Elizabethtown College will host Dr. John Reuwer, adjunct professor of conflict resolution at St. Michael\u2019s College in Vermont, for a \u201cLecture on Nonviolence: Power for Peace and Justice,\u201d focusing on the potential that nonviolence has to trump violence.<\/p>\n
Reuwer will discuss the history, science and current practice of nonviolence which allows for a world of freedom, justice and peace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI compare violent to nonviolent methods of conflict resolution in 4 categories – the human cost in morbidity and mortality, the economic cost, the environmental cost, and the moral\/cultural cost. Most people vastly underestimate the cost of dependence on violence in all these categories,\u201d Reuwer said.<\/p>\n
Reuwer is an adjunct professor of conflict resolution and has been practicing nonviolence for 30 years, including involvement in peacekeeping missions in high-conflict zones and in inner cities. As a former emergency physician, he wanted to understand why violence is so prevalent in today\u2019s world and he wanted to look at ways of preventing it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great majority of human conflict is resolved, or at least managed, in nonviolent ways – most frequently through talking things out (negotiations), or just letting it go. Tougher conflicts might require a third party as mediator, arbiter, or someone else to bring in new ideas, change the balance of power, or otherwise keep a conflict from becoming destructive,\u201d Reuwer said.<\/p>\n
Reuwer teaches courses about nonviolent action and nonviolent communication as ways to approach conflict resolution. He also serves on the Cure Violence Harrisburg task force, which implements a public health intervention as a complement to the law enforcement agencies in Harrisburg.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is increasing scientific evidence that nonviolent methods are more effective in many situations,\u201d Reuwer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne always has the power to limit how much violence they contribute to the situation, which effectively limits the overall level of violence in the world in a way that a violent response cannot.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n