The Class of Nonviolence (Course Overview)

The Class of Nonviolence

The 22th annual 6 session course, Solutions to Violence, is again being taught by Colman McCarthy. The class combines discussions, dissent and debate. The goal is to increase students’ knowledge of the theory and practice of nonviolence , pacifism and conflict resolution as taught and lived by Gandhi, King, Jeannette Rankin, Dorothy Day, Tolstoy, Gene Sharp, Daniel Berrigan and a long list of other peacemakers and esteemed trouble makers. Course topics include Gandhian conflict resolution, women and nonviolence, nonviolence toward animals, the successes of nonviolence and the failures of militarism, nonviolent self-defense, and the death penalty.

WHEN: Thursdays: June 12

through July 17 5:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.

WHERE: Public Citizen, 1600 20th St., NW, Washington. DC.

Red Line to Dupont Circle, Q St. exit.

One minute walk to Public Citizen, corner of 20th & Q St.

COST: $40, register at class. Readings on nonviolence will be supplied, as well as a rotating library of peace books.

WHY STUDY NONVIOLENCE:

“Nonviolence is the finest quality of the soul, but it is developed by practice. Almost anything you do will seem insignificant but it is important that you do it.”

“You can no more win a war than win an earthquake.”

Jeannette Rankin

“The first things to be disrupted by our commitment to nonviolence will be not the system but our own lives.”

Jim Douglass

Colman McCarthy wrote columns for The Washington Post from 1969 to 1997. He has written for The New Yorker, The Nation and The Progressive. He teaches at Georgetown University Law School, American University, the University of Maryland, and three DC public high schools. In the past 25 years, more than 7,000 students have taken his courses on nonviolence.

Mr. McCarthy is a pacifist, a vegetarian and director of the Center for Teaching Peace, a nonprofit group that helps students get courses on nonviolence into their schools. His books include “All of One Peace,” “Solutions to Violence” and “I’d Rather Teach Peace.” He is a regular speaker on U.S. campuses.