Plowshares Collaborative News & Events
August 1, 2003
Plowshares brings three experts in conflict resolution
A groundbreaking Indiana-based peace education project funded by a $13.8 million Lilly Endowment Inc. grant has selected its three keystone professors. They are a Dublin-based world authority on bigotry and reconciliation, an expert in Islamic issues and civilization and a former theologian who has lobbied Congress and the United Nations on peace issues.
In addition to teaching and lecturing at the forthcoming Indianapolis Peace House residential program, each will be based at one of Indiana’s historic peace studies colleges: Earlham in Richmond, Goshen in Goshen and Manchester in North Manchester. The Lilly Endowment-funded Plowshares program is a collaborative of the three independent colleges, taking its name from Isaiah 2:4 of the Bible: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares …”
The Plowshares faculty:
Saoud El Mawla of Lebanon, Plowshares Professor of Peace Studies at Earlham.
Joseph Liechty of Ireland, Plowshares Associate Professor of Peace Studies at Goshen.
Timothy A. McElwee of North Manchester, Ind., Plowshares Associate Professor of Peace Studies at Manchester.
The three educators – all with previous ties to their respective college appointments – begin their posts in the fall and also will lead classes, seminars and forums in the greater Indianapolis area. They are key to the Plowshares intent to provide college students with experience in peacemaking or conflict-resolution.
Each of the three colleges is tied to religious denominations historically rooted in issues of peace and conflict resolution. Earlham College has Quaker roots, Goshen College is affiliated with the Mennonites and Manchester is a Church of the Brethren college. In addition to sharing the Plowshares professors, each college will send students to Peace House.
“Overnight, the appointments have transformed our programs into one that will earn a national and international reputation,” said Earlham President Douglas C. Bennett. “Adding these three to our excellent faculty resources in peace and conflict resolution on our three campuses creates an extraordinary undergraduate program.”
At Peace House, students and professors and nationally-known lecturers will discuss the diversity issues of Indianapolis, with first-hand experience in conflict resolution. Ultimately, Plowshares seeks to become a resource for peace and reconciliation studies for colleges and universities across the nation and in other nations.
“This is a major step forward for our Plowshares collaboration,” said Goshen President Shirley H. Showalter. “They will bring their special interests to our program and our Indianapolis effort, and, in combination, they will make an impressive contribution.”
Liechty, a leading authority on sectarianism, has spent the last 24 years living and working in Ireland. Since completing his Ph.D. in Irish history at St. Patrick’s College, he has been involved in many of the key initiatives concerning religion, conflict and reconciliation in Northern Ireland. His undergraduate degree in history is from Goshen College. Liechty contributed to Reconciling Memories, which explored how clashing national memories follow and feed long-term conflict and served on an Irish inter-church group that addressed the contentious and divisive problem of sectarianism. Most recently, he has participated in an examination of the relationship of religion and conflict in Northern Ireland.
Mawla, an associate professor at Lebanese University in Lebanon, was a visiting assistant professor at Earlham College two years ago, teaching Islamic civilization, history, culture and politics. The scholar on Islamic civilization holds a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Islamic civilization from the Sorbonne in Paris, a master’s in philosophy and has authored publications covering a range of Islamic and Middle Eastern issues.
McElwee, a 1978 graduate of Manchester College, teaches courses on war and peace, and religion and war, emphasizing how the we arrive at war. He also has served as Manchester campus pastor and as director of the Church of the Brethren office in Washington, D.C., representing the denomination’s peace interests to Congress, the United Nations and government agencies. McElwee most recently was vice president for advancement at Manchester, leading fund-raising. He has a master’s of divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary and a master’s and Ph.D. from Purdue University.
“We have done something remarkable for three colleges,” said Manchester President Parker G. Marden. “We took each other’s interests in account when we hired our own Plowshares professor. It had terrific results, with three distinctive, but complementary hires.”
