January 29, 2013

Award-winning filmmaker is Marquette’s 2013 Peacemaker in Residence

Elisabeth “Libby” Hoffman, founder and president of Catalyst for Peace, will spend Jan. 30 to Feb. 1 at Marquette University as the Center for Peacemaking’s Peacemaker in Residence.

During her visit, Hoffman will present “Forgiving the Unforgivable: Fambul Tok and Community Healing,” Thursday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Memorial Union, 252. The presentation, free and open to the public, will include a screening of the epilogue to her film, Fambul Tok.

The film documents the work of an organization of the same name that Hoffman cofounded to bring together perpetrators and victims of violence in Sierra Leone. The film demonstrates how the organization provided citizens with an opportunity to come to terms with what happened during the country’s war, and to talk, heal and chart a new path together. The film was supported by the Sundance Documentary Institute and had its world debut in 2011 at South by Southwest, an annual music and film conference. She is also the lead author of the book by the same name, published in 2011 by Umbrage Editions.

Hoffman is also the founder and president of Catalyst for Peace, a Portland, Maine-based private foundation that identifies and supports community based peace-building work around the world. The group is focused on documenting the successes and challenges of the programs they support, and sharing those lessons to a global audience.

Active in peace building for 25 years, Hoffman is a former political science professor. She left academia to focus on the practice of conflict resolution and peace building. She has developed and led conflict resolution training programs in corporate, congregational, educational and community settings.

The Center for Peacemaking annually invites an internationally recognized nonviolent theorist/activist to spend a week as the Marquette University Peacemaker in Residence. In addition to the public presentation, the peacemaker in residence will visit with classes, talk with student organizations, spend time with faculty conducting research on nonviolence, and meet with university leadership. Grounded in the Jesuit tradition of social justice, the Marquette University Center for Peacemaking is committed to exploring and extending research on nonviolent theory and practice. Through its efforts, the center strives to engage peacemaking efforts in local, national and international communities.