What’s Peace Got to Do With It?: Transforming Conflicts in Your Relationships, Career, and Community

Date: April 19, 2024

Location: HLC Presentation Hall

Time: 8:15 AM – 4:30 PM

Register for Symposium

Austin Community College’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies has championed the cause of peace and conflict transformation. This symposium is a culmination of years of work, thought leadership, and commitment to the transformation of conflicts in all spheres of life.

MORNING

8:15-8:45 AM

Coffee, Pastries, & Registration

Enjoy coffee and pastries while you register for the symposium.

9:00-9:30 AM

Welcome

PACS Welcome – Shirin Khosropour

In the Welcome Speech, Dr. Shirin Khosropour will celebrate the 12-year history of Austin Community College’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, highlight the transformations we’ve already seen in our community, and recognize our ongoing challenges. Outlining the interconnectedness of personal, interpersonal, professional, local, and global conflicts, Dr. Khosropour will provide participants with the opportunity to ask, “What’s peace got to do with it?” and, more importantly, how can we achieve it together?

9:30-10:30  AM

Keynote 

George A. Lopez (Ph.D., Syracuse University, 1975) is the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Professor Emeritus of Peace Studies at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Lopez is founding director of the Kroc Institute’s annual Summer Institute on Teaching Peace in the 21st Century. From 2009-2021 this program assisted the development of peace research and studies programs in more than 100 higher education institutions across five continents. Most recently he has accompanied the development of university level peacebuilding programs in Poland, Colombia, and Ecuador, the latter as a Fulbright Senior Specialist.

10:30 – 11:30 AM

Panel 1: Peace in Your Relationships

In Panel One, [Presenters] will explore the complex relationship between intrapersonal peace and interpersonal and structural forces. They will share practical skills and practices to enhance peace in relationships and to establish a sustainable foundation for conflict transformation, even in the most challenging situations.

Duana Welch: Dr. Duana Welch (pronounced DWAY-nah) is author of the Love Factually books, known for using social science to solve real-life relationship issues. She taught psychology across 20 years at the University of Florida; Cal State Fullerton; St. Edwards University; Southwestern University; and Austin Community College. Her teaching garnered awards at Cal State (Professor of the Year, 2000 and 2001) and ACC (NISOD and Outstanding Service Award, both 2012). She has contributed to NPR, PBS, Psychology Today, and numerous other outlets, podcasts, and videos. Her books are now out globally in five languages; all rely on science rather than opinion to help men and women of any age, sexual, or gender orientation find and keep the right partner. Her client practice is global, via Zoom and other technologies.

Karen Rayne: Dr. Karen Rayne is the Executive Director of UN|HUSHED, an organization dedicated to creating and implementing the highest quality sexuality education curricula possible. She is also an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Educational Psychology Department at the University of Texas. She sits on the World Association of Sexual Health’s Sexuality Education Committee, is the author of books like GIRL: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You, TRANS+: Love, Sex, Romance, and Being You, and Breaking the Hush Factor: Ten rules for talking with teenagers about sex as well as a wide range of curricula and other professional resources. She is frequently sought after to share her expertise through training professionals, consulting with schools, writing articles, radio and print interviews, and speaking with parents. Dr. Rayne lives in the hill country outside Austin, Texas with her wife, three children, and her standard poodle.

Geeti Mahajan: Geeti is a Certified Yoga Therapist(C-IAYT), Energy Healer and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).  Geeti specializes in trauma, and has worked in medical facilities such as psychiatric inpatient hospitals and primary care settings since 2012. Geeti created Utopia Healing Arts in 2022 to offer an array of healing services that may not be found in a typical medical setting. Connect with Geeti at utopiahealingarts.com

11:30 AM-12:oo PM

Gallery Tour

Guided tours to the Student Art Exhibit in the Art Lab.

The Center for Peace & Conflict Studies, in conjunction with The Art Gallery, invited artists from our ACC community to submit artwork for the 10th Annual Spring Symposium.

This year’s open call asks artists to envision what peace and conflict transformation mean to their relationships, careers, and/or local to global community.

Natalie Earhart will evaluate the pieces of participating artists. The finalists in this competition will have their art displayed during the Spring Symposium at the Art Lab.

AFTERNOON

12:00 – 12:30 PM

Lunch

Enjoy a vegetarian lunch provided by the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies

12:30-12:45 PM

Peace Educator Award

The Peace & Conflict Studies Center annually recognizes a leader in peace education in the community. 

1:00 – 2:15 PM  

In Conversation: Transforming Conflicts in Your Career

Dr. Lopez, Dr. Shirin Khosropour, director of the Peace & Conflict Studies Center, and two members of the Austin Community College Community will discuss their unique journeys into “peacejobs,” the state of the field, and how to position oneself as a “peacebuilder” regardless of which discipline or career students are pursuing.

Sam Greer: Dr. Sam Greer is ACC’s Director of Employer Outreach and Experiential Learning.  In this capacity, he acts as a liaison between the college’s academic programs and employers and oversees all internship, apprenticeship, and service-learning programs.  He has been in this or related capacities for the last ten years. Sam received a BA in Economics from UT-Austin, an MA in History from Texas State, and a PhD in Education Administration from UT-Austin.  Prior ACC, he worked as a high school social studies teacher, a principal, and superintendent. He has been married to his wife, Marcy, for 35 years, has two grown daughters and a daughter in high school.

Brienz Edwards: Brienz Edwards is a Training Specialist Senior with the Austin Police Training Academy. She designs and facilitates the APD Community Connect and Engagement programs, as well as the Mindfulness and Resilience program for cadets.  In addition, she is actively involved in Wellness within the department and is the lead researcher for Austin Police Jiu-Jitsu. After enrolling and dropping out of several colleges, Brienz completed her associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in 2022. She is currently pursing dual master’s degrees in Criminal Justice and Interdisciplinary Studies and was recently awarded an International Association of Chiefs of Police Community Trust Initiative Fellowship.

Marcus McQuirter: Marcus McQuirter currently serves as chair of the Drama Department at Austin Community College where he teaches voice, acting, and theater appreciation. He holds a BFA in Directing from Howard University, an MA in Theater from the University of North Texas, and earned his PhD in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin. He sits on the advisory board for ACC’s Interdisciplinary Studies Department, the ACCTV Network, and New Manifest Theatre Company. Professionally active as a stage director in Central Texas, his recent credits include Annie Jump and the Library of Heaven (Vortex Theater Company), She Kills Monsters (Southwestern University), Not This White Woman (Hyde Park Theater), The Glass Menagerie (Austin Community College), and Jarrett King’s A War of the Worlds (Penfold Theater Company), and Nightbird (Austin Playhouse).

2:30 – 3:15 PM

Arts Performances & Coffee Break

Dramatic, Visual, Movement, Film, and Music Pieces exploring humanistic relationships to peace

Featuring Performances by ACC’s own Dance Department

3:30 – 4:45 PM

Panel 2: What’s Global Peace Have to do with Your Community?

Panelists will focus on conflicts that exist at an international level and note the connections between local and global conflicts (for example, food insecurity).

Michael Mosser: Dr. Michael W. Mosser is Associate Professor of Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin with a joint appointment in the Department of Government, the Center for European Studies (CES), and the International Relations and Global Studies (IRG) program. He is the Executive Director of the Global Disinformation Lab (GDIL), the Assistant Director of the Center for European Studies (CES), as well as a Distinguished Scholar in the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. He teaches courses in European and international security, European environmental policy, comparative and European politics, international organizations, and foreign policy analysis. From 2018 to 2023, he was the inaugural faculty advisor for the University of Texas at Austin’s “Peace Corps Prep” program, and has also served as a faculty liaison to the US Department of State’s “Diplomacy Lab” program. He serves on various academic advisory bodies on campus, including as a member of the Environmental Justice (EJ) Faculty Learning Community, an Ambassador in the Experiential Learning Initiative (ELI) and a member of the non-traditional student (NTS) advisory board. He has won multiple awards for his teaching at UT-Austin, most notably being selected as a member of the 2021 “Texas Ten” by the Texas Exes, and the 2016 Raymond Dickson Centennial Endowed Teaching Fellowship.

Frank Reid: Business Educator with 10+ years of teaching and educational leadership. A technical executive offering more than 20 years of experience in general management, program management, design management, product marketing, and operational leadership. Skilled in increasing profitability (turnarounds) and the acceleration of product development from idea to production. Frank has successfully led turnarounds at startups as small as 3 employees and revenue under $500,000 and Divisions as large as 250 employees w/ revenues over $300 Million dollars. He has had international experience which includes a long-term assignment in the Netherlands.

Frank joined Austin Community College, first as an Adjunct in the Management Department, before being selected as Department Chair. He now serves the Department as Professor. Frank has served on the ACC Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) inaugural committee, the Academic Master Plan Committee, and the IDEAL steering committee. He has been on Advisory panels for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies.

Frank participated in the 2017 Spring Conflict Symposium on Conflict, Food Insecurity and Hunger, and was moved to begin working with the Central Texas Food Bank to help reduce Hunger in College students. Frank is now a member of the CTFB Board of Directors. Frank holds a Sc.B. in Electrical Engineering with concentration in communications systems from Brown University as well as an Executive MBA with honors from Arizona State University.

Simone Flowers: Simone Talma Flowers (she/her/hers) Executive Director Interfaith Action of Central Texas Bio

The 2023 Symposium will be held at the ACC Highland Presentation Hall on the campus’s first floor.

HLC Building 2000, Presentation Hall
Jonathan Dr, Austin, TX 78752

More info on parking and transportation can be found here