News from the Albert Schweitzer Institute
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John Conyers Jr. |
U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan delivered the keynote address at the conference "Fulfilling the Promise of Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 60" on Dec. 6. The institute and the City of New Haven Peace Commission co-sponsored the event.
Conyers, a Democrat, was re-elected to the 14th Congressional District in 2006 to his 21st term in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was first elected in 1964 and is the House's second most senior member. After serving as chairman of the House Committee on Government Operations (now renamed Government Reform) from 1989 to 1994, Conyers was elected chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary and was a member of its 1974 hearings on the Watergate impeachment scandal.
He is one of the 13 founding members of the Congressional Black Caucus. His major accomplishments include the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, the Motor Voter Bill of 1993, the Martin Luther King Holiday Act of 1983, the Alcohol Warning Label Act of 1988, the Jazz Preservation Act of 1987 and the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Adopted by the U.N. General Assembly Dec. 10, 1948, the Declaration of Human Rights represents the first comprehensive agreement among nations as to the specific rights and freedoms of all human beings. Among others, these include the right to not be tortured, to equality before the law, to a fair trial, to freedom of movement, to asylum and to freedom of conscience, religion and opinion. The rights outlined also include economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to food, clothing, housing, medical care, social security, work, equal pay for equal work, form trade unions and education.
The conference also included lectures on the following topics:
- "Connecting Human Rights to a Living Wage"
- "The Peace Economy: Key to Sustainability"
- "We Won't Go Back! Dismantling the Landmines of Political Injustice"
- "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor: The Universal Rights to Cross Borders"
- "Bold Connecticut Experiments: Using the Declaration of Human Rights in Social and Economic Struggles"
- "Humanizing the U.S. Justice systems Using the Declaration of Human Rights"
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From left: David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, and musician and activist Bono, at the ninth World Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in Paris. |
"Nothing has happened in the Security Council on disarmament issues for over 60 years and it is about time something happened," Ives said. "Neglect of this issue borders on criminal, in my view."
The summit offered an opportunity for Nobel Laureates to elaborate strategies of international policies to ensure a real observance of the principles reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The world event was held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the European Heads of State to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the declaration, which was signed on Dec. 10, 1948.
View more photos from the summit
Read the declaration from the summit
Read Ives' remarks from the summit
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Sean Duffy |
The debate focused on the connection between military spending and the lack of money available to eliminate poverty and improve health and education programs. This was the first debate since 1946 that discussed disarmament and the role of the Security Council in coordinating disarmament in the name of global security.
"Among the more important ideas under consideration were the proliferation and easy availability of small arms and light weaponry, and the tradeoff between investments in military/armament versus investment in development," said Sean Duffy, a political science professor who accompanied the four political science majors. "Also highlighted were the next steps being taken in nuclear proliferation, ballistic missile treaties, and chemical and biological weapons conventions. The debate revealed where certain countries stand in terms of international efforts to limit or curtail independent military actions of member nations."
Oscar Arias, president of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, presided over the debate. Costa Rica also held the chair of the Security Council for the month of November. Other countries with high-level representation were Panama and Chile. The Albert Schweitzer Institute made it possible for Duffy and the four students attend the debate.
"What made this experience especially impressive is that we were admitted to the floor of the Security Council as special guests of President Arias," said David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute. "We had the same access to the Security Council as the ambassadors to the UN. This is unheard of and made the visit really special."
Read Arias' remarks from the event
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The institute hosted the photo exhibit, "Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multiracial Families," Nov. 17 to Dec. 12. The exhibit, provided by Family Diversity Projects, offered a powerful, moving vision of the growing diversity of the American family.
The exhibit featured photographs with 20 families who have bridged the racial divide through interracial relationships and adoption. In a world where race is considered a barrier between people, the families in this traveling exhibit have discovered richness in diversity. The exhibit teaches about racial identity and racism.
The photos were taken by photographer Gigi Kaeser, an early childhood educator and photographer. She is co-founder and co-director of Family Diversity Projects and photographer for all of its projects.
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Menchú, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has dedicated her life to organizing resistance to oppression in Guatemala and advocating for the rights of Indian peasants.
Menchú was born to a poor Indian peasant family and raised in the Quiche branch of the Mayan culture in Guatemala. Reform work by her and her family aroused opposition leading to the arrest, torture and death of her parents and brother.
View a photo gallery from the event.
Watch a video recording of the lecture. 
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The lecture was part of the daylong conference, "The Declaration of Human Rights 60 Years Later: A Look at Indigenous and Gender Issues." Other speakers included:
- Anat Biletzki, Albert Schweitzer Institute visiting professor of philosophy from the University of Tel Aviv, who discussed international human rights
- Sean Duffy, chair of the political science department, who discussed human rights in the United States
- Sandy Korrejian, executive director of Domestic Violence Services of Greater New Haven; Anna Sandoval, assistant professor of sociology at Simmons College in Boston and a native of Guatemala; and Lori Sudderth, chair of the sociology department, who discussed gender issues and violence against women
- Lourdes Portillo, who presented scenes and discussed her documentary, "Senorita Extraviada," which examines murdered young women along the U.S.-Mexican border
- Ronald Beckett, chairman of cardiopulmonary sciences and diagnostic imaging, who discussed his experience in Papua New Guinea and the clash between the modern idealism and indigenous rights and beliefs
- Tonya Frichner, North American representative of the U.N. Secretariat of the Permanent Forum, who spoke about indigenous issues
- Ellen L. Lutz, executive director of Cultural Survival
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From left: David Ives, Rebecca Abbott and Liam O'Brien |
Rebecca Abbott, professor of communications, was videographer and editor. David Ives, executive director of the institute, produced the documentary. Liam O'Brien, professor of media production, directed and wrote it.
