Yale Divinity School to Host Conference on Nuclear Disarmament

Policymakers, scholars and global leaders in business and diplomacy will gather at Yale Divinity School on September 18–19 for a conference on nuclear disarmament, titled “Are We Safe Yet? Vulnerability and Security in an Anxious Age.”

Sergio Duarte, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, will keynote this event, which aims to raise public awareness of the complex issue of nuclear armament from the unique perspective of religion and faith.

A primary organizer of the 2008 annual Sarah Smith Memorial Conference is Yale Divinity School theologian Miroslav Volf. The Director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Volf will co-teach a course at Yale this term with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“The 2008 Sarah Smith Conference will explore whether there are ways to envision vulnerability positively, rather than viewing it exclusively as a liability, and whether we can describe means to understand and enact security outside of the typical turn to power dynamics,” said Volf.

Other keynote speakers and participants at the conference include Douglas Roche, chairman of the Middle Powers Initiative; Jonathan Granoff, president of the Global Security Institute; and Jonathan Schell, author of the historic best-seller “The Fate of the Earth.”

Registration is required to attend the conference, but keynote addresses and panel discussions will be broadcast live on the Yale Divinity School web site. The proceedings will also be archived on the web for later viewing.

For more information, including the complete schedule and list of participants, visit online.

Members of the press should call Gus Spohn at 203-432-3466 to register. Please note: Sergio Duarte and Douglas Roche will be available on Friday for a limited number of press interviews. Those wishing to take advantage of this opportunity should make advance arrangements when they register to attend.

Following the conference, in spring 2009, Yale Divinity School will publish an issue of Reflections, the school’s magazine of ethical and religious inquiry, on the relationship of faith and security, inviting religious communities to continue the conversation.

Please note: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair will join Yale University President Richard C. Levin for a conversation in Woolsey Hall on September 19, 4:30 p.m. Members of the news media wishing to attend this event, which takes place following the Nuclear Disarmament Conference, will need to register for press credentials at the Office of Public Affairs. Send an email with your name, affiliation, a photograph and telephone number to opa@yale.edu.