Saint Louis University’s Thirteenth Annual Sam and Marilyn Fox Atlas Week program will be held April 8-12. The theme for the 2013 program is “Advocacy in a Globalized World: From the Classroom to the Frontline.”

As part of Atlas Week, SLU’s  Jewish Student Association will welcome Dr. Don Ellis of the University of Hartford for a talk on “Communication and its Importance in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10 in SLU’s Busch Student Center 253A. This program is also sponsored by the Department of Modern & Classical Languages Center for Intercultural Studies and the St. Louis Hillel.

In addition, John Prendergast, human rights activist and best-selling author, will deliver the Atlas Week Keynote Address, “Conflict Resources and Conflict Prevention: The Case of Congo, the World’s Deadliest War,” at the Atlas Week Signature Symposium on Thursday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. in the Wool Ballrooms of Busch Student Center.

John Prendergast will also deliver two special lectures on Wednesday, April 10: 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. “Advocacy for Peace: Why South Sudan was Successful and Darfur Was Not”; Sinquefield Stateroom, DuBourg Hall 

3 to 4:30 p.m.: “10 Ingredients for Making a Difference both Globally and Locally”; Wool Ballroom, Busch Student Center, Room 173.

Prendergast has worked for peace in Africa for more than 25 years. He is the co-founder of the Enough Project affiliated with the Center for American Progress, an initiative to end genocide and crimes against humanity. During the Clinton administration, Prendergast was involved in a number of peace processes in Africa while he was the director of African Affairs at the National Security Council and special advisor to Susan Rice at the Department of State. Prendergast has also worked for two members of Congress, UNICEF, Human Rights Watch, the International Crisis Group and the U.S. Institute of Peace. He has been a Big Brother for more than 25 years, as well as a youth counselor and a basketball coach.

Prendergast has authored ten books. His newest book, Unlikely Brothers, released in May 2011, is a dual memoir co-authored with his first little brother in the Big Brother program. His previous two books were co-authored with Don Cheadle: Not On Our Watch, a New York Times bestseller and NAACP non-fiction book of the year; and The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes, which focuses on building  a popular movement against genocide and other human rights crimes.

For a complete list of Atlas events, please visit: http://atlas.slu.edu

For more information, contact Michelle Lorenzini at [email protected].