If you want to create a more just and peaceful world, you must first imagine that such a world is possible. Then you can begin taking the actions necessary to achieve it. We at the Ashland Center for Nonviolence (ACN) know how overwhelming that can be. So we invite you to join our mission and start making that goal a reality!
Our Mission
We promote alternatives to violence and initiate and support efforts to create a more just, inclusive and caring community. We work to achieve those goals by:
- Building the next generation of peacemakers. We are reaching Ashland University students with the message of nonviolence, training them through the Peace Scholar program to give them experience in leadership.
- Providing thoughtful, critical analyses of local, national and international issues. In an effort to prevent and de-escalate violence, we bring to light violence in all its forms and the factors that contribute to it.
- Reaching out to a broad range of people about issues of social concern. In a politically polarized society, we know it’s vitally important to speak to and be relevant to a diverse range of people on the topics and social issues that are most important to them. We also work to inspire and empower citizens from different cultural, political and religious backgrounds to participate in making changes in nonviolent ways.
- Disseminating information about upcoming events and opportunities for furthering peace and justice. We inform people about events they may want to take part in and how to do so effectively, yet peacefully.
We seek a world in which human conflict at all levels can be resolved without resorting to violence and in which social justice can be realized.
Donate to Make a Difference
Every donation helps us with our mission to pursue peace and nonviolence. Click below and confirm that Ashland Center for Nonviolence ACN is selected in the designation box. Thank you very much for your support.
Contact Information
Director, Ashland Center for Nonviolence
Event Archive
Additional information about upcoming and past events from 2023 onward can be viewed on the Ashland Center for Nonviolence page in Ashland Engage.
Film Screening of What I Want You To Know
Thursday, March 21
This film, produced by two combat veterans, explores the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on both those who fought and the civilians on the ground. It asks several important questions: What price was paid by those who fought and by civilians caught up in the fighting? Do they think their sacrifices were worth it? How do combat veterans feel about the war and what burdens do they carry? Join us for this screening, followed by a Zoom talk with Travis Weiner and Tommy Furlong, veterans and executive producers of the film.
Season for Nonviolence Keynote Address: Naomi Tutu
January 30, 2024
The Ashland Center for Nonviolence (ACN) at Ashland University will kick off the Season for Nonviolence with a special event, as it welcomes Rev. Naomi Tutu for a fundraiser dinner and keynote address. As an Episcopal priest and the daughter of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu, Rev. Tutu is a much sought-after speaker and will present “Striving for Justice: Searching for Common Ground.”
Virtual Panel on Israel and Palestine
November 14, 2023
Join us online to learn about the past, present, and future of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. With Dr. Joan Friedman of the College of Wooster, Dr. Daniel Nerenberg of Just Vision, and Dr. Odeh Hassaleh of the University of Mount Union. Registration is required.
The Violence Project: How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic
October 10, 2023
Presented by Dr. Jillian Peterson in conjunction with the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Ashland County and the Symposium Against Indifference at Ashland University. “The Violence Project” is based on four years of in-depth research into the lives of mass shooters. Using data, including first-person accounts from perpetrators of mass shootings across the country, Peterson charted new pathways to prevention and innovative ways to stop the social contagion of violence. She will share those data-driven solutions on what can be done individually, in our communities and as a country to put an end to these tragedies. 7pm in the Alumni Room of John C. Myers Convocation Center.
Know Your Rights: Free Speech and Protest
September 25, 2023
Presented by an organizing strategist from the Ohio ACLU. Join us at Noon in the Ronk Lecture Hall.
Peace Vigil
April 18, 2023
Join us at the Central Flagpole to hold space for victims of violence around the world.
8th Annual John D. Stratton Conference
February 24 & 25, 2023
The Ashland Center for Nonviolence is pleased to announce the 8th Annual John D. Stratton Conference to be held at Ashland University February 24 & 25, 2023. The theme of the conference is Welcoming the Stranger: Creating Braver, Safer Spaces with Courage and Reliability.
Keynote Speaker: Friday, February 24, 202 3at 7pm, John C. Myers Convocation Center, Faculty Room - FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
The conference will begin with a keynote address by Kim Brazwell, CEO of Kimistry. Kim will infuse her story telling strategies with the movement for peace and belonging as seen through the lens of trauma informed social justice. The all day academic conference will follow on Saturday, February 25, with registration required.
Peace Vigil
November 15, 2022
Join us at the AU Central Flagpole at 8:30pm to hold space for victims of violence around the world.
An Evening with Ty Smith of the Native American Indian Center of Central Ohio (NAICCO)
November 10, 2022
Director of NAICCO, Ty Smith, will share his presentation: "NAICCO's Story: Past, Present, and Future," as it relates to our theme of welcoming the stranger. This presentation will begin at 7pm in the Trustees Room of the John C. Myers Convocation Center.
Dispelling the Myths and Misconceptions: Interacting with the Middle Eastern and Muslim Population
October 25, 2022
Co-sponsored by the departments of criminal justice and religion, this lecture will and will take place in the Trustees Room of the John C. Myers Convocation Center from 6-8pm. It will be led by Sarah Shendy, an officer in the Copley Police Department since 2008 and the director of the Ohio Office of Law Enforcement Recruitment.
The goal of the presentation is to address common myths and misconceptions associated with the culture and the Muslim religion.
Welcoming our Global Friends: An ACN/ISS Dinner
September 16, 2022
This mixer for our Peace Scholars and International Students on campus will be held in Eagle's Landing at 6pm. Join us for a conversation on how to make AU welcoming to all!
Analysis of Western Media Portrayals Over the Ukraine/Russia War
April 28, 2022
On Thursday, April 28th, at 7:15pm, the ACN will host Professor Ellen Gorsevski from Bowling Green State University for a Zoom discussion entitled: "Analysis of Western Media Portrayals over the Ukraine/Russia War, 24 February 2022 to Now: Perspectives from Peace and Conflict Studies, Critical Rhetoric and Discourse Analysis." Those who wish to gather in person can watch the stream from the ABCD Conference Rooms in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center.
A Peace Vigil will then be held at the AU Central Flagpole at 8:30 pm.
J. Russel Hawkins: When God Supported Jim Crow: Segregationist Christians, Civil Rights, and the Challenge of Orthodoxy in a Liberal Democracy
March 30, 2022
J. Russell (Rusty) Hawkins graduated from Wheaton College (IL) in 1999. After earning a master's degree in American History from Montana State University, Rusty served for a year with AmeriCorps as a literacy program coordinator in the public schools of Boston, Massachusetts. He earned his doctorate degree in American History from Rice University in 2009. He is currently Professor of Humanities and History at Indiana Wesleyan University and is the author of The Bible Told Them So: How Southern Evangelicals Fought to Preserve White Supremacy, which argues that white Christians' theology informed and shaped their resistance to the civil rights movement in the South.
The 7th Annual John D. Stratton Conference
February 25, 2022 to February 26, 2022
The Ashland Center for Nonviolence is pleased to announce the 7th Annual John D. Stratton Conference to be held at Ashland University February 25-26, 2022. The theme of the conference is Satyagraha: Nonviolence in the Gandhi-King Tradition.
Keynote Speaker: Friday, February 25 2022 at 7pm, John C. Myers Convocation Center, Faculty Room - FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
In conjunction with the Ashland University College of Arts and Sciences' Symposium Against Indifference, the 7th annual John D. Stratton Conference will begin with The Truth Telling Project and the Violence of Institutional Racism. Dr. David Ragland is one of the co-founders and co-executive directors of the Truth Telling Project and of the Grassroots Reparations Campaign. Ragland is a writer, scholar, and activist. Ragland co-founded the Truth Telling Project so that marginalized voices could be heard and move society to lay a groundwork for healing, reconciliation, and social transformation.
Homecoming Reception at ACN Lounge
October 23, 2021
Join us for a homecoming reception at the ACN Lounge in Bixler Hall. Light refreshments will be served.
Are We Victims of Social Media? A Panel Discussion on the Social Dilemma
September 22, 2021
With Gwen Hullman - Chair of Communication Studies, Rick Ford-Director of ACCADA (Ashland County Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse), and John Moser - Chair of the Department of History and Political Science. Moderated by Emily Huestis, Director of the ACN.
Held in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center Theater.
Film Screening of The Social Dilemma
September 15, 2021
This documentary-drama hybrid explores the dangerous human impact of social networking, with tech experts sounding the alarm on their own creations.
Held in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center Theater.
Ashland Center for Nonviolence presents Rita Nakashima Brock
April 21, 2021
"Moral Injury and Soul Repair."
Rita Brock is Senior Vice President, Moral Injury and Director of the Shay Moral Injury Center Volunteers of America. She leads the organization’s efforts to deepen understanding about moral injury in the many populations who experience it. The center builds on Volunteers of America’s work, spanning more than a century, of helping veterans and others who live with this emotional trauma.
A noted theologian, Dr. Brock was the Founding Director of the Soul Repair Center at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, where she also was a Research Professor of Theology and Culture. She is co-author of Soul Repair: Recovering from Moral Injury after War, Beacon Press, 2012, and Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering and the Search for What Saves Us, Beacon Press, 2001. She is a leading national expert on moral injury in combat veterans and has offered trainings for VA mental health providers, for professional chaplains, and for veterans and their families.
In her first master’s degree, Dr. Brock studied youth development, psychology of religion, and pastoral counseling and was employed as a youth minister. From 1974 to 1988, Dr. Brock was Protestant chaplain for a high school level, human relations and justice, summer-school program in Los Angeles County called Brotherhood/Sisterhood USA, administered by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In addition, from 1979-1981, she served as Assistant Chaplain and Instructor in Religion at Chapman University.
For 18 years, Dr. Brock was a Professor of World Religions, Philosophy of Religion, Spiritual Biography, Psychology of Religion, The ology and Women's Studies, and she held the Endowed Chair in the Humanities at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN, from 1990-1997. In 1997, she became the Director the Bunting Institute at Radcliffe College, a research fellowship program for distinguished scientists, scholars, humanitarians, and artists. An experienced non-profit program and institution builder, she was a member of the strategic planning team for the 1999 Radcliffe-Harvard merger that led to the creation of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. From 2001-2002, she was a fellow at the Harvard Divinity School Center for Values in Public Life. She also served from 2006-2008 as senior editor in religion for The New Press in New York City. She has edited or contributed to three manuals for navigating careers in religion for the American Academy of Religion. In 2012, she received a grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to create the Soul Repair Center, which is dedicated to research and education on moral injury and recovery.
Join us via Zoom - email ebuttil@zhanmi.net to receive a link.
Christian Nationalism
February 25, 2021
What It Is, What Feeds It, And How It Fuels A Narrative
Event will be presented via Zoom.
RSVP by emailing Elizabeth Buttil at ebuttil@zhanmi.net
ACN Discussion Series: Forgiving Hate (via Zoom)
October 13, 2020
Led by Dr. Wim Laven, Instructor of Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
Email ebuttil@zhanmi.net to reserve your spot. Link to Zoom presentation provided upon confirmation.
6th Annual John D. Stratton Conference: “Seeking Peace in a World of Nations”
February 29, 2020
Saturday, February 29th, 2020 in the Dausch College of Business at Ashland University