UPDATE (1/11, 9 a.m.): this lecture has been postponed to an undetermined future date because of weather conditions.
Terry Taylor, Executive Director of Louisville's
Interfaith Paths to Peace, will discuss his recent trip to Iran during a free lecture at Bellarmine University on Tuesday, January 11 at 11 a.m.
In November, Taylor's traveled to Iran as part of a 10-person citizen diplomacy team sponsored by the national
Fellowship of Reconciliation.
The lecture takes place in Hilary's, on the first floor of Horrigan Hall. Visitors without Bellarmine parking passes are asked to park in the freshman parking area near the tennis courts; passenger drop-off is available in Franciscan Circle (
see campus map).
Tayor's "Iran, Up Close and Personal" lecture will include these topics:
- How the archaeological site of Persepolis can help us better understand the fears and anxieties of the Iranian people and their leaders.
- Why the Martyrs Cemetery in Tehran illustrates the extreme danger posed by taking military action against Iran.
- The ways in which the geography of Iran may hold the key for the US in developing a successful diplomatic approach to solving our differences with this Persian nation.
- How a confrontation between the citizen diplomacy delegation and its Iranian tour leaders mirrored the difficulties in US-Iranian relations.
- Why economic sanctions against Iran may be counterproductive.
- The possibility that an exhibit of peace postcards in Tehran from Interfaith Paths to Peace might open the door to improved person-to-person interaction between Americans and Iranians. [see short video about the peace postcards]
- Suggestions for a negotiating strategy the US can use to dramatically improve its relationship with the leaders of Iran.