Humboldt State University International Education Week 2011

I attended more than these two presentations, but these are the ones I managed to get decent notes on.

Suzanne Pastor's presentation on "Writing the History of Peace" in Central America, focused on suggesting peace narratives as a more dominant narrative in Central America (specifically Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador), rather than the dominance of antipolitics. She not only gave several examples of peace movements, people, and organizations specific to these regions, but told of some reasons why violence occurs (for example, youth migrating to L.A. and bringing gang culture back home). The main point I took from her presentation was the contrast between positive and negative peace. Negative peace is the absence of violence, while positive peace is not only this lack of conflict, but a conscious effort to help society. This includes promoting social justice and human rights. She also presented the idea of security(based on power and potential of violence) versus lasting security, (focuses on human needs and necessities rather than what the government needs).

I also attended two presentations by Jennifer Clowers on what it is like to be a Peace Corps volunteer, and what they are looking for in a candidate. The goals of the Peace Corps are to help interested countries meet needs for trained men and women, bring an understanding of Americans, and to bring an understanding of others to America. The Peace Corps requires a 27 month commitment, with the first three months being training in your assigned country. There are several different assignment types in education, health, business, agriculture, and community development. She said all volunteers have a different experience, and you could be living in a rural area with no communication other than letter writing, or be living a few blocks down from a McDonalds. The Peace Corps selection process is very selective, and the application process takes about 12 months to complete (there are resume, essay, and health requirements included in the process). The main challenge to become a string candidate is not only a degree, but a very decent amount of relevant volunteer work. Although the process seems grueling, it seems to me that the experience and benefits gained from serving in the Peace Corps are well worth it.