Education

    Committed to deterring prejudice and heightening awareness, CCJP is engaged in a number of educational activities.

    The Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards (JABA) project is affiliated with the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom’s Jane Addams Peace Association. JABA recognizes children’s books which promote the causes of peace, social justice, world community, and the equality of the sexes and all races. CCJP members read newly published children’s books, make nominations to the national committee, and vote on the recipients of this annual award. We donate award-winning books to local public school libraries and recently compiled two lists, one a list of “Books for Girls” from titles read in the selection process, and a second list of books for children by southern writers written since 1996.

    In 2002, CCJP initiated the Peace Pole project at a local elementary school. The Peace Pole displays plaques with the words “May Peace Prevail On Earth” in a variety of different foreign languages. At an annual Peace Pole Ceremony, the children sing songs celebrating peace, and new language plaques are added, with students reciting “May peace prevail on earth” in the languages featured that year.

    Disturbed that so many of the toys and games on the market today evoke violence and gender stereotyping, CCJP launched the Toy Action project, directed toward encouraging people to buy toys and games promoting peace and justice. The reaction voiced time and again was, “What a great idea!” We conducted workshops on children’s play and sent out several thousand brochures both on our own initiative and in response to the many requests from individuals and groups who heard or read about our campaign. To the same end, we provided funding to The Lion and Lamb Project, an organization devoted entirely to educating the public about how violence is a learned behavior, through means such as television and toys.

    Responding to the frequency with which the Bible is cited in justifying moral and ethical positions, CCJP saw a need to explore topics of current importance using a critical-historical approach to Biblical interpretation. The brochure produced, “Homosexuality and the Bible: Another Look,” is now in its second printing with over 2500 copies distributed.

    The Center has offered many forums for the community: the death penalty, violence in our culture, desegregation of the Franklin County school systems, integration of the Sewanee Inn, nuclear disarmament, environmental policies of the presidential candidates (2000), what to expect from the Bush administration (2001), the plight of Tibet, ‘Just War’ theories, the bombing of Afghanistan, the Iraq War, and global feminism.

    The Center publishes a quarterly newsletter for members and other organizations. The newsletter contains educational information about the center and relevant events affecting our world both locally and globally. CCJP hosts an awards banquet annually to recognize individuals from the surrounding area who have made significant contributions to the furthering of peace, justice and equity in our community.

    Realizing the need for a younger generation of activists, CCJP began a series of free classes on social activism, drawing on the experiences of its members. Offered through the auspices of the University of the South as part of the “short course” non-credit listings, the class brought students, activists and other members of the Sewanee community together. Each class was taught by a different instructor and covered subjects such as the history of Sewanee and activism, theories of non-violence, everyday tactics for activism, methods for organizing movements and demonstration techniques.