Peace and action comes to WSU
Wayne State University hosted Peace in Action!, a bilingual virtual peace conference for youth Feb. 5 from Ixtapa Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, Mexico. Students, teachers and community leaders joined the webinar discussing resources and tools to help students become peacemakers in their own communities. Educators presented their views on ways to facilitate activism and peace education.
Dr. Talia Weltman-Cisneros, CMLLC faculty member in Spanish and one of the organizers of the conference, said "Peace in Action is a most fitting title for our international conference. Students and educators from around the world put dialogue into action, as we linked our ideas and experiences through hands-on workshops and presentations related to peace education. For Wayne State, this webinar was an important opportunity in which technology-facilitated global conversations about peace, while also providing a space for our students in Detroit and those who had traveled to Mexico to experience a truly bilingual event. It was wonderful to see our students in person and via the webinar use their Spanish language skills to engage in this intercultural dialogue."
Jacob Wilson, one of three Wayne State students who presented at the conference, said "The opportunity I had to attend the conference deeply impacted my understanding of Mexican culture. I was grateful to play a small part in presenting a project with fellow students, Gaia Klotz and Terrel White, and co-lead by Professor Weltman-Cisneros. The people of Zihuatanejo were so kind and willing to exchange ideas about peace and how to overcome struggles that we both face in our communities.
Along with meeting some of the greatest Mexican civil rights leaders of our time, UN representatives and government officials, I had the honor of being part of many of the events that led up to Zihuatanejo City of Guerrero, Mexico being named the first International City of Peace by the United Nations in Mexico. We made new friendships and were able to spend time with the students of the Universidad Autonoma de Guerro and learn about their academic and personal interests. I am excited for the new relationship between our two universities and hopeful for other students interested in exchange or study abroad trips to experience the same cultural discovery opportunity which I had."
In addition to WSU, the international conference and webinar were presented by the Education Peace Team of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee at the United Nations and the Zihuatanejo Peace Committee.