The Center for Reconciliation is presenting a Fetzer reception and lecture as part of the annual Summer Institute for Reconciliation on Wednesday, May 17. The reception will be held at 5:30 pm in the lower Westbrook hallway, followed by the lecture at 6:00 pm in 0016 Westbrook. 

The Fetzer lecture, Cultivating Just Peace in Challenging Contexts: The Work of Paz y Esperanza in Peru and Colombia, will be presented by Dr. Nina Balmaceda. In this presentation, Dr. Balmaceda will discuss just peace and reconciliation theology. Based on her recent research in communities severely affected by internal armed conflicts, she will illustrate how Paz y Esperanza teams serving in Peru and Colombia work to cultivate just peace and reconciliation with survivors and communities at risk. Following her lecture there will be time for discussion moderated by Dr. Daniel Castelo, associate dean for academic formation and William Kellon Quick Professor of Theology and Methodist Studies at Duke Divinity School.

Free registration is requested.

Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda

Nina is the associate director of the Center for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School and a consulting faculty in theology, theory, and practice of conflict transformation. Nina serves on the Duke Human Rights Center Faculty Board and co-leads the Americas Initiative for Transformation and Reconciliation, the Certificate in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation, and the Certificate on Faith-based advocacy, organizing, and social transformation programs. As a Latinx scholar-practitioner, Nina's teaching, research, and activism are focused on the promotion of human rights, conflict transformation, gender equity, and civic leadership for just peace in the Americas. Nina is the president/CEO of Peace and Hope International (PHI), a faith-based peace building nonprofit dedicated to preventing violence and confronting other forms of injustice among marginalized communities through its local sister organizations in her home country, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. A former Fulbright scholar, Nina received her Ph.D. in political science and masters degrees in international peace studies and in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame du Lac.  She also has a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Nina and her family live in Durham, N.C.