Hospitality is more than the process of entertaining, cooking or hosting.

The preparation and, more importantly, the sharing of meals can be a valuable tool in cultural exchange and global understanding. It can be common ground for people from different backgrounds, bringing them together over a shared desire for cuisine.

This philosophy has a large basis in this week’s Eat Together for Peace campaign, put together by the Syracuse University Humanities Center. Eat Together for Peace is an extension of the Perpetual Peace Project, a project created and directed by Dr. Gregg Lambert, Dean’s professor for the Humanities Center.

Marnie Blount-Gowan brought the Eat Together campaign to Lambert’s attention last spring. Blount-Gowan had followed the Perpetual Peace Project through its website, which featured seminars and videos put together by students and experts alike, all discussing the concepts of perpetual peace. Blount-Gowan wanted to bring an event centered on peace to the Syracuse campus.

The theme of the campaign — hospitality — was developed through discussions between Blount-Gowan and Lambert.

“Hospitality, or the sharing together of food, a common meal, is at the basis of every community,” Lambert said. “The idea was to create a menu of events that are all related to peace.”

Blount-Gowan had approached Lambert and begun the process of planning the week of events before discovering that His Holiness the Dalai Lama would be visiting Syracuse University and hosting a peace forum immediately after the Eat Together for Peace week.

Upon discovering this news, Blount-Gowan felt the timing was fitting.

“It’s like a prelude,” Blount-Gowan said. “It can prepare the SU community to get in the mindset of opening up to the idea of peace and understanding.”

The weeklong series of events began last Friday with a performance of “Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo,” a play put on by the Syracuse Stage. It featured reality-inspired stories of Congolese refugees, refugees who actually performed in the play themselves. Friday also featured several panels of spiritual discussions for attendees to take part in, as well as receptions and opportunities for guests to share food.

This week will continue with brown-bag discussions held Monday through Thursday at the Slutzker Center on Walnut Place, along with dinners and discussions held every night.

While the Humanities Center helped put together the events, smaller student groups within SU, including Hillel, Secular Students Alliance and various others, are hosting them largely in part.

Lambert is pleased with the cooperation the groups have shown with one another, though they all come from different backgrounds.

“It’s been incredibly cohesive,” Lambert said. “I think it’s very much a part of the ecumenical process, what a university represents.”

Additionally, Blount-Gowan mentioned how pleased she was with the diversity of students that came out to volunteer and how widespread the movement was across different colleges.

“They’re from all different majors,” Blount-Gowan said. “And they’re taking the message and sending it, giving it to their friends, to their groups.”

Lambert pointed out that the last day of the event, the International Day of Peace on the Quad, would be in accordance with the United Nations International Day of Peace. Students are invited to make their way to the Quad before 11:30 a.m. in order to form a human peace sign together.

After the peace sign forming, a moment of silence will take place. Lambert described the moment of silence as being both in honor of peace as well as in acknowledgement of the ongoing presence of war and violence throughout the world.

Nira Pandya, a senior political science and international relations dual major, signed up to volunteer for the campaign and is especially excited for Friday’s events.

“I think it’s great,” Pandya said. “Everyone can come together.”

Pandya will be working at Thursday evening’s event, an International Peace Dinner stationed at Ernie Davis Dining Center. A large part of her duty will be talking to students about the following day’s events.

When reflecting on her experience so far as a volunteer, the meetings and discussions with community organizer Blount-Gowan, one particular memory stuck out in Pandya’s mind.

Blount-Gowan encouraged volunteers who might not have time to partake in all of the scheduled international dinners to venture out on their own and have dinner with someone they normally wouldn’t. Pandya took the advice to heart, preparing dinner at her place for herself and an international student whom she had met, but wasn’t particularly familiar with.

Said Pandya: “It was really cool learning about their life, as international students. That was something that I did that was interesting.”

Published on September 18, 2012 at 12:18 am

Contact Chelsea: cedebais@syr.edu | @CDeBaise124