Watch a video of Ives' acceptance speech
David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, has been appointed to the International Steering Committee for the Middle Powers Initiative. The focus of this group is the problem of nuclear weapons around the world, specifically the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The committee works with Middle Powers countries, such as Germany, Japan, Norway and Great Britain, providing briefings and workshops on nuclear weapons issues.
As a member of the committee, Ives will help to organize several public conferences on nuclear issues held at various locations around the world. The Schweitzer Institute will also become a member organization of the Middle Powers Initiative, joining organizations such as the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the International Peace Bureau, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the Global Security Institute and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear War.
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Ben Page, professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, and David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, visited the grave of Albert Schweitzer in Lambarene, Africa. During winter break, Ives led a group of faculty and staff members to Lambarene to visit the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which houses a medical research unit that studies the causes and treatment of diseases affecting the local population. The trip was sponsored by the Albert Schweitzer Institute.
Several other groups also participated in community service trips sponsored by the institute during the break. Students and faculty members from the nursing and physical therapy departments and the School of Business traveled to Leon, Nicaragua. The nursing and physical therapy students visited Leon Municipal Hospital, one of the poorest hospitals of the western hemisphere, where they shadowed nurses, assessed patients and provided workshops on health practices for the medical staff of the hospital. The School of Business students offered a workshop on developing and planning a business to several local businesses.
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A collection of essays based on a conference held at the Albert Schweitzer Institute in 2005 was recently published.
"Reverence for Life Revisited: Albert Schweitzer's Relevance Today," was edited by David T. Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, and David A. Valone, assistant professor of history.
The book, published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing, may be ordered here. A sample chapter of the book, "Reason for Hope" by Jane Goodall, the keynote speaker at the conference, may also be viewed.
Read more about the book...
The institute presented the first Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Award to former President Jimmy Carter on Sept. 26, 2007. Carter delivered a lecture marking the 50th anniversary of Albert Schweitzer's call for an end to nuclear weapons. His lecture preceded a daylong conference, "Albert Schweitzer's Legacy: The Dangers of Nuclear Weapons."
- Read more about Jimmy Carter's lecture and view photos.
- Read the speech by Hirotami Yamada (PDF), secretary general of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Network in Nagasaki.
- Read the speech by Kohta Kiya (PDF), secretary General of the Atomic Bomb Survivors Network in Hiroshima.
- Learn more about Nihon Hidankyo (PDF), the only national organization of A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha) in Japan.
- Read more about the conference.
- The institute held an essay contest on nuclear weapons and the future of humanity. The faculty-student jury awarded a grand prize of $200 to Lindsay Dillon for her essay, "Ending the Threat of a Nuclear Holocaust." Read the winning essay
- Two second prizes of $50 each went to Zach Dendas and Iva Naydenova. The awarded essays will be published by the Albert Schweitzer Institute in a commemorative volume.
The institute co-sponsored a UN conference in June 2007, which recognized the 20th anniversary of the Central American Esquipulas peace treaty, which was designed to end bloody conflict in the region.
- Read more and view photos.
- Read two speeches made by Oscar Arias - morning speech(PDF) -- evening speech(PDF)
- Read the speech by U.N. secretary-general Ban Ki-moon (PDF).
- Read the speech by David Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute (PDF).
Fifty years ago, at the height of the Cold War, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Albert Schweitzer broadcast worldwide via radio his "Declaration of Conscience" that called for an end to nuclear testing and for the destruction of nuclear weapons. Check our our special section...
"Images of Peace," a national juried art exhibition, was presented in Fall 2007. The exhibition was held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Albert Schweitzer's call for nuclear disarmament. Works explored the themes of nuclear disarmament, world peace and/or the life and work of Albert Schweitzer. Read more about the exhibit.
| Human rights activist and author Kerry Kennedy spoke at Quinnipiac as a guest of the Albert Schweitzer Institute in 2006. The daughter of Robert F. Kennedy urged students and others to make a passionate commitment to end violence in the world. Her lecture was part of the university’s recognition of the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. |
| David Taylor Ives, executive director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute, and Kathleen McCourt, senior vice president for academic affairs, attended the inauguration of Oscar Arias as the president of |
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| Jane Goodall, the world's leading authority on chimpanzees, drew more than 1,500 people to the Recreation Center on Oct. 28, 2005, when she delivered the keynote address to open the Albert Schweitzer Institute's conference "Reverence for Life Revisited: Albert Schweitzer's Relevance Today." |
| Betty Williams, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1976 for her work against violence in her native |
| Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, credited with reforming |
