Peace Movement Scholar Scott Bennett to Discuss Lessons from World War I Peace Movement at Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice on October 28 Bennett will also moderate a panel discussion on the topic, “Can War be Stopped?” --Program is presented by University’s Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice and Department of History Scott Bennett, author of Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and Gandhian Nonviolence in America, 1915-1963, and a professor of history, geography, and political science at Georgian Court University, will present a lecture about the World War I peace movement on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 at William Paterson University in Wayne as part of the Gandhian Forum for Peace and Justice. The program will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Cheng Library Auditorium. The public is invited to attend and admission is free. The program, “Can War Be Stopped: Lessons from the World War I Peace Movement,” will also include a panel discussion. Bennett will moderate the discussion, which will feature three local peace activists: Jess Camacho, peace voter coordinator for New Jersey Peace Action; Carol Gay, president of the New Jersey State Industrial union council; and Michael Palmieri, an adjunct professor at Bloomfield College. The event is also sponsored by the University’s Department of History. Bennett is the author and editor of many books and articles on peace movements and opposition to war. His book Radical Pacifism is a history of the War Resisters League, a secular pacifist group that challenged both world wars and had an important impact on later struggles for peace and justice. His co-edited Antiwar Dissent & Peace Activism in World War I America: A Documentary Reader is a basic resource for those who want to understand grassroots peace activism and how governments treat dissent in wartime. He holds a doctorate in history from Rutgers University. Camacho has served as peace voter coordinator at New Jersey Peace Action for the last four years, and is on the organization’s board. She has taken part in numerous rallies and protests, has coordinated lobby days focusing on U.S. Congressional representatives, and taken part in some of New Jersey Peace Action's biggest yearly events. She is a political science major at Bloomfield College. Gay was a union organizer with the Communications Workers of America from 1980 until her retirement in 2003 and is now president of the New Jersey State Industrial Union Council. Among her many positions, she has been chair of New Jersey Labor Against the War and served on the board of New Jersey Peace Action. She was the Democratic nominee for Congress in New Jersey's 4th Congressional District in 2006. Gay has by recognized by New Jersey Peace Action and National Peace Action for her activism and leadership. Palmieri has worked with New Jersey Peace Action, 350.org, the Greater Newark Conservancy, Clean Water Action, and the Essex/Passaic Greens. A columnist for a local Bloomfield newspaper, he teaches a course on international affairs at Bloomfield College, sits on the Bloomfield Planning Board, and syndicates a nationally broadcast weekly radio program on democratic workplaces. He recently completed a master’s degree in international affairs at New School University. For additional information, contact George Robb, professor of history, at robbg@wpunj.edu.
