Madhu and Jagdish Sheth Inaugural Conference

Speakers

• A. T. Ariyaratne
• Christopher Key Chapple
• Peggy DoBreer
• Jack DuVall
• Dolores Huerta
• Laura Finley
• Mahmood Ibrahim
• Padmanabh S. Jaini
• Mary Elizabeth King Syed Riyaz Mahdi
• Uma Majmudar
• Shabbir Mansuri
• Eisha Mason
• D. R. Mehta
• Mutombo Nkulu-N'Sengha
• Glenn D. Paige
• Da’an Pan
• Krishna Ahooja Patel
• Samani Sanmati Pragya
• Samani Unnat Pragya
• Tara Sethia
• Jagdish N. Sheth
• Sulak Sivaraksa

Time & Location

• Friday, May 14 - 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Saturday, May 15 - 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
• Bronco Student Center, Ursa Minor; California State Polytechnic Univeristy, Pomona

Goals

The Ahimsa Center conferences will highlight experiments and innovations in the practical applications of ahimsa (nonviolence). In our inaugural conference, dedicated to Creating a Culture of Ahimsa, we will explore the power of visions inspired by nonviolence and examine the strategies through which such visions are translated into realities. Our main goals are to:

• Help us see the depth and destructiveness of violence. Violence is so pervasive, and yet so invisible—and hence so corrosive.
• Make us aware of the constructive power of nonviolence and its practical significance in social, political and ecological contexts. Nonviolence is often misunderstood and hence assumed to be of little practical significance.
• Engage us in building communities of ahimsaks (people committed to ahimsa). Individual as well as social transformation is critical to the creation of a culture of ahimsa.

Themes and Topics

• The meaning and significance of the culture of ahimsa.
• The role of education, training and networking in fostering respect and care for all life forms.
• The role of compassion, civility, forgiveness, courage and justice in creating a culture of ahimsa.
• Individual and community level experiments and innovations in the culture of ahimsa.
• The role of nonviolence in social, political and environmental movements leading to social change