SU to host symposium on transforming conflict through the arts

“Engaging Conflict: Transformations through the Arts” is a two-day symposium featuring film, movement, theater and storytelling. The conference, which begins Friday, Nov. 4, at 5 p.m. with a film screening and continues with a full day of activities on Saturday, Nov. 5, will be held at Syracuse University’s Warehouse Auditorium, 350 W. Fayette St., in downtown Syracuse. All events are free and open to the public.

Friday, Nov. 4

Cynthia Cohen, director of the Program in Peacebuilding and the Arts at Brandeis University’s International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life, will introduce the symposium and the film “Acting Together on a World Stage” beginning at 5 p.m. The film documents peacebuilding performance by highlighting artists, peacebuilders and community leaders from every continent whose rituals and theatrical works speak truth to power and support communities in mourning losses and building bridges across differences.

Saturday, Nov. 5

• 9 a.m.—Cohen will present “The Moral Imagination and the Permeable Membrane between Art and Society: Findings from Acting Together on the World Stage,” a collaboration between Theatre Without Borders and Brandeis University.
• 11 a.m.—Interactive Performance Workshop. SU professors Stephen Cross and Anne Beffel will lead interactive movement and meditation exercises, demonstrating varying methods for conflict transformation.
• 1:30 p.m.—Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo.” Syracuse Stage dramaturg Kyle Bass and actors from the interview-and narrative-based play will discuss the role of theater in cultural diplomacy. “Cry for Peace” aims to promote healing, unity and reconciliation among local ethnic groups and individuals in the Congolese community, as well as promote peace in the Congo.
• 2:30 p.m.—Storycircles. Participants will share their stories about the impact and influence of the arts on conflict transformation.
• 4 p.m.—Closing remarks

The conference is sponsored by the Maxwell School‘s Program for the Advancement and Research on Conflict and Collaboration, with Imagining America: Artists in Public Life and the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Support comes from the Central New York Humanities Corridor, generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.