After the success of last year’s conference, the AFP Planning Committee has decided to maintain Our Shared Humanity as a thread woven through all of our conferences.  Each year this thread will explore a new direction. This year we are ‘Looking Inward’.  We urge all to consider this introspective idea at two levels.  The first, Looking Inward at the personallevel—What role do we as individuals play in the world of intolerance, bias and genocide?  The second, Looking Inward at the national level—What role does America (or your nation of birth) play in the world of intolerance, bias and genocide?  

Focus Streams:

Uncovering the American Experience
Too often we are satisfied with the myth that civil war, cultural persecution and genocide happen “over there” to “them.”  This stream is meant to encourage examination and discussion of America’s history of intolerance and genocide at all levels.

Defining the Role of Social Justice
We are constantly being fed a variety of definitions of “social justice” from a variety of sources—what do we think this really means?  This stream is searching for opportunities to redefine “social justice” based on examples that my help us to reshape our contemporary ethics.

Expressing Community
How important is “community” in our culture today?  Are we becoming more or less connected in the Facebook generation?  What role does “community” play in our shared humanity?  What role does “community” play in genocide?  This stream is searching for multiple expressions of “community.”

Employing the Arts for Social Change
The role of art as simply a culture’s entertainment is historically new.  How have the arts contributed to social change in the past?  Can we use the visual and performing arts as vehicles for advancing the human condition today? This stream is encouraging the creation of art with social impact in addition to presenting theory.