Schedule

Thursday, March 21

Afternoon Session (Haworth Room 104)

3 p.m.

Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice

Johanna Fernandez, Chairperson, A.J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice
4 p.m. Martha Reineke, “Muste, Rustin, and Two Holy Experiments”
5 p.m. Dinner Break

Evening Sessions (Haworth Room 104)

7 p.m.

Leilah Danielson, Northern Arizona University; author, American Gandhi: A.L. Muste and the History of Radicalism in the Twentieth Century: “What the Rustin Film Got Wrong about A.J. Muste and Why It Matters” 
8 p.m. Richard Flacks, emeritus, University of California at Santa Barbara, founding member of Students for a Democratic Society (by Zoom)

Friday, March 22

Morning Session (Haworth Room 104)

Chair: Roger Baumann, Directory, Peace and Justice program, Hope College

9 a.m.

Joshua Vis, RCA Church Facilitator for Israel and Palestine, and Rev. Chris De Blaay, The Branch Church, “Israel/Palestine after October 7”
10 a.m. Rev. John Kleinheksel, founder, Kairos West Michigan: “With the World in Crisis, What Would A.J. Propose?”
11 a.m. Mary Neznek, Episcopal Peace Fellowship, Palestine Israel Network: “A.J.’s Response to the US/Israel War on Gaza”
12 p.m. Lunch Break

Afternoon Session (Haworth Room 104)

1 p.m.

SPECIAL GUEST: Mr. Bradford Lyttle, long-time peace activist and A.J. Muste associate
2 p.m.

Hope Elizabeth May, Central Michigan University: “A Genuine Encounter: Olive Schreiner and Howard Thurman”

Keith Snedegar, Utah Valley University: “South African-American Activist Mutualities: Violaine Junod’s 1958 Tour of the United States”
3 p.m. Reception and Exhibit: MUSTE ALCOVE (second floor, Van Wylen Library)
4 p.m. JoAnn Robinson, emerita, Morgan State University; author, Abraham Went Out: A Biography of A.J. Muste.  “Peace is the Way and Violence Is a Many-Headed Hydra”
5 p.m. Cash Bar
5:30 p.m.
 Dinner Break

Evening Session (Winants Auditorium, Graves Hall)

7 p.m.

Peter Muste, former board chair, A.J. Muste Memorial Institute: “A.J. Muste and ‘Gandhian’ Nonviolence in a Modern Context”

9 p.m. FILM: “The Law and the Prophets” by Joshua Vis (Haworth Room 104)

Saturday, MARCH 23

Morning Session (Haworth Room 104)

Moderator: Curtis Gruenler, Professor of English, Hope College

9 a.m.

Ariel Gold, Executive Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation: “A.J. Muste and the FOR”
10 a.m. Timothy Pennings, Calvin University: “A.J. Muste and Bertrand Russell: Two Contemporaries with Different Worldviews but Similar Hopes”
10:30 a.m. Curtis Gruenler, “Taking Stock: Muste and Friendship”
11:30 a.m. Assessment and farewell

The documentaries Radical for Peace by David Schock (four installments) and The Law and the Prophets by Joshua Vis are available on YouTube.

To make a contribution to the A. J. Muste Memorial Lecture fund, visit hope.edu/give2hope, click “give now,” then type “Muste” into the search bar; choose among the three funds that pop up.

To support the A. J. Muste Foundation for Peace and Justice, donate online or mail contributions to

A. J. Muste Foundation
55 Exchange Place, Suite 405
New York, NY 10005

To support the Fellowship of Reconciliation, donate online or mail contributions to

FOR-USA
PO Box 271
Nyack, NY 10960

In the annals of Christian radicalism there are few to rival Muste for sheer endurance. Long past the age when most activists grow weary with frustration, Muste displayed a vitality that was not fed by the need for tangible results. As he wrote, “joy and growth come from following our deepest impulses, however foolish they may seem to some, or dangerous. And even though the apparent outcome may be defeat.
—Robert Ellsberg, All Saints, 1997