MU to host international peacebuilder for public lecture

Feb 10, 2025, 14:04 PM by Chloe Leckrone
Manchester University will welcome Kenyan peacebuilder and storyteller Dr. Babu Ayindo for a presentation on Monday, Feb. 17.

Manchester University will welcome Kenyan peacebuilder and storyteller Dr. Babu Ayindo for a presentation on Monday, Feb. 17.

This program will take place at 11 a.m. in Wine Recital Hall at the North Manchester campus. It is free and open to the public. 

In his youth, Ayindo served as artistic director of a community theatre ensemble, Chelepe Arts, in Nairobi, Kenya. In 1994, he co-founded Amani People’s Theatre which drew from African Indigenous arts and Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to advance a “poetics of peace and justice” through participatory, dialogical and emancipatory art forms. He now works as a teacher, storyteller, researcher and facilitator of peace processes across the world, including teaching arts-based approaches to peacebuilding courses in Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania. 

His presentation, “Arts, Peacebuilding and Decolonization,” will focus on the importance of the arts in conflict and trauma transformation. 

This program is sponsored by the Refior Peace Lectureship and the Long Memorial Lecture Funds. 

For the media 

Contact Katy Gray Brown, professor of peace studies and philosophy, at klgraybrown@manchester.edu

Manchester University, with campuses in North Manchester and Fort Wayne, Ind., provides vibrant and transformative student experiences. Learn more at www.manchester.edu/about-manchester  
 
Our mission and values  
Manchester University respects the infinite worth of every individual and graduates persons of ability and conviction who draw upon their education and faith to lead principled, productive, and compassionate lives that improve the human condition.