St. Thomas. He has written extensively on issues such as hunger, poverty, U.S. foreign policy, the historical Jesus, and problems of God and violence. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from St. Olaf College and a Master of Divinity degree from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
His books include Hunger for Justice: the Politics of Food and Faith (1980), Families Valued: Parenting and Politics for the Good of All Children (1996), Is Religion Killing Us: Violence in the Bible and the Quran (2003), and Saving Christianity From Empire (2005).
At St. Thomas, Nelson-Pallmeyer teaches courses such as “Introduction to Justice and Peace Studies,” “Active Nonviolence,” and “Theologies of Justice and Peace.”
World PeaceGame is a role-playing activity that has participants join teams that are in charge of the various sides of a given conflict. During the course of the activity, players communicate, negotiate, resolve conflicts, set goals, solve problems, and use their values, vision, creativity, and imagination as they work together to build peace.
The final round of the MAYDAY! Oratory Contest will take place at 3:30 p.m. in Alumni Hall. The final round will feature six finalists vying for a first prize of $750.
The full schedule for this year’s MAYDAY! Peace Conference is as follows:
10 a.m. / Keynote address by Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer / Christ Chapel
1:30 p.m. / World PeaceGame – Simulation Workshop / Alumni Hall
3:30 p.m. / Final round of the MAYDAY! Oratory Contest / Alumni Hall
4:30 p.m. / Closing ceremony and reception / Christ Chapel
Dating back to 1981, the MAYDAY! Peace Conference signifies the international distress call as well as a call to action. Previous conferences have focused on topics such as land rights, violence in the community, hunger, food security, global water issues, and Africa’s AIDS crisis.
First established by Florence and the late Raymond Sponberg of North Mankato, Minn., the conference is free of charge and open to the public. For more information about the conference, contact the Gustavus Office of Marketing and Communication at 507-933-7520 or marketing@gustavus.edu.
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