Palestinian refugees, Cheyenne Indians, Amish hate crimes subjects of Young Center lectures

Elizabethtown College spring lineup begins Feb. 19 with MCC's former Palestine-Israel country rep

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MCC rep Alain Weaver

ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (02/12/2013)(readMedia)-- Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) official Alain Epp Weaver speaks on "Palestinian Refugee Return and Durable Peace Building" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at Elizabethtown College's Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies.

Weaver, a former country representative for MCC in Palestine-Israel, analyzes peace-building actions supported by the Akron, Pa.-based organization and carried out by Zochrot, an Israeli group dedicated to "remembering the Nakba ('catastrophe')" and to promoting conversations within Israeli Jewish society about Palestinian refugee return as a critical component of peace building.

The lecture is sponsored by the Young Center and the College's Center for Global Understanding and Peacemaking and the Peace and Conflict Studies.

All Young Center lectures are free and are held in the Center's Bucher Meetinghouse unless otherwise noted.

On Tuesday, March 12, Marie Dick, associate professor of mass communications at St. Cloud (Minn.) State University and the 2013 Young Center Kreider Lecturer explores "Speaking Peace: The Rhetoric of Lawrence Hart, Cheyenne Peace Chief and Mennonite Minister." The lecture is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

As a Marine jet fighter pilot during the Korean War, an ordained Mennonite minister, and a traditional Cheyenne peace chief, Lawrence Hart (1933- ) has a gift for "enlarging the tribe"-reconciling and commemorating the often tragic history of U.S. government and Native American relations. For over 40 years, he has been widely sought as a speaker, mediator, and advocate for national Indian affairs. In her lecture, Dick will discuss Hart's life and work as well as the rhetorical strategies he uses as tools to address the rhetorical dilemma of pacifism.

During a Tuesday, March 19, lecture, Devin C. Manzullo-Thomas, assistant editor of Brethren in Christ History and Life and adjunct professor of interdisciplinary studies at Messiah College, examines the ways Brethren in Christ Church members ratified or resisted the claims of the post-World War II American neo-evangelical movement in an effort to construct a new identity for their religious community.

Beginning in the mid-20th century, the Brethren in Christ Church transformed from a small, separatist religious society into a growing mainstream evangelical denomination. Central to this transformation was the church's increasing investment in the larger American neo-evangelical movement. Manzullo-Thomas will examine the ways Brethren in Christ members ratified or resisted the claims of the neo-evangelical movement in an effort to construct a new identity for their denomination.

The program, "Born-Again Brethren in Christ: Religious Identity in an Age of Evangelicalism," begins at 7:30 p.m.

At 6 p.m. Thursday, April 11, the Young Center hosts its annual banquet in the Susquehanna Room of Elizabethtown College's Myer Hall. Banquet speaker is Donald B. Kraybill, senior fellow at the Young Center, author or editor of numerous journal articles and books, and cultural expert witness at the three-week trial of 16 Amish defendants in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, last fall.

At 7:30 p.m., Kraybill presents "The Whisker War: Why the Beard Cutters were Charged with Federal Hate Crimes." He describes the Bergholz "Amish" sect and the historical and social factors leading to five beard-cutting attacks in fall 2011. Kraybill also explains how renegade bishop Sam Mullet scuttled traditional Amish beliefs and practices, instigated novel rituals, and became highly critical of other Amish leaders, and why Mullet and 15 of his followers were charged and found guilty of federal hate crimes.

The lecture is free and can be attended independently of the banquet.

The banquet, open to all who are interested in the Young Center and its activities, is $18 and requires reservations. Call 717-361-1470 before the March 28 deadline. A reception precedes the banquet at 5:30 p.m.

Contact: 717-361-1470 or youngctr@etown.edu.

An internationally recognized scholarly research institute, the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College conducts and promotes research about and interprets the life, faith and culture of Anabaptists and Pietists through public lectures, resources, exhibits and conferences. The Center is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies: www.etown.edu/centers/young-center

Read about additional events at Elizabethtown College.

Elizabethtown College, located in historic Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, is a private coed institution offering more than four dozen liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education degrees. Through personal attention, creative inspiration and academic rigor, Elizabethtown College students are encouraged to expand their intellectual curiosity and are given the opportunity to become a bigger part of the world through experiential learning-research, internships and study abroad. Elizabethtown College's overall commitment to Educate for Service is fulfilled as students are prepared intellectually, socially, aesthetically and ethically for lives of service and leadership.

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