a Hope for Peace & Justice
Peace Practitioner™ Training Program
September 19-21, 2008

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Keynote Speaker
Sister Helen Prejean, the keynote speaker for this event, is a Roman Catholic nun, who has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.  Her efforts began in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1981, through correspondence she maintained with a convicted murderer, Elmo Patrick Sonnier, who was sentenced to death by electrocution. She visited Sonnier in prison and agreed to be his spiritual adviser in the months leading up to his death. The experience gave Prejean greater insight into the process involved in executions and she began speaking out against capital punishment.

An autobiographical account of her relationship with Sonnier and other inmates on death row served as the basis for the feature film and opera Dead Man Walking.

Prejean now bases her work at the Death Penalty Discourse Network in New Orleans and spends her time giving talks across the United States and around the world.

The Exonerated – On Saturday evening at 7 p.m. you are invited to attend a dramatic reading of the acclaimed play, The Exonerated written by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen.  Culled from interviews, letters, transcripts, case files, and the public record, The Exonerated tells the true stories of six people sent to Death Row for crimes they did not commit.

Program Speaker
Nancy E. Algert, Ph.D., LPC, FAPA, and TMCA Distinguished Mediator is an Educator, Trainer and Researcher in organizational change, conflict management and diversity issues, as well as behavior and disability issues.  Dr. Algert is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University and President of The Center for Change and Conflict Resolution in Bryan, Texas.

Program Schedule

Friday, September 19
Day 1 primarily focuses on the individual and one’s influence on conflict and conflict management
12:00 – 1:00	Registration at Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, Texas 75235 (see www.cathedralofhope.com for directions)
1:00 – 2:30	Effective Conflict Management Begins with Self Assessing your Conflict Management Style
2:30 – 2:45	Break
2:45 – 4:00	Being a Peacemaker: Essential Skills for Positive Outcomes to Conflict
4:00 – 5:15	Putting the Skill Set into Practice Active Listening, Problem Solving, Common Ground, Positions and Interests Conflict Management Intervention Methods
5:15 – 5:30	Questions and Wrap Up
Saturday, September 20
Day 2 primarily focuses on how to effectively influence, manage, and positively impact the conflict culture of your environment (churches, synagogues, temples, community organizations, and families)
10:00 –12:00	Conflict Cultures and Organizations Having a Passion for Peace Influencing and Changing the Organizational Conflict Culture
12 – 12:30	LUNCH
12:30 - 1:30	Case Study 1: Choosing Your InterventionsIs Effective Conflict Management Peaceful and Calm
1:30 – 1:45	Break
1:45 – 2:45	Case Study 2
2:45 – 3:00	Questions and Wrap up Skills of an Effective Peacemaker
7:00	The Exonerated at the Cathedral of Hope, 5910 Cedar Springs Road, Dallas, Texas 75235
Sunday, September 21
9 or 11am	Join us at the 9 or 11 a.m. worship service of the Cathedral of Hope for the keynote presentation by Sister Helen Prejean

Speakers || Registration || Hotel Info || Sponsors || HOME