Congratulations PACS Award Recipients!

The Peace and Conflict Studies Program is proud to announce the recipients of our annual PACS Awards.

PACS Student Scholarship Award Recipient: Cara Marie Wagner

Awarded by the Colorado Peace Studies Endowment annually to a University of Colorado at Boulder student with exceptional promise in peace and conflict studies. Such promise might be demonstrated by superior academic performance, involvement in community peacemaking and social justice promotion, participation in the wider world of peace action, and working to strengthen Peace and Conflict Studies at CU. The award is typically given to a junior pursuing the PACS certificate, having completed several PACS-related courses. The $500 award may be used for tuition, travel and other pursuits supportive of the student's growth as a specialist in conflict moderation.

Cara grew up in Berkeley where she says she was encouraged to "speak up" by the community and by her family. In Berkeley she participated in the Free Speech Movement, various rallies and demonstrations such as "die-ins." Cara traveled twice to Europe as an ambassador through People to People Student Ambassadors. On these trips she met individuals who inspired her such as an official in the government in Florence, and a member of the British Parliament. Their passion for their work influenced Cara's choice to major in International Affairs. After arriving at the University of Colorado, Cara soon became highly involved in the Model United Nations, wherein she is able to gain new insights into peace building processes. Cara is active in the student Darfur Awareness group, "Let Your Voice Be Heard," and has participated in the organization of two public events to raise consciousness about the on-going circumstances of human suffering in Darfur. Cara aspires to one day work in the United Nations, and plans to attend a graduate program in Peace Studies.

Cara Marie Wagner, Student Scholarship Recipient (right) Patricia Lawrence, Faculty Award Recipient (left)

PACS Faculty Award Recipient: Patricia Lawrence

An annual award given to a University of Colorado faculty member who has made significant contribution to PACS's mission or has participated in community, national or international activities that advance peace, mutual understanding and/or cooperative decision making. Contributions might include
significant research and publications related to peace and conflict studies; direct involvement in conflict situations; teaching and development projects that advance peace, senses of community and sustainable development.

Patricia Lawrence teaches many courses linking anthropology to human rights including "Human rights and Development," "Anthropology of War and Peace," and "Culture and Power." And her ethnography courses always include a significant focus on ethnic and religious conflicts. Pat also supports the PACS mission by teaching the PACS foundation course. Outside the classroom, Pat assists NGOs and local conflict-resolution groups in Sri Lanka by contributing to local relief and re-education projects for woman and children in Sri Lanka's Tamil-speaking eastern war zone. She is also involved in a multi-disciplinary NSF research effort focused on post-tsunami recovery processes in Sri Lanka, and has an ongoing engagement with a privately financed therapy and education program for former female "Tamil Tiger" soldiers who have left the guerilla organization. These and other research efforts led her to be a part of BBC and National Geographic documentaries, and her extensive scholarly publications on the trauma of ethnic war in Sri Lanka earned her a Rockefeller visiting fellowship at the Kroc Institute for Peace Studies at Notre Dame in 2003. Overall, Pat's energy is firmly committed to the goals and ideals of the PACS undergraduate certificate program.

PACS Community Award Recipients: Dick and Gretchen Williams

An annual award given to a non-faculty member of the front range community who has made significant contribution to PACS's mission or has participated in community, national or international activities that advance peace, mutual understanding and/or cooperative decision making. Contributions might include significant research and publications related to peace and conflict studies; direct involvement in conflict situations; and teaching and development projects that advance peace, senses of community and sustainable development.

Dick and Gretchen Williams are persistent in their pursuit of peaceful and nonviolent approaches to community conflict. As members of Christian Peacemaker Teams in Haiti, Colombia, Chiapas, Mexico, Vieques Island near Puerto Rico, and our racially troubled South they have provided a physical and spiritual presence for nonviolence and justice in communities in conflict. Dick and Gretchen are major movers in the Boulder Mennonite Church's local peace projects including its restorative justice internships and its annual contributions to the Colorado Peace Studies Endowment (CPSE). They have given a generous portion of their life savings to create the Endowment. They live a life of voluntary simplicity as a statement for social justice and environmental balance. It is a great pleasure to present the first ever Peace and Conflict Studies Community Award to Dick and Gretchen Williams.

Dick and Gretchen Williams, Community Award Recipients