Educating for a Culture of Peace:
A European Perspective
A free three-part colloquia series featuring distinguished visiting Professor Dr. Werner Wintersteiner

1) Peace Education in Europe: Achievements and Perspectives.
History, Contents, New Developments …
Wednesday, November 9, 2005, 3 p.m.
Location: Teachers College, Room 273A Grace Dodge

2) Bertha von Suttner: Lessons for Peace Educators Today
1905 – 2005: Centenary of the first female Nobel Peace Prize Winner.
Thursday, November 17, 2005, 3 p.m.
Location: Teachers College, Room 172 Macy

3) Peace Education Teacher Training
The Experience of EURED
Tuesday, November 29, 2005, 3 p.m.
Location: Teachers College, Room 539 Grace Dodge

Prof. Werner Wintersteiner, Klagenfurt University, Austria

Prof. Dr. Werner Wintersteiner, is teacher trainer at the Department for German at Klagenfurt University and is the founding director of the Klagenfurt University “Centre for Peace Research and Peace Education.” He is a member of the Global Campaign for Peace Education and of the editorial board of the “Journal of Peace Education.” His writings include many articles and several books on intercultural and peace education in different languages. His English publications include: Wintersteiner, Werner / Vedrana Spajić-Vrkaš / Rüdiger Teutsch (eds.). 2003. Peace Education in Europe. Visions and experiences. Münster: Waxmann (= European Studies in Education, 19).

1) Peace Education in Europe: Achievements and perspectives.  
This first colloquium is the introduction to the series, all of which are centred around European experiences and approaches to Peace Education.

Peace Education is by definition an international or global endeavour. However, any education reflects the specific national or regional political, social or cultural conditions. The colloquium addresses questions such as: - How is peace education defined in various European contexts? - What are the topics, the problems, the answers in (selected) European countries? - Is there a specific European (or American) Peace Education? - The European dimension of peace education: the European Union and its education policy - Is the European Union what it pretends to be – a power of peace?

Background material: Werner Wintersteiner / Vedrana Spajić-Vrkaš / Rüdiger Teutsch (eds.). Peace Education in Europe. Visions and experiences. Münster: Waxmann 2003  

2) Bertha von Suttner: Lessons for Peace Educators today
At the occasion of the 100 th anniversary of the Nobel Peace Prize for Bertha von Suttner

Bertha von Suttner, Austrian, the woman who inspired Alfred Nobel to establish the Nobel Peace Prize, was also the first female Nobel Prize winner. Her best-seller “Lay down the arms!”(1889), a then incredibly critical and courageous anti-war novel, made her famous. She took advantage of her noble status and of her celebrity to serve the peace movement: she was founder of the Austrian and the German Peace Society, and became also very popular in the USA.

This colloquium gives an overview of the life of this peace heroine and shows that we still have lessons to learn from this extraordinary woman. With rich material for your classroom!

3) Peace Education Teacher Training
Teacher training, both pre-training and in-service training, is the core question for sustainable peace education. While peace education is in no European country an obligatory component of the formation of teachers there is a rich tradition of in-service training provided by NGOs and also by teacher training institutions.

This colloquium gives a critical overview of some teacher training measures, develops a rationale for peace education teacher training and focuses on the on-going EURED experience. The EURED/UNESCO course “Human Rights and Peace Education in Europe” is a two-year in service training university course for educators from all over Europe. (Pilot course 2004 – 2006).

Including a 6 minutes movie and basic material for understanding EURED.