Welcome Back to Campus!

The Bahá’í Chair for World Peace is excited to welcome all of you back to campus for the start of the spring semester! We hope everyone is settling in and enjoying the first day of classes.

We look forward to seeing many of you at our upcoming spring lecture series. All the lectures are open to the campus community and the public and are free to attend. These events bring leading thinkers to campus to examine obstacles to global peace, and solutions for overcoming those obstacles.

Aggression, Testosterone and the Biological Basis of Behavior

The first lecture in the series will be presented by Dean Gregory Ball, BSOS, UMD on February 20 at 4pm.  In this lecture Dean Ball will focus on the topic of Aggression, Testosterone and the Biological Basis of Behavior. He will examine the assumptions many people hold about the biological determinants of behavior and the immutability of this. The focus of the lecture will be on exploring the notion of Human Nature as something that limits us, and how understanding the role played by biological variables can help think about behavioral change.

More than a pretty picture: The potential for art and design to create positive social change.

On March 6 at 4pm Dr. Audra Buck Coleman will present a lecture entitled More than a pretty picture: The potential for art and design to create positive social change. This lecture will focus on the ways in which art and design have both the potential to communicate societal issues and prompt transformation in our social understandings and interactions. At times it can seem that the world is filled with seemingly endless conflict and deeply rooted problems. This presentation will use a social science research lens to show how a range of art and design projects are creating positive social change.

The Ethical Foundations of Human Rights Conference

The spring series will conclude with a one day conference examining the ethical foundations of human rights. This conference will bring together leading thinkers from across disciplines to explore the ethical foundations of human rights in the 21st century. Underlying the discussion will be an exploration of some of the more challenging philosophical and practical questions that have come into view as human rights thinkers have sought to translate the ideals that are embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into action.

To learn more about these events and about the Bahá’í Chair for World Peace you can visit our website at www.bahaichair.umd.edu

You can also follow us on facebook, twitter, and instagram @bahaichair

 

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