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About
Center for Peace, Equity & Justice

Peace Week

Friends Seminary: Peace Week 2023
 
Started in 2005, Peace Week is an annual exploration of the fundamental Quaker testimony of peace.As an extension of this year's school-wide theme, Continuing a Culture of Connection, this year's Peace Week theme, The Threads of Our Community, will examine our individual and collective stories and histories—the threads that bind us in our study and pursuit of peace. Please join us for the Week’s keynote address, presented by Joy Harjo, on December 14.
 
Joy Harjo Friends Seminary: Peace Week 2023
 
Joy Harjo, a member of the Mvskoke Nation, is an internationally renowned poet, activist, and musician. In 2019, she became the first Native American United States Poet Laureate in history, and served three terms.
 
Organized by the Center for Peace, Equity and Justice, Harjo will present a poetry performance, Roots Deeper Than Earth. She will read a selection of poems and share personal stories, weaving together a captivating tapestry of mysticism, spirituality, and nature.
 
Joy Harjo 
 
This event, made possible in part by the Isaac Rauch ’08 Fund for Literature, is free and open to current students, parents, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, faculty, staff, trustees and members of the NYQM.
 
 
Also on display during Peace Week:
 
Joy Harjo Friends Seminary: Peace Week 2023
 
In addition the Joy Harjo’s lecture, community members are invited to view the works of two community fiber artists: Oona Brangam-Snell ’07, and her former teacher, Faculty Emerita Daphne Taylor. A collection of their works will be reproduced on transparency paper and displayed in the window bays of each stairwell landing from the first to sixth floor. Additionally, the installation will feature one original, large scale piece from each artist. The exhibit will run from December 11, 2023 through January 19, 2024.
 
Artwork above by Oona Brangam-Snell ’07:
Canaries in the Coalmine, 2021
Jacquard Woven Polyester and Cotton with Hand Embroidery
49 × 40.25 × 1 inches
 

PREVIOUS PEACE WEEK THEMES AND SPEAKERS

2023
Gender Equity: Empowerment and Solidarity in the Struggle for Justice
Masih Alinejad, speaker


2022
Let Your Life Speak: Reflecting on the Testimonies and Our Mission
Community Meeting for Worship


2021
Tell Me Who You Are: Sharing Our Stories of Race, Culture & Identity
Winona Guo and Priya Gulchi, speakers


2020
Our Climate Our Future
David Wallace-Wells, speaker


2019
Justice and Mercy: Transforming Conflict into Connection
Bryan Stevenson, speaker


2018
Seeking Refuge: the Ethics and Politics of Migration and Immigration
Sonia Nazzario, speaker


2017
The New America: Listening Across the Divides
George Packer, speaker


2016
Let Your Life Speak
Chelsea Clinton, speaker
Photo Gallery
Speech


2015
A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities
Nicholas Kristof and Maro Chermayeff, speakers
 
2014
Legacies of Peace: Choosing to Use the Gift of our Lives to Make the World a Better Place
Maggie Doyne, Neil Blumenthal ‘98 and Dr. Oliver Rothschild ‘98, speakers
 

2013
Building Bridges: Peace Through Understanding
Teri McLuhan, speaker


2012
Peace Like a River: Water as Matter and Metaphor
Michael Arad, speaker

 
2011
Educating for Peace: Friends Seminary and 225 Years of Quaker Education


2010
Beyond the Numbers: The Economics of Peace
Jeffrey Sachs, speaker

 
2009
In the Presence of Justice: The Politics of Peace
Mary Robinson, speaker

 
2008
War Letters: Both Said and Sung
Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Elizabeth Palmedo and Crystal Sikora, speakers


2007
Environmental Stewardship – A Pathway to Peace
James Turrell, speaker


2006
Nonviolence in the Age of Terrorism
Arun Gandhi, speaker
 

2005
The Diplomat, the Activist and the Academic
Pierre Schori, Susan Sarandon and Jessica Tuchman Mathews, speakers
Friends Seminary actively promotes diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in all its programs and operations, including admissions, financial aid, hiring, and all facets of the educational experience. To form a community which strives to reflect the world’s diversity, we do not discriminate on the basis of race or color, religion, nationality, ethnicity, economic background, physical ability, sex, gender identity or expression, or sexual orientation. Friends Seminary is an equal opportunity employer.
FRIENDS SEMINARY
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New York, NY 10003
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Friends Seminary — the oldest continuously operated, coeducational school in NYC — serves college-bound day students in Kindergarten-Grade 12.