For 70 years, the University of Idaho Borah Symposium has worked to promote the continuation of Idaho Sen. William Borah’s vision for peace through a variety of on-campus events that seek to promote critical dialogue about the surrounding world.
Each symposium is sponsored by the UI Martin Institute’s William Edgar Borah Outlawry of War Foundation and is planned by a faculty-student committee that determines each year’s theme. Generally, the theme is a contemporary issue working against the foundation’s mission for peace on an international scale.
Borah Symposium Committee Co-Chairs Steven Daley-Laursen and John Murray said the theme for this year’s symposium, “Polarized Cultures in a Globalized World,” was quite evident off the bat because of the push for nationalism in 2016 with events such as Brexit and the election of President Donald Trump.
“We (currently) find ourselves in a great national debate between the ideologies of globalism and nationalism,” Daley-Laursen said. “This year’s Borah Symposium will be a forum for understanding the potential risks and opportunities of both in terms of economics, climate, health, communications and security.”
Murray said the symposium will begin at 7 p.m. Monday with panelists from Montana, Idaho and Oregon to discuss the United States’ involvement with global issues.
He said symposium will continue into Tuesday with an event at 12:30 p.m. that concentrates on why global health is important, and another event at 5:30 p.m. that offers attendees the unique opportunity to converse with current Idaho refugees.
“I’ve always believed, and I’m not sure why, that peace is built with every two that meet each other and that it’s an accumulation of all those meetings … and that mutual knowledge about each other that makes it harder for people to hurt each other,” Daley-Laursen said.
Murray said it’s hard to be at war with somebody when you meet them in-person.
Daley-Laursen said the symposium will finish Wednesday, starting with a discussion at 11:30 a.m. that focuses on the role that nongovernmental organizations and academic institutions have in lessening local conflict and end with the keynote address, “A World Gone Mad? Polarization in the age of Globalization,” at 7:30 p.m., given by Robert Malley, special assistant to former President Barack Obama and the senior adviser for the Counter-ISIL campaign.
He said other speakers during the symposium include Executive Director of Green Empowerment Angela Johnson, Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee Julianne Tzul and Family Nurse Practitioner Patricia Carrick.
“The U.S. is at a crossroads, facing a choice between withdrawal and engagement on the world stage,” Murray said. “The symposium speakers will explore the moral and political challenges we face in international obligations.”
Daley-Laursen said he believes the subject matter of this year’s symposium will have components that can virtually relate to almost every college major found at UI.
All events will take place in the Bruce Pitman Center, except for Tuesday’s event at 5:30 p.m. to be held across the street at the St. Augustine Church.
Daley-Laursen and Murray said they encourage students and community members to attend at least one event and hope that they are able to continue the dialogue for peace further, carrying out the symposium’s intended goal.
“(We) want people to understand each ideology and to for themselves formulate their own thinking about the risks and opportunities associated with each,” Daley-Laursen said.
Olivia Heersink can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @heersinkolivia