CASTLEGAR, B.C. - Selkirk College Peace Studies students will be putting on a display called ‘An Alternative Timeline of History’, at Selkirk College Castlegar Campus in The Pit on Nov. 29 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. This display of photos, exhibits and captions (more than 100 feet long) provides a timeline of history over the last thousand years.
What makes this timeline display unique is that it shows historical events highlighting non-violence. Many of the history books and traditional timelines we learn from feature many wars, conquests and military heroes, whereas this timeline will show history from a more peaceful perspective.
This graphic exhibit features more than 150 events and movements throughout history, in which everyday people have been successful in bringing peace, justice and social change through non-violent means, and has been featured in more than 1,000 locations throughout North America.
As well as featuring well-known leaders like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., this display brings to light lesser-known stories, such as the White Rose students’ movement in Nazi Germany. Even Selkirk College students will be adding to this display by featuring their projects on non-violent movements.
Selkirk College Peace Studies Student Karen Godbout adds "What I think is really important about the Alternative Timeline is not only that it is calling attention to our history being primarily one of war, but taking that realization a step further: that we are taught by example then, to resolve conflict through violence. A timeline of peace history helps us conceive of a different reality; a different way to solve problems."
Karen’s poster presentation is of John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's movement to Imagine Peace, beginning with their Montreal Bed-In in 1969 through to Yoko Ono’s many creative projects on imaginepeace.com.