GMercyU Hosts the Peace History Society Conference

Gwynedd Mercy University hosted the biennial Peace History Society Conference from October 26-28. GMercyU’s Professor of History Michael Clinton, PhD, a former president and current board member of the Peace History Society, worked to bring the conference to GMercyU’s campus.

The theme of this year’s conference was Peace and Protest, Past and Present. Over the span of three days, guests from across the globe participated on-site and virtually in panels and discussions that considered peace as an active process often expressed through dissent and protest. The conference also featured an exhibit about the history of the American Friends Service Committee co-curated by two GMercyU students, as well as a display commemorating the centenary of the War Resisters League.

In the conference keynote address, renowned activist and author George Lakey called upon his experiences during the civil rights movement in a presentation that asked, “How Does Civil Rights History Help Us – and Not – in Understanding What We’re Facing Now?”

C-SPAN was on hand during the conference to record one of the sessions that featured peace scholar and activist David Cortright and others to discuss their participation in the mass demonstrations protesting the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. The segment is scheduled to air on December 9, 2024 on C-SPAN.