Previous Forum Topics

1989
“Striving for Peace: Past, Present, Future”
St. Olaf College
Norman Borlaug, 1970 laureate United Nations Peace-Keeping Operations, 1988 laureate (group) represented by Marrack Goulding

1990
“Striving for Peace: Human Rights in the Global Village”
Augsburg College
Dr. Andrei Sakharov, 1975 laureate, represented by widow Yelena Bonner Sakharov Amnesty International, 1977 laureate (group) represented by Peter Duffy Additional Speaker: President Jimmy Carter

1991
“Striving for Peace: Leadership in Peacemaking”
Luther College
Oscar Arias Sanchez, 1987 laureate Betty Williams, 1976 laureate Additional Speakers: Vice President Walter Mondale and Luigi Einaudi, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States

1992
“Striving for Peace: Resolving Cultural Conflicts”
Augustana College
Elie Wiesel, 1986 laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire, 1976 laureate Additional Speakers: Camelia Sadat, president, Sadat Peace Institute, and Cheryl Crazy Bull, vice president, Sinte Gleska University

1993
“Striving for Peace: The United Nations in a New World”
Concordia College
UNICEF, 1965 laureate (group), represented by James P. Grant Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 1954 and 1981 laureate (group), represented by Sadako Ogata U.N. Peace-Keeping Forces, 1988 laureate (group), represented by Hisako Shimura Additional Speakers: Vladimir Petrovsky, Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs for U.N. and Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali

1994
“Striving for Peace: Sowing the Seeds of Global Justice”
St. Olaf College
Rigoberta Menchu, 1992 laureate Additional Speakers: Rev. Bernice King, orator and co-founder of AMEN, and Edgar Stoesz, Chair, Habitat for Humanity International

1995
“Striving for Peace: Searching for Common Ground”
Augsburg College
Speakers: The Hon. R.F. “Pik” Botha, South African Minister of Mineral and Energy Affairs, representing Nobel laureate Frederik deKlerk, the Honorable Franklin Sonn, South African Ambassador to the U.S., representing Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela, and Naomi Tutu, economist, daughter of Desmond Tutu

1996
“Striving for Peace: From National to Common Security”
Luther College
Speakers: The Honorable Yehuda Avner, personal consultant to Nobel laureate Shimon Peres, Dr. Al-Kidwa, representing Nobel laureate Yassir Arafat, and the Honorable Samuel Lewis, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and past president of the U.S. Institute of Peace

1997
“Striving for Peace: Science and Ethics in International Affairs”
Augustana College
Dr. Joseph Rotblat, 1995 laureate The Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, 1995 laureate (group), represented by Dr. Francesco Calogero, general secretary Additional Speaker: Terry Waite, former envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury and hostage negotiator

1998
“Striving for Peace: Visions of Authentic Development”
Concordia College
Jose Ramos-Horta, 1996 laureate from East Timor Additional Speakers: Nien Cheng, author and human rights activist, and Dr. Ishmael Noko, General Secretary of Lutheran World Federation

1999
“Striving for Peace: The Morality and Machinery of Modern Conflict”
Augsburg College
Jody Williams, 1997 laureate International Campaign to Ban Landmines, 1997 laureate (group), represented by Steve Goose Additional speakers: John Hamre, deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Defense, and Larry Rasmussen, the Reinhold Niebuhr chair of Christian Ethics, Union Theological Seminary

2000
“Striving for Peace: Risk and Reconciliation”
St. Olaf College
David Trimble, 1998 co-laureate Denis Haughey, representing Northern Ireland political leader John Hume, 1998 co-laureate Additional Speakers: J. Bryan Hehir, Harvard Divinity School, and Sissela Bok, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies

2001
“Striving for Peace: Crossing Borders/Challenging Boundaries”
Luther College
Médicins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders, 1999 laureate (group), represented by Dr. Morten Rostrup, International President Additional Speakers: Kerry Kennedy Cuomo, human rights activist, J. Brian Atwood, former head of U.S. Agency for International Development

2002
“Striving for Peace: Who is Responsible?”
Augustana College
Sung Chul Yang, South Korean Ambassador to the United States, representing 2000 laureate Kim Dae Jung, President of South Korea Additional Speaker: Craig Kielburger, Free the Children founder and children’s rights spokesperson

2003
“Striving for Peace: A World Without Borders”
Concordia College
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, representing the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 2001 laureate Additional Speakers: Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, Dr. Geir Lundestad, and Vice President Walter Mondale

2004
“Striving for Peace: Roots of Change”
St. Olaf College
President Jimmy Carter, 2002 laureate Additional Speakers: Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, The Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), Dr. Eboo Patel

2005
“Striving for Peace: Uniting for Justice”
Augsburg College
Shirin Ebadi, 2003 laureate (invited) Additional Speakers: Davar Ardalan, NPR producer; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN high commissioner for human rights; Dr. Sima Samar, director, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission; Frances Moore Lappé, author and speaker.

2006
“Striving for Peace: Uniting for Justice”
Luther College
Wangari Maathai, 2004 laureate Additional Speakers: Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and EPA chief in the Bush administration; Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious disease Research and Policy and internationally recognized expert in epidemiology and public policy, bioterrorism and public health preparedness.

2007
“Striving for Peace: The Impact of One”
Augustana College
Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency, 2005 laureates Additional Speakers: Kjell Magne Bondevik, President and founder of the Center for Peace and Human Rights in Olso, Norway; Laban Coblentz, communications advisor for Mohamed ElBaradei.