UAF to host online conference on conflict resolution
April 2, 2018
Jeff Richardson
907-474-6284
Navajo code talker Peter MacDonald will be the featured guest speaker on April 11
at the eighth annual International Cyber Conference on Conflict Resolution at the
University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The conference, which is open to the public, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
in the Wood Center ballroom. It will include a live panel along with a montage screen
with other participants. Additional guest speakers will include Steven Rhodes, former
U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, and Omar Quadat, who prosecuted alleged terrorists for
war crimes as a lawyer for the Office of the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions.
MacDonald is the only four-term chairman of the Navajo Tribe. He was born in Arizona
and served the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II as a Navajo code talker, one of the
most storied units in U.S. military history.
The conference is a town-hall style discussion. UAF event sponsors include the Center
for Cross-Cultural Studies, the Department of Communication and Journalism, the Alaska
Biomedical Learning and Student Training program, and the Department of Diversity
and Equal Opportunity. California State University, Dominguez Hills, is a co-sponsor
of the conference.
Topics will include the history of the code talkers and the related history of other
war veterans; how today’s veterans are treated and how we, as a society, can improve
their situation; and proposals for improving diplomacy, leadership and peace-building.
The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions at the end of the conference.
The conference was started by Brian Jarrett, a former UAF Department of Justice faculty
member and current director of the negotiation, conflict resolution and peace-building
program at California State University, Dominguez Hills. The conference has grown
in international recognition for its efforts to promote and improve restorative justice
practices and peace-building.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Polly Hyslop, 907-474-6418, physlop@alaska.edu