Nobel Peace Laureate to Speak on Spirituality and Social Justice

The co-founder of the Northern Ireland Peace Movement and winner of the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize, Mairead Corrigan Maguire, will be speaking at Westmont next week. The free lecture, “Spirituality and Social Justice,” will be Wednesday, Feb. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Hieronymus Lounge.

Maguire is one of several speakers who will come to Westmont this year through a grant from the Irvine Foundation titled “Building a Mystery: Theological and Practical Explorations in Reconciliation, Community and ‘the Other.’”

Faculty facilitators include Deborah Dunn, associate professor and chair of the department of communication studies; Rick Pointer, professor of history; and Wayne Iba, assistant professor of mathematics/computer science.

Maguire was the aunt of three Maguire children who were hit by a getaway car after its driver was shot by a soldier. The deaths sparked a series of peace marches throughout Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland Peace Movement later changed its name to Community of Peace People. The Peace People is committed to building a just and peaceful society through nonviolent means. Maguire continues to pursue this mission of promoting peace and justice and has traveled to more than 25 countries. She has received numerous honors and awards including the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s “Distinguished Peace Leadership Award.”

Maguire will also participate in the 2006 International Law Symposium sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The free symposium, “At the Nuclear Precipice: Nuclear Weapons and the Abandonment of International Law,” will be Friday, Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. in Hieronymus Lounge and will include a day of public panels.

Along with Maguire, the symposium will feature nuclear policy experts such as: Ambassador Thomas Graham, former senior U.S. diplomat; Daniel Ellsberg, former U.S. defense department analyst; and Douglas Roche, retired Canadian senator.

For more information on the lectures call the department of communication studies at (805) 565-6156. For a map of campus, please visit www.westmont.edu.