ELCA NEWS SERVICE February 11, 2004 Former President Carter to Address St. Olaf Nobel Forum 04-018-AG*/JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- When St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., hosts the 16th annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum Feb. 20-21, hundreds of people will gather to discuss how they can contribute to worldwide peace. Among those who will address them is former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, winner of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize. St. Olaf is one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). It is one of five ELCA colleges that collaborate in the annual forum with the Norwegian Nobel Institute, Oslo. Other ELCA colleges involved are Augsburg College, Minneapolis; Augustana College, Rock Island, Ill.; Concordia College, Moorhead, Minn.; and Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Along with Carter, featured speakers will be Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, director-general emeritus, World Health Organization and former prime minister of Norway, and Dr. Eboo Patel, executive director, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago. "President Carter's life exemplifies the theme of this year's conference, 'Striving for Peace: Roots of Change,'" said the Rev. Christopher M. Thomforde, St. Olaf president. "He has shown that an individual can bring constructive change in the world through his work as a military officer, a public official and a private citizen." Brundtland will deliver an opening plenary address Feb. 20 and answer questions. Carter will deliver a keynote address Feb. 21 and answer questions. Former Vice President Walter Mondale will introduce Carter. Patel will deliver the final "Call to Action" on Feb. 21. An organizer, teacher and artist, Patel runs an international interfaith organization that helps youth from different faith communities engage in social action projects. Other speakers will be three members of the St. Olaf board of regents: Philip Brunelle, founder and artistic director of VocalEssence, Minneapolis; Larry Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary, New York; and Bob Hatch, Kansas City, Mo., board chairman of Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), which seeks to raise loan capital for impoverished women in developing countries. FINCA will present a panel session Feb. 20. Founded in 1989, the Nobel Peace Prize Forum is the Norwegian Nobel Institute's only such program or academic affiliation outside Norway. Norwegian immigrants founded each of the five sponsoring colleges, and their sponsorship recognizes Norway's international peace efforts and offers opportunities for Nobel Peace Prize laureates, diplomats, scholars, students and the general public to engage in dialogue on the dynamics of peacemaking and the underlying causes of conflict and war, according to a news release from St. Olaf College. This year's theme, "Roots of Change," will celebrate grassroots initiatives around the world and affirm the power of ordinary individuals to nourish the roots of peace, the news release said. Topics of previous forums were "Human Rights in the Global Village," "The United Nations in a New World," "From National to Common Security" and "The Morality and Machinery of Modern Conflict." Begun with annual support from Lutheran Brotherhood (now Thrivent Financial for Lutherans), the Nobel Peace Prize Forum's array of programs has involved more than 21,000 participants, the release said. Twelve peace-skills workshops will be open to students of the five sponsoring colleges. The workshops are a new aspect of the annual forum, which this year coincides with the Worldwide Service Fair and the Globalization and Social Responsibility Conference, held annually at St. Olaf College. "Among the many who are inspired by the annual Nobel Peace Prize Forum, students receive perhaps the greatest impact," says Susan Carlson, coordinator of the forum at St. Olaf. "Exposure to world leaders who work tirelessly for peace can be life-changing as young people learn that peacemaking is both possible and honorable." Several discussion sessions on Friday and seminars on Saturday are open to anyone registered for the forum. Subjects include peace in the global workplace, rights of indigenous peoples, health care, diversity in the elementary classroom, sexual violence, Islam, and corporate executives and "moral intelligence." -- -- -- Information about the Nobel Peace Prize Forum is at http://www.stolaf.edu/nppf/2004/ on the Web. *Amy Gage is director of communications at St. Olaf College. Editors: "VocalEssence" is spelled correctly without a space between the words. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